Exorcist: The Beginning

Plot synopsis:
The film opens with a bloodied and terrified priest slowly making his way across an ancient battlefield full of the bodies of thousands of dead soldiers. There are many crows and hyenas roving around the bodies. The priest reaches the dead body of another priest and tries take a small demon idol of the head of Pazuzu from his hand, but, suddenly, the dead priest briefly comes back to life and stops the living priest from taking it. The camera pulls back to reveal that the entire valley is littered with dead soldiers, many have been crucified upside down. The film then cuts to Cairo, Egypt in 1949, where the young Father Lankester Merrin (played by Skarsgård, who played the same part in Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist) has taken a sabbatical from the Church and devoted himself to history and archaeology as he struggles with his shattered faith. He is haunted especially by an incident in a small village in the occupied Netherlands during World War II, where he served as parish priest: near the end of the war, a sadistic Nazi SS commander, in retaliation for the murder of a German trooper, forces Merrin to participate in arbitrary executions in order to save a full village from slaughter.
After World War II, Merrin is an archaeologist in Cairo, when he is approached by a collector of antiquities named Semelier who asks him to come to a British excavation in a valley called Derati the Turkana region of Kenya. This dig is excavating a Christian Byzantine church built circa 500 A.D. — long before Christianity had reached that region of Africa. Semelier asks Merrin to recover an ancient relic of a demon, thought to be in the church, before the British can find it. The relic is the small head of the Pazuzu idol. Merrin agrees and travels to the dig site. He is joined by Father Francis, a Vatican scholar who was on his way to do missionary work in East Africa but was diverted by the Vatican to ensure the church is not desecrated. Upon arriving at the site, Merrin meets Major Granville, the British military officer in charge of the dig. Merrin also meets the chief excavator, a brutish man names Jefferies with visible boils on his face. He also meets Sarah Novak, a doctor who spent time in a concentration camp during World War II and is haunted by what happened to her there. Merrin's translator and guide is Chuma. In addition, Merrin learns that the diggers are disappearing or leaving in droves because the local tribemen fear the church is cursed. Merrin witnesses a digger inexplicably experience a seizure.
Merrin visits the dig site. Only the dome is uncovered; the rest of the church is buried beneath the earth. Merrin discovers that the church is in perfect condition, as though it had been buried immediately after its construction were completed. Merrin, Francis, and Chuma enter the church through the dome. They find it is near-pristine condition, but there are two oddities. First, all of the statues of the angels holding weapons are pointing the spears downward, whereas it is conventional for statues of angels to either have no weapons or to point them triumphantly toward heaven. Merrin and Francis deduce the sculptors were trying to depict the angels restraining something that was beneath the church. The second disturbing discovery is that someone has vandalized the church by ripping the enormous crucifix from its place on the altar and suspending it with Christ on the cross in an upside-down position, which is considered a desecration.
Merrin is determined to learn more about the archaeological dig and asks to consult with the lead archaeologist, Monsieur Bession. Sarah tells Merrin that Bession went insane three weeks earlier and was transferred to a mental hospital in Nairobi. Merrin visits Bession's tent at the dig site and sees dozens of drawings of the same thing, the demon artifact the collector had asked Merrin to find. Merrin then travels to Nairobi to visit Bession. But when he enters Bession's room, he discovers Bession has carved a swastika on his chest and is speaking through demonic possession in the voice of the sadistic SS commander who tormented Merrin during the war. As Merrin registers these events, Bession slashes his own throat after saying he was "free." Father Gionetti, warden of the asylum, speculates that Bession was not possessed but rather "touched" by a demon, which drove him mad and eventually to suicide. Merrin is very skeptical, but before he returns to the dig site, Father Gionetti gives him the volume of Roman rituals to use in exorcism, although Merrin claims he will never use them.
