Imagine a horror movie scary it caused audiences to run from the theater, physically retch, or even faint in the aisles. So extreme were viewers’ reactions to “The Exorcist,” the 1973 horror film that, along with “The Omen” and “Rosemary’s Baby,” would help lay the ground for the Satanic Panic that gripped the 1980s.

An atypically well-acted and cinematic horror film for the period based on a bestselling book, “The Exorcist” is considered by many to be the best horror movie of all time.  The Academy Award-winning film would also mark the beginning of one of the horror genre’s most iconic franchises. A demon-infused tale of supernatural and religious terror, “The Exorcist” would spawn a handful of sequels delving deeper into the universe’s theological lore, usually through questionable archaeological practices.

No film in the franchise would ever hit quite as hard as the original “The Exorcist” with its pause-worthy pea soup and crab-walking scenes. But with six films so far and a new one on the way — not to mention the short-lived horror series — it seems the world is always ready for a few more “et Spirítus Sanctis.” The tricky part is figuring out the best way to watch them.

There are six films to date in “The Exorcist” franchise. The first film in the franchise, “The Exorcist” follows the living nightmare of single mom and actor Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) and her tween daughter Regan (Linda Blair) when the 12-year-old is possessed in their dreamy Georgetown rental, forcing them to call in Fathers Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow) and Damien Karras (Jason Miller) to exterminate the demon Pazuzu. Despite the first film ending with Regan getting exorcized and moving on with her young life, the almost universally panned 1977 sequel “Exorcist II: The Heretic” deals with the Catholic church’s refusal to leave well enough alone by sending Father Lamont (Richard Burton) on an ill-advised demonic scavenger hunt involving the now-teen girl and another of Pazuzu’s past victims. 

Set 15 years after the first film and released in 1990, “The Exorcist III” follows Lieutenant William F. Kinderman (George C. Scott), a detective from the first film, as he connects a serial killer case to Regan’s long-past possession. “Exorcist: The Beginning,” released in 2004, serves as a prequel to the series and deals with Father Lankester Merrin’s (Stellan Skarsgård) experience on a post-World War II archaeological dig that unearths more than excavators bargained for. “Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist,” which came out in 2005, presents a different (and much darker) take on that story. The sixth and last film in the franchise so far is the 2023 “The Exorcist: Believer,” which finds a single dad turning to Chris MacNeil for help when his daughter and her best friend become possessed. A new film by Mike Flanagan, who recently completed his best horror series “The Fall of the House of Usher,” is currently in the works.

It’s rarely a bad idea to watch a film series based on each film’s release date. But no matter how you choose to watch the complete “Exorcist” franchise, no completionist’s list would be complete without the two-season horror series “The Exorcist,” which premiered in 2016. If you shuffle that into your film viewing, the series could either be viewed just before or after “The Believer,” depending on how comfortable you are mixing your TV and films. Of course, watching the franchise in chronological order can be a good way to work through all your biggest unanswered questions from “The Exorcist.” 

If your goal is to view the entire “Exorcist” franchise, series included, in chronological order:

1. “Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist” — begins in 1947 and includes hallucinations flashing back to 1944

2. “Exorcist: The Beginning” — roughly the same story, but begins in 1949

3. “The Exorcist” — set when it was released in 1973

4. “Exorcist II: The Heretic” — set in 1977

5. “The Exorcist III” — set around 15 years after the end of the first film, which would make it 1988 or 1989

6. “The Exorcist” series — set from 2016-2018

7. “The Exorcist: Believer” — set in 2023

And no matter what order you choose to watch it in, don’t forget the pea soup!