Exorcist: The Beginning | Stellan Skarsgård, Gabriel Mann

Exorcist: The Beginning | Stellan Skarsgård, Gabriel Mann | Nowhere near as bad as some will lead you to believe. Better than Parts II & III.

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Exorcist: The Begi...

	Exorcist: The Beginning Stellan Skarsgård, Gabriel Mann Warner Home Video, 2005 average customer review:based on 157 reviews view larger image
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The Begining .. to A Begining

Great story telling, good movie. Faith,lost & than reborn again It's, Good & Evil at war. Not a bad movie & it works for me & also saw "Dominion" 'Prequel To The Exorcist' the other verison of this movie. Both are well told of good & evil. Both wroth a look just to know the beginning to real horror of evil "The Exorcist" best of all horror movies.

Nowhere near as bad as some will lead you to believe. Better than Parts II & III.

Father Lankester Merrin (Stellan Skarsgård) is summoned by a collecter of rare antiquities and asked by the man to find a mysterious statue of the demon Pazuzu in a poverty-stricken African village. Once there, Merrin participates in an archeological excavation which unearths a Byzantine church. This mysterious temple dates back to a time before Christianity arrived to the region. But what's even more mysterious is the evidence which suggests that the perfectly preserved church was buried as soon as it was completed. Panic among the townspeople soon follow and evidence of a demonic force gives reason to suspect that something else was unearthed. Something powerful and evil.

The original "Exorcist" was greeted with mixed reviews when it was first released during the Christmas season of 1973. However, that did not stop it from becoming an almost "instant" classic garnering several Oscar nods and praise from film buffs everywhere.

The fate of it's sequels on the other hand suffered the exact opposite. The first sequel "The Heretic" has been branded by many as "the worst sequel in film history". An exaggerated claim but there is no denying that the film is far inferior to the now classic original. The second sequel "Exorcist III" received poor reviews and lousy box-office returns but has since developed a rather loyal following. "The Beginning" critically suffered the same fate. We'll just have to wait and see if time is as kind to this installment as it was to Blatty's "Exorcist III".

"The Beginning" is not a bad horror film. I think the film's main problem is having "Exorcist" in it's title. I think people would have accepted this film and would have been kinder to it had it not been a prequel to one of the greatest horror movies of all times. If judged on it's own terms, "Exorcist: The Beginning" has alot to offer the horror film fan. Great visual effects, a great cast, good make-up effects, great cinematography, great production values and an enigmatic storyline. The demon (or demons) in this film is frightening because we don't really see it. We see it's grisly work throughout the village but it never really materializes. It also appears to be far more potent than in the previous films. In the original, the malevolent entity almost destroys the spirit of a little girl. Here we see it consume an entire town as well as it's people.

The film's biggest disappointment was in it's weak exorcism scene. Without giving spoilers, it broke no new grounds. The entire climax seemed rushed. The film-makers could have found some way in adding to the "shock" meter since after all, it is competing with the repulsiveness of the original. With that said, I found this much maligned prequel to be an enjoyable, delightfully mysterious night at the theatre. It's far better than many of it's detractors would have you to believe. It's definately superior to the previous 2 sequels.

I recommend "Exorcist: The Beginning" to the casual horror film buff but it needs to be viewed with an open mind especially if you're a fan of the original film. If not, you will most definately, religiously hate it.

NOTE: There are 2 prequels to "The Exorcist". Renny Harlin's "The Beginning" and Paul Schrader's "Dominion: Prequel To The Exorcist" which faired better critically. I recommend both films but rent before you buy because they are very different.

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