Upon returning to the village, strange events continue. A local boy is attacked and killed by hyenas that seem to continuously stalk the dig, night and day. His younger brother, Joseph, enters a fugue state after watching his brother ripped to pieces. The local chief's wife gives birth to a stillborn baby who is covered in maggots. Around the same time Merrin discovers a passageway leading to a cave underneath the church that houses an ancient pagan temple with the statue of the demon Pazuzu. He also finds evidence that this temple was used to conduct human sacrifices. Upon his return, he sees the local tribe cremate the stillborn baby. This makes Merrin suspicious because there are stories of an epidemic that wiped out an entire village in the valley 50 years earlier. He had been told that the dead were buried in a graveyard just outside the valley. When he digs up one of the graves of the supposed victims of this plague, it is found out to be empty.
Merrin confronts Father Francis about it and Francis reveals to him about the history of the Derati valley and the real reason he was sent there. He says that 1,500 years prior, a great army led by two priests came to the alley searching for the origin of evil. When they arrived in the valley the evil presence consumed them and they killed each other. When the lone surviving priest made it back, Emperor Justinian ordered a church be built over the site, specifically the pagan temple, and then buried to seal the evil force inside of it. Father Francis reveals to Merrin that the builders of the church never meant it to be recorded in Vatican documents, however, a vague reference to it was recorded and found in 1893. Four priests subsequently came to Derati and enlisted the local tribe to help them. All of the tribesmen and the priests disappeared. The Vatican then ordered that the false graveyard be built and stories of a plague spread around to keep people away from the valley. Then the British just so happened to stumble upon the site. Francis then reveals that the Vatican sent him to see if the legend was true. When Merrin asks about the legend, Francis reveals that it is believed that the valley in Derati was the traditional spot of Lucifer's fall after the war in heaven.
At the end of the film, the dig's doctor, Sarah, turns out to be the possessed individual and has the demon exorcised from her in the tunnels below the church but dies. Dr. Merrin and Joseph emerge from the church, (once again buried in sand) and history has repeated itself. Everyone at the site was killed by an evil presence from the church, except for one priest. Now, only Father Merrin and the little boy are left as the British soldiers and the local tribes have annihilated each other. Merrin returns to Rome and meets with Semelier at a cafe, explaining he was unable to find the relic, Semelier replies, "But you found something....Didn't you?"... As he leaves, Merrin is revealed to be wearing a collar and is now a priest again, having regained his faith in God, after defeating the demon with holy exorcism rituals.

Tags: gothic, murder, paranormal, violence, flashback, good versus evil

Review:
There is no need to watch any of the other Exorcist films before you see this one.This film is getting knocked a lot, but I can't help thinking that much of it might stem from the fact that Morgan Creek initially had Paul Schrader shoot the film, then canned the result when he turned in his cut.
One sequence is even constructed similarly to the opening scene of Apocalypse Now and ends with Father Merrin breaking a mirror.But Harlin references all of the Exorcist films to date as well.
Before Regan and Merrin Met. Director Renny Harlin creates an intriguing, interesting prequel to the events shown in The Exorcist and its two sequels.
This film worked for me for a number of reasons: it is story driven as well as effects driven, it has solid acting, great location shots, and a strangely, highly flawed script that does create interest.
Also there is more mystery in "Domionion" whereas "Beginning" once explained the whole background, and that was it - too easy."Beginning" has a lot more gory effects, swarms of ugly insects and its demon uses obscenities in same way Linda Blair did in the original "Exorcist" movie.
The film was never going to be received well, due to the fact that it's a prequel to one of the greatest horror movies ever made, and of course the whole Paul Schrader fiasco; but I'm happy to report that The Exorcist: The Beginning has risen from amidst the chaos and turned out to be a very decent horror movie.
The action takes place before the events of the classic 70's movie, but it still follows the same character - Father Merrin, who was played by the great Max Von Sydow in the original, and is brought to life by Stellan Skarsgård in this movie.
And the good/evil duel between Merrin and the demon at the end had to be the most comical piece of filming in movie history.
The movie was The Exorcist, the horror film about a possessed child that took the world by storm in 1973.
Religious leaders like Billy Graham condemned the film claiming the movie itself to be possessed by the devil and there were rumors of a curse put upon the production crew that grew increasingly elaborate with every broken telephone connection.All the hype and hysteria lead to buckets and buckets of cash for the Warner Bros.
