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Movies / On DVD / Exorcist: The Beginning
Exorcist: The Beginning

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Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)

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Reviews Counted:126

Fresh:14

Rotten:112

Average Rating:3.5/10

Consensus: A mediocre, gory horror film, nowhere near the quality of the 1973 original.

Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Synopsis: Father Lankester Merrin thinks that he has glimpsed the face of Evil. In the years following World War II, Merrin (STELLAN SKARSGÅRD) is relentlessly haunted by memories of the unspeakable... Father Lankester Merrin thinks that he has glimpsed the face of Evil. In the years following World War II, Merrin (STELLAN SKARSGÅRD) is relentlessly haunted by memories of the unspeakable brutality perpetrated against the innocent people of his parish. In the wake of all he has seen, both his faith in his fellow man and the Almighty have deserted him. He can no longer honestly call himself a man of God. Merrin has traveled far from his native Holland in a desperate attempt to escape the horrors that he witnessed there. While drifting through Cairo, he is approached by a collector of rare antiquities to join a British archeological excavation in the remote Turkana region of Kenya. They have unearthed a Christian Byzantine church in inexplicably pristine condition - as if it had been buried on the day it was completed. The collector wants Merrin, an Oxford-educated archeologist, to find an ancient relic hidden within the church before the British discover it. But beneath the church, something much older sleeps, waiting to be awoken. Madness descends upon the local villagers and the contingent of British soldiers sent to guard the excavation. Merrin watches helplessly as the atrocities of war are repeated against another innocent village - atrocities he had prayed never to see again. The blood of innocents flows freely on the East African plain, and the horror has only just begun. In the place where Evil was born, Merrin will finally see its true face. Warner Bros. Pictures presents, a Morgan Creek production, Exorcist: The Beginning, directed by RENNY HARLIN and starring STELLAN SKARSGÅRD, JAMES D'ARCY and IZABELLA SCORUPCO. The film is produced by JAMES G. ROBINSON, executive produced by GUY McELWAINE and DAVID C. ROBINSON. Story by WILLIAM WISHER and CALEB CARR, screenplay by ALEXI HAWLEY. VITTORIO STORARO serves as cinematographer. The film is edited by MARK GOLDBLATT. Music by TREVOR RABIN. Exorcist: The Beginning will be released on August 20, 2004 by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and internationally by Warner Bros. Pictures and Morgan Creek International. Exorcist: The Beginning has been rated "R" by the MPAA for "strong violence and gore, disturbing images and rituals, and for language including some sexual dialogue." [More]

Starring: Stellan Skarsgard, James D'Arcy, Izabella Scorupco, Ralph Brown

Starring: Stellan Skarsgard, James D'Arcy, Izabella Scorupco, Ralph Brown, Alan Ford

Director: Renny Harlin

Director: Renny Harlin
Screenwriter: Alexi Hawley
Producer: James G. Robinson
Composer: Trevor Rabin
Studio: Warner Bros.

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Reviews for Exorcist: The Beginning

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Reams of tedious exposition finally give way to a random jumble of horror movie clichés, rising to a shrill pitch of hysteria that is never remotely frightening.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It isn't quite hell, but clambering to the end of this dusty remnant of an idea is certainly purgatory.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Ian Nathan
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Harlin's hamfisted horror-show offers an hour and a half of tooth-grinding boredom followed by 20 minutes of all-singing, all-dancing, knees-up stupidity.

Full Review Source: Sight and Sound | comment Comment
12/07/04
Mark Kermode
Mark Kermode
Sight and Sound

Laughably poor prequel that is dumb, nonsensical and not remotely scary -- however, it remains watchable thanks to Stellan Skarsgard.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/30/04
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

A botch job of mistimed scare scenes, bland characters and computer-generated hyenas.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
10/30/04
Nev Pierce
Nev Pierce
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Jim Lane
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review

More than 30 years after the original hit screens, along comes the very best of the sequels.

Full Review Source: ESplatter | comment Comment
06/19/08
Lucius Gore
Lucius Gore
ESplatter

Most of the movie feels nothing like an Exorcist film.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
07/30/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound

The serious Catholic themes that made the original film genuinely disturbing have been flattened out into a cartoonish backstory pitting Merrin against Nazi storm troopers.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
02/27/07
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader

This is not horror. It's sadism.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
02/27/07
David Germain
David Germain
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Flawed, but still good.

Full Review Source: 3BlackChicks Review | comment Comment
12/30/06
Kamal  'The Diva' Larsuel
Kamal 'The Diva' Larsuel
3BlackChicks Review

Some things are better left mysterious, and some movies better left unmade.

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment Comment
09/22/06
Peter T. Chattaway
Peter T. Chattaway
Christianity Today
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
09/26/05
AV Club
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One would think studios would shy away from this dead horse; I guess the power of crap compels them.

Full Review Source: www.kcactive.com | comment Comment
07/25/05
Uri Lessing
Uri Lessing
www.kcactive.com

What is rather horrifying is how this would-be thriller manages the bizarre feat of being simultaneously dull and completely ridiculous.

Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
07/11/05
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com

I'd love to say this will be final nail in The Exorcist's coffin, but somehow I doubt it.

Full Review Source: Mike Bracken's Horror Films | comment Comment
03/06/05
Mike Bracken
Mike Bracken
Mike Bracken's Horror Films

It doesn't disappoint.

Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
03/01/05
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
SPLICEDWire
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Exorcist: The Beginning

May 31, 2009: Five Favourite Films with Renny Harlin
Finnish director Renny Harlin has one of the most schizophrenic CVs in movie-dom. He's directed some of the most beloved action films of the last 20 years, including Die Hard 2,... More...

April 14, 2005: Schrader's Exorcist Prequel Gets a Release Date
Remember all the hoopla that surrounded last year's "Exorcist: The Beginning"? How the execs didn't like Paul Schrader's cut so they hired Renny Harlin to do the whole... More...

December 09, 2004: Schrader's Shelved Exorcist Sequel to See Limited Release in '05
Moviehole chimes in with an exclusive scoop update on Paul Schrader's version of "Exorcist: The Beginning": "Why isn't Paul Schrader's cut of "The Exorcist:... More...

June 11, 2004: Gene Wilder has been dug up and is narrating the trailer for The Exorcist. Opens in new window
More...

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