Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34493 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-04-18
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Arabic, English, German
• Dubbed in: German
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 113 minutes

Synopsis
When Father Lankester Merrin arrived to expunge a troublesome demon from Regan MacNeil in the original EXORCIST movie, many viewers were left cowering in fear. But questions remained as to the true identity of the mysterious Merrin, and how he rose to become such a potent force in the battle against demonic possession. For inquisitive fans still fervently pondering the unfathomable Merrin, help is at hand in the shape of this prequel film, EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING. In the post-World War II world, Merrin (Stellan Skarsgard) has seen his faith lapse due to some tumultuous firsthand experiences on the battlefield. Taking a lengthy sabbatical in an attempt to rekindle his belief, Merrin travels to East Africa. While there, he encounters an archaeological team who have uncovered a Byzantine-era church which, astonishingly, shows no visible signs of decay. Upon investigating the remarkable find, Merrin happens upon a crypt beneath the church, and inadvertently unleashes the same omnipotent demon that he duels with in the first EXORCIST movie. The local villagers unwittingly succumb to the powerful otherworldly force, and as chaos breaks out, Merrin experiences a cruel sense of irony when the very horrors he sought to escape engulf him once more. Overcoming a difficult production that saw original director Paul Schrader ousted from the crew, Renny Harlin (DIE HARD 2) pulls out all the stops to deliver a creepy complimentary piece to the other EXORCIST movies. The casting of Skarsgard as the younger Merrin was a wise move, and neatly augments the work of fellow Swede Max Von Sydow in the first film. Working in the shadow of such a legendary movie is never easy, but Harlin manages to create a disquieting air of uneasy menace as he allows the tale to unfurl.

Customer Reviews

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.

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.

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.