Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)

Director: Renny Harlin

Starring: Stellan Skarsgard, Izabella Scorupco, James D’Arcy, Julian Wadham

Years before Father Lankester Merrin helped save Regan MacNeil’s soul, he first encounters the demon Pazuzu in East Africa. This is the tale of Father Merrin’s initial battle with Pazuzu and the rediscovery of his faith.

The original ‘The Exorcist’ film back in 1973 started with Father Merrin on an archeological dig in Iraq, where he finds a sculpture resembling an ancient demon, Pazuzu. ‘Exorcist: The Beginning’ tells the story of Father Merrin being sent to discover the Pazuzu, believed to be in a church found where a church shouldn’t be – built a thousand years before Christianity. The film explores the events surrounding the dig and their discovery. This film is set in Cairo, and is set before the events of ‘The Exorcist’.

Stellan Skarsgard stars as Father Merrin, a priest who lost his faith due to an incident during the War, and resorted to archeology instead. I loved the mystery and adventure element of this horror, and the discovery of something unexplained. The film takes us on a chilling and disturbing journey of evil and possession. There are many scary moments – some truly frightening, but also many fake scares. The hyenas were creepy. Amidst everything going on, Father Merrin was still fighting his own inner demons as well, haunted by visions of the events that lead to him losing is faith. I thought Stellan Skarsgard delivered a very good performance.

There’s a lot going on during the finale, but ultimately I enjoyed this good vs evil film. Off course, it is not nearly as good or frightening as the original film, but the films are nothing alike so shouldn’t really be compared. I enjoyed this film, although most critics hated it.

Another film ‘Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist’ was also made (by director Paul Schrader), very similar to ‘Exorcist: The Beginning’. Interestingly enough, critics preferred ‘Dominion’, although ‘The Beginning’ did much better at the box office. I also found ‘Dominion’ a bit boring. ‘Exorcist: The Beginning’ was definitely better (for me) and more of an adventure.

Would I watch it again? Yes.