Exorcist - The Beginning [2004]

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-07-03 rating:
Mindlessly entertaining
Mindlessly entertaining prequel starring the always dependable Stellan Skarsgard. I wasn't expecting much but have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed it. It would be interesting to compare it with Paul Schrader's completed film of the same name, which the studio rejected and buried before bringing in Renny Harlin to do this version.

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review by: date: 2008-01-04 rating:
Worth watching
Quite good overall. Forget all the silly stuff about comparing it to the original; I don't know why people feel re-makes, sequels, prequels etc somehow devalue an existing film, in this case The Exorcist. Don't watch them if you feel your thoughts or feelings for one film are going to be sullied by watching another film altogether. The rest of us are capable of seperating in our minds one piece of work from another and appreciating them (or not) in isolation and as two seperate pieces of work.
Anyway, The Exorcist The Beginning charts Father Merrin from the original Exorcist hired to find an artifact in the ruins of an ancient church somewhere in Africa after the Second World War and discovering that this place is where Lucifer fell to Earth upon being cast out from heaven. Some of the CGI effects are a little ropey, most of the other special effects are perfectly fine, the story is also perfectly acceptable although I would agree with another respondent that the final scene is over long and rather over done. It's not the original Exorcist of course but who expected that? It's just a reasonably good horror film about the devil, possession etc with nods to both The Exorcist and The Omen amongst others and is an entertaining two hours or so watch.

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review by: hamble date: 2008-01-03 rating:
rubbish
a rare film. in only the first minute of this film it is clear that it will be complete and utter drivel. the schlock-shocks are all there: bad sound effects, inept editing and acting that makes fred flintstone look like an oscar winner. if you watch this film you will have wasted two hours of your life.

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review by: s.vernon date: 2007-08-06 rating:
BETTER THAN IT SHOULD BE
Working in Egypt in 1949 as an archaeologist, Father Merrin, (Stellan Skarsgard) is asked to find a rare artifact in a dig. When the Vatican hear of this, they offer him another assignment instead: a ruined church found buried in Egypt. Accompanied to the site by Sarah, (Izabella Scorupo) Father Francis, (James D'Arcy) they find the church, but Merrin quickly finds that it is much older than it should be. Almost immediately afterwards, strange events begin plaguing the campsite, Merrin is convinced supernatural forces are at work. As the hauntings around the camp continue, they begin to believe that Merrin maybe right.

The Good News: I was actually rather impressed with this one. While by no means a great film, it isn't that bad either. This is certainly a gorier film, and is actually quite bloody. Most of this is in the final battle, which delivers some nice gruesome gore in decapitations, stabbings, slicing, and much more, as well as periodically happenings as well. It's most gruesome scene is that of a chilling animal mauling. The jump that precedes it is quite classic, and is totally unexpected. The film has a great many scenes that features the goings-on at the campsite, which are the best scenes in the movie. Many of them are quite creepy, and while not exactly original, they get the job done of getting the viewer creped out. A lot of them could be seen coming, but it's the overall package that works, as all of the events coming together that do the job. All of the happenings do a great job of building an atmosphere of evil. It's a nice look for the film, that it has this and still manages to pull off some nifty gore effects when needed to.

The Bad News: This film just doesn't make any sense. It's all implications in here, as nothing is really explained as a matter-of-fact. It's quite aggravating when things get out of control and nobody tells why. It's the main reason against the film, but it isn't the only one. The fact that it's ending is so closely inspired by the first one that it's amazing no one was sued. He may have wanted to homage the first one, but this one goes all the way to out-and-out plagiarism. Mainly, these are it. The rest of what everyone didn't really like about this one never really bothered me all that much.

The Final Verdict: Don't ask for too much understanding of the plot here and you should be fine. It certainly isn't the greatest horror movie ever, but it wasn't trying to either. It was just a little fun flick that centered around demonic possession, and it's not a total waste. Give it a shot, it isn't that bad.


review by: Ivan L. date: 2007-04-18 rating:
No masterpiece, no classic, but still a pretty good genre movie.
It is unclear to me why this movie was slashed by the professional film critics. (Rotten Tomatoes gives it only 10%). If you're into the exorcist genre, you'll enjoy the atmosphere, the nice photography, score and acting. There's no post-Scream irony and sarcasm here, no Saw-gore, just good oldfashioned exorcising with a priest fighting a demon while trying to regain his faith. If you liked the original for the right reasons, I'm pretty sure you'll like this prequel also, just like I did. This is no masterpiece, no classic, but still a pretty good genre movie.

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Similar categories

Video . DVD & VHS . Categories . Horror . Devils, Demons & Exorcisms
Video . DVD & VHS . Substores . Regular Stores . DVD Bargains . By Price . From £4.97 . DVDs from £4.97
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Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Format (binding_browse-bin) . DVD
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . BBFC Rating (intended_use_browse-bin) . 15
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Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Release Date (feature_three_browse-bin) . 2000 and later
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Language (theme_browse-bin) . English

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