Save your money for something good and enjoyable

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

The Exorcist: The Beginning (2004): Dir: Renny Harlin / Cast: Stellan Skarsgard, Isabella Scorupco, James D'Arcy, Alan Ford, Julian Wadham: Prequel to the 1973 masterpiece taking us back where the confrontation began. Stellan Skarsgard plays Father Merrin who is summoned to an African Archaeological site where a Church is unearthed. This Church has a mysterious past where thousands lay dead and an unspeakable evil possesses a boy named Joseph. Surprisingly well written and suspenseful but a scene where a pack of hyenas attack and mangle a boy will likely turn off certain viewers. The Biblical arguments regarding Satan aren't exactly scripture based either. A big improvement for director Renny Harlin who made the dreadful Deep Blue Sea as well the the expensive flop Cutthroat Island. Excellent performance by Skarsgard as Merrin who is haunted by a past incident. Isabella Scorupco plays a nurse with a mysterious past and an unspeakable fate. James D'Arcy plays a young Priest overseeing the discoveries, and witnessing first hand the outreaches of evil. Alan Ford steals scenes as a contact with a facial disease but that is the least of his problems. As prequels go, this one at least lives up to its hype. It is visually well crafted and attempts to apply intelligence where many of the sequels faltered. Not as broad or striking as the original but a haunting back story nonetheless. Score: 9 / 10

This prequel to the classic terror tale of "The Exorcist" was directed from scratch by Renny Harlin; originally Paul Schrader had done a version (which is its own separate film) that was scrapped by the studio. It shows us the earlier days of the tormented Lancaster Merrin (Stellan Skarsgard). Haunted by something that he was forced to do during WWII, he now works as an archaeologist. He's hired to work on a dig in East Africa, where a church has been found buried under the sand. This place, of course, is shrouded in evil. A child is harmed, workmen go mad, and there are special effects galore.This could and should have been a more powerful story about one mans' rediscovery of his faith. Unfortunately, it just doesn't have that much impact. There's spooky atmosphere to spare; the filmmaking is at least commendable on a technical level, with very stylish lighting by Vittorio Storaro. The story is treated with the utmost seriousness, with very little in the way of humour. There are passable shocks, but nothing that's all that eerie, and certainly nothing that's really memorable. The CGI is pretty damn unconvincing at times. After a while, it all starts to feel pretty familiar, not just to followers of this franchise, but to followers of religious horror in general. We never get to really know most of the characters - only Father Merrin is fleshed out to any substantial degree.Thankfully, Merrin is a compelling character, and Skarsgard is extremely well cast. He and his supporting actors do their able best with what they've got. Izabella Scorupco plays a dedicated doctor, James D'Arcy the helpful Father Francis. Alan Ford chews up the scenery as Jefferies. Child actor Remy Sweeney is appealing as the imperiled Joseph.Naturally this effort is going to fall short when compared to the iconic 1973 original, but it isn't altogether bad, and one could certainly do much worse than this.Six out of 10.

I have tired to watch this movie a few times, only well, i fell a sleep in the first 2 times, I did put a bit late, so i decided to give it another today, when day was light. Now that I have seen the whole movie, I don't think it was all that bad, there were some creepy moment in this movie that worked really.There were really cool bloody scenes that really liked in this all though I don't think It really fitted in this movie. There was really calm moment in this movie, which do feel little boring at times.The acting wasn't great in some part of the movie, I felt some of actor Could not be bother that near the end of the movie as the acting didn't look as lazy at the start. 5/10 But I not sure if, i Should see Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005) - I Heard it kinda of the same! (I Will give it watch maybe next week)

Here's a film which had a more interesting story behind the cameras rather than on the screen. This beleaguered production originally had Paul Schrader directing, but studio bosses were unhappy with his more intellectual interpretation of the events so they hired go-to guy Renny Harlin for extensive reshoots that amped up the gore content. What emerges is a troubled, visceral production with occasional flashes of greatness. Overall it's a let down, with a sense of what could have been rather than what is.The film sets off on a poor footing with some extremely bad CGI work of a huge landscape. These kind of schlocky effects periodically turn up and are laughed off screen every time they appeared; a scene involving CGI-ed jackals is particularly bad. The ensuing story is choppy and disjointed, building up a series of portentous moments and religious iconography and then backing away from them. There's also a lot of bad taste stuff involving plague victims, a stillborn birth and colonial racism.As the sort-of youthful Father Merrin, Stellan Skarsgard is a bit of a mixed bag. He's suitably tough, but his icy exterior never cracks for an instant, meaning it's difficult to feel any sympathy for him. He's supported by a bland James D'Arcy, a pretty-but-wasted Izabella Scorupco and two cameos from Ben Cross (a neat bit of casting, seeing as he himself played an exorcist in THE UNHOLY) and David Bradley. More fun is Alan Ford (SNATCH) as a delightfully scuzzy deadbeat.Finally, after a lot of spectacle and not a great deal of sense, the film plays its true hand in the last twenty minutes. Here it becomes a full blown EXORCIST copy, complete with an extended and dramatic showdown between good and evil and not bad makeup effects. In actual fact I didn't mind the ending, it may be cheesy but at least there's stuff going on. I wish, thought, that it hadn't taken so long to get there – it's one of those films which is all build up and little actual climax. This isn't a particularly great film, but it isn't particularly bad either; just kind of so-so.