I didn’t have enough time to watch a full horror movie today, so I settled for the pilot episode of the new Exorcist television series.

I wasn’t entirely if this was going to be a prequel, or a continuation – but it seems there is no connection at all to the movie.  You’ve got the attractive young Father Tomas, who has visions of an exorcism, and a family in turmoil – father seems to have dementia and the mother (played by Geena Davis) is concerned about her emo daughter Kat. While visiting the family, the father babbles some clues that lead Tomas to Father Marcus, a former exorcist.

The pacing was pretty good, especially considering how slow the movie is, but I did have to wait about 10 minutes in before someone was actually possessed.  Gone are the days when someone could survive their head doing a 360 – however, there were plenty of other creepy moments that echoed the movie without directly referencing it.

Overall, I felt like this was a strong pilot with lots of potential backstory to explore… At any rate, it’s better than the current season of American Horror Story…

Time for some recommendations!  I’m going to stick with the TV shows here since I’m sure I’ll watch some other horror movie about possession this month.

• American Horror Story, Season 1 – If only the other seasons could have lived up to that first season.  Happily, it’s a complete story in itself so you don’t have to keep watching.
• Bates Motel – I haven’t watched Season 4 yet but after binge-watching the first 3 seasons I’d say Norman’s slow transformation into the psycho we know he’ll become is pretty awesome.
• Eerie, Indiana – Totally not similar to any other show on this list!  It’s like a kid-friendly version of The Twilight Zone.  Pair it with a few episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark? and you’ll have experienced a good portion of my childhood.
• The Walking Dead – I love this show so much.