EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING (2004)

Cast

Plot

Initially directed by Paul Schrader and dumped by the studio execs for being too subtle, Renny Harlin was brought on board to completely redesign and reshoot the tale of Father Merrin's first encounter with Pazuzu. Deepest darkest Africa, 1949; Merrin is part of an archaeological dig that unearths an unholy site dedicated to an ancient evil, an evil that soon pervades the local community forcing Father Merrin to face his own loss of faith as he fights to save those around him. Stellan Skarsgard plays the 'young' Father Merrin (despite being older now than Max Von Sydow was when he made the original!) with some class but frankly looks bored, and who can blame him. Harlin was supposed to inject pace, action and suspense into the narrative but has failed abysmally and the CGI is sketchy at best. Whether Schrader's more subtle approach works any better you can judge for yourself as it has also been released as 'Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist'