Franchise’s curse afflicts ‘The Exorcist’ ‘prequel’

  • By Robert Horton / Herald Movie Critic
  • Friday, August 20, 2004 9:00pm
  • LifeGo-See-Do

Is it just superstition, or is there some curse hovering around “The Exorcist” franchise?

The 1973 film was a huge hit. One would imagine a series of sequels, but “Exorcist II” was widely ridiculed and “Exorcist III” didn’t come out until 1990, at which point interest was so low the film was dumped on the market and forgotten.

Those sequels are more interesting than their lousy reputations, but it took a big re-release of the original in 2000 to scare up new interest. In its aftermath, even a slam-dunk “prequel” has had its problems. A completed version of “Exorcist: The Beginning” was directed by Paul Schrader and written by “Alienist” author Caleb Carr.

Those are talented people, and maybe we’ll get to see their version on DVD someday. But the studio hated it, and scripted an entirely new (or close to entirely new) version, directed by “Deep Blue Sea” guy Renny Harlin.

One might have expected a schlockier approach from Harlin, but “Exorcist: The Beginning” attempts a serious take on the material. The concept re-unites us with Father Lancaster Merrin, the priest played in the 1973 by Max Von Sydow.

It’s 1949, and the young Merrin (played by Stellan Skarsgard) has lost his faith. After witnessing the horrors of the Holocaust, he has given up the priesthood and works as an archaeologist, which is how he ends up in Kenya investigating a newly unearthed church.

Need I tell you that by disturbing the well-preserved church, something evil has been set loose? Or that Father Merrin, a doctor (Izabella Scorupco) and a young priest (James D’Arcy) must acknowledge this as demonic possession?

Harlin serves up periodic shocks, such as a boy being torn apart by hyenas and a baby crawling with maggots. These may be necessary to keep the horror-movie crowd in their seats, because there are long stretches of somber reflection, tortured World War II flashbacks, and faith-based angst.

The film was shot by one of the world’s great cinematographers, Vittorio Storaro, and while it’s not up with his best work, it still has a consistent, red-dust look. Scorupco is around to provide some sex appeal, which she does handily (she was a 007 dish in “GoldenEye”).

Skarsgard, usually a fine actor (he was a colorful villain in “King Arthur”), looks as though he might be thinking about the other version of the movie he shot with Schrader. But then Renny Harlin is not known for his touch with actors.

“The Exorcist” drew many of its chills from being set in an ordinary household; which made the intrusion of satanic messages and priests chanting in Latin all the more unnerving.

“The Beginning” is exotic to begin with, so its supernatural events are less disconcerting. Part of the appeal of a “Satan vs. God” movie is the arcane ritual and Catholic doctrine associated with exorcism, and this one doesn’t have nearly enough of that. It needs more Latin.

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