The Ultimate Guide to the Exorcist Movies

The first film in the trilogy follows 12-year-old Regan MacNeil, who's behaviour becomes erratic and violent after being possessed by the evil demon Pazuzu. Rachel's mother, Chris, reaches out to priests, who perform an exorcism on Regan in order to extract Pazuzu and save her life.

The sequel follows Regan four years after her possession in "The Exorcist," where she is living a fairly normal life in New York while being monitored by Dr. Gene Tusking, a specialist who works with troubled children. Dr. Tusking invents a device that is used to hypnotize Regan and link her mind with one of the priests who helped save her in the previous film. Through the device, they find out that the demon is still a part of Regan and wants to return to wreak more chaos.

"Exorcist: The Beginning" is the prequel in the "Exorcism" series. The film follows the story of Father Merrin, one of the priests who helped save Regan MacNeil. Merrin struggles with his faith after the events of World War II. He heads to a Kenyan village to excavate a 5th-century church to locate an ancient relic. Meanwhile, evil forces threaten the village and force Merrin to reevaluate his fate.

"Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist" is the alternative prequel to "The Exorcist" and has the same premise as "Exorcist: The Beginning." Before filming "Exorcist: The Beginning," John Frankenheimer was set to direct the prequel. However, Frankenheimer withdrew from the movie and was replaced with director Paul Schrader, who directed "Exorcist: The Beginning."

"The Exorcist: Believer" is a direct sequel to "The Exorcist." The film follows Victor Fielding, who is raising his daughter Angela on his own. After Angela and her friend Katherine go missing in a forest and return three days later, it unleashes an evil that forces Victor to seek out Chris MacNeil, the only person who witnessed the horrors previously with her daughter Regan.