So based on a franchise that fizzled out with the third installment in 1990 only to be resurrected with the 30-year anniversary DVD edition of the original, Hollywood has decided to go back and try and breathe new life into the series by telling the story of Father Merrin before he encountered the possessed Regan MacNeil in the apt titled Exorcist: The Beginning.Going backwards in time is usually easier for filmmakers as they don't have to deal with leftover character explanations or story plots that still needed resolve.
Other actors and actresses and additional story lines were added to help shape Harlin's new vision and voila,two versions of a film to make the perfect 2-sided DVD (Like that will ever happen!).Whether Schrader's version will ever see the light of day is unknown and that is too bad, for in the interim, we are left with a shell of a film that is so misguided and uninteresting, it made Scary Movie look like an Oscar contender.
For those of you who caution to comment that no film could ever live up to the original, I argue that this movie stands on its own to being the worst of in the series and maybe even one of the worst films of 2004.Exorcist: The Beginning centers on the Father Merrin character.
The original Exorcist (by William Friedkin) film spread a wave of demonic possessions movies that continues unbated today , such as : ¨The changeling¨ , ¨Amytiville¨ series , ¨Darkness¨ ; besides the sequels as ¨Exorcist II¨ (by John Boorman) , ¨Exorcist III¨ (by William Peter Blatty) and prequels ¨Dominion¨ and ¨The beginning¨ .
Stellan Skarsgard plays this role excellently and is easy to relate to the character we know from the original film, when he joins a British excavation in Kenya where a Christian church has been unearthed.
Beneath the church lies the dormant horror that Father Merrin seems destined to meet.The direction is stylish, the cast are very strong, especially Skarguard, D'Arcy and Scorupco; and the film delivers background story and horror far more convincingly than i ever believed it would.7/10.
But I liked the movie even better.After my third viewing I am confident in my assessment that while this is by no means a masterpiece, I was most surprised at the caliber of the production, the top notch cast, (most notably, Stellan Skarsgård, the actor playing the young Father Merrin), and the fact that the story of the incident alluded to in the original is not as cheesy as some viewers would have you believe.
Although there are numerous flaws that prevent this from holding the torch to the original, "Exorcist: The beginning" is a worthy foundation for the demonic saga and casts a triumphant shadow over previous sequels and the climactic encounter is a nostalgic treat, whilst Merrin's rediscovery of his faith can not fail to raise a smile in an otherwise bleak situation..
Having watched the original movie the night before I saw this one, I prayed that the spirit of it wouldn't be lost in all of the newage horror film hooplah.
The odds are always stacked against it in the sense that it has its built in audience but they have the inside scoop (i.e. they know the story of its characters before they do and know that the outcome  no matter how perilous or challenging  will be anti-climactic since the characters are already set in the original film that spawned its bastard child).EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING is a prime example in the fact that its 1973 precursor is vastly superior in its tale of the supernatural that set the gold standard in mixing chills, The Devil, spirituality, man's conflict with his own flaws (i.e. inner demons best kept at bay) and viscerally stomach-churning make-up effects.
It is here he will come into contact with the demon Pazuzu (AKA  Satan) who plagued his character in the first film by possessing little Regan, the Linda Blair character.Mirren meets a beautiful young doctor named Sarah (the exotically gorgeous Scorupco, best known as the 'good' Bond girl in Pierce Brosnan's maiden voyage as James Bond in 'GOLDENEYE') who is there to take care of the natives who've been infected with an unusual infection that has also riddled their chief digger Jeffries (Ford, best known for the malevolent gang leader Bricktop in Guy Ritchie's SNATCH), with some truly gnarly pustules oozing on his kisser.Also in the midst are a military outfit in cahoots with the Catholic church that young priest Father Francis (D'Arcy uncannily channeling a young Timothy Hutton) is assigned to make sure the proceedings at hand keep the religious artifact intact for historical preservation.Yeah, yeah, blah, blah  get to the devil!
(i.e. lights going out; powerful howling winds; etc).The film has been in a state of limbo for almost two years due to many pre-and post production maladies including the sudden death of its first hired director, the late, great John Frankenheimer; Liam Neeson, the first choice to portray the young, conflicted Mirren balked at the last moment causing a stop in production for re-casting; second director Paul Schrader's finished work scrapped due to the studio fearing it wasn't scary enough (this supposedly will re-surface on the film's DVD release  that is Warner Bros.
And sadly I'm hastened to admit the film is pretty bad.It doesn't have the visceral scare factor the initial film did nor does it sustain much interest in the fact that much exposition is given for the first 2/3rds of the film but Skarsgard is a fine choice as his fellow Dane von Sydow's tormented priest whose background we are given as to being a true baptism of fire thanks to another stock villain: the Nazis in flashbacks depicting their usual sadism.Scorupco is equally good and I've always had a thing for her (think of a more erotic Angelina Jolie and there ya go!) and the young Sweeney is very good as a small native child under the evil spell of the devil.But frankly the film is again not scary or foreboding enough to recommend but thankfully is not the turkey it was predicted to be even though Harlin overdoes some of the aforementioned tricks of the trade and particularly the climactic battles between the Africans who want the whites out of their village causing all sorts of violent acts.Hopefully we've seen the last of Pazuzu..
I have seen Ed Wood's infamous Plan 9 from Outerspace, widely considered to be the worst film ever made, and I am having a difficult time trying to find any reasons why Exorcist: The Beginning could be considered a better film (and I am using the word "film" incredibly loosely, because E:TB is nothing more than an adolescent monster movie devoted to cheap thrills, riding on the coattails of a movie which redefined the horror genre.) THe creators of E:TB had a genuinely golden opportunity to create a philosophical, interesting and terrifying film, every bit as original, artistic, and terrifying as The Exorcist.
They meet with Dr. Sarah (Izabella Scorupco), a woman that was brutalized by the Nazis in the war that is responsible for the local hospital, and while investigating, they realized that the church was built to protect the area against an evil force, which has been released along the excavations.I liked the "Exorcist: The Beginning".
The story satisfactorily explains the origin of the character of Father Lancaster Merrin of the classic 1973 "The Exorcist", a decadent man who faces an evil force after losing his faith in God and returns to his path of "Man of God".
Perhaps this might even be somewhat outdated for fans of contemporary "slasher" horror (which, in my opinion, should rather be classified as comedy), yet fans of the original "Exorcist" and moviegoers who can stomach the sordidness and extremity of true horror films will be pleasantly surprised, as was I, in this effective, chilling movie.
I certainly would recommend this movie to anyone looking for a good film and a something a little scary to make your hairs stand up!.
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.
Hollywood sure chews 'em up and spits 'em out: one minute, director Paul Schrader is working on a long-awaited prequel to The Exorcist; the next, he's been replaced by Renny Harlin, one-time director of mega-budget action films starring the likes of Stallone and Willis, now reduced to the task of salvaging other people's failed projects (the result of having had one too many expensive box office disasters of his own).However, despite the film's troubled history, Harlin has managed to turn out a fairly reasonable time-waster.
The story is pretty unremarkable, detailing Father Merrin's struggle with his faith and his first encounter with the demon Pazazu in Africa—but the stylish direction, wonderful cinematography, decent gore (gotta love those snapping limbs!), and a strong central performance from Stellan Skarsgård as the emotionally scarred Merrin give viewers plenty to appreciate.Some of the CGI could have been better—I wasn't very convinced by the hyenas or the insects—and Isabella Scorupco's shower scene is woefully short, but these are minor quibbles for a film that had the potential to be absolutely horrendous..
I thought that Exorcist: The Beginning was a good movie It is set around 40 years before the first exorcism it stars Father Lankester Merrin who has since moved to Africa to work as an archaeologist.
Father Merrin has crisis of faith after the horrific events he witnessed during World War II but when an ancient church is uncovered he must confront a supernatural evil force.Renny Harlin's prequel to the Exorcist's is of almost the same material as Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, using some of the same actors and sets it is debatably technically superior.
Set 24 years before the original film in 1973, this tells the story of Father Merrin (Stellan Skarsgard) has abandoned his faith in god years ago.
Merrin has no other choice to regain his faith in God and to face this demon.Directed by Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2:Die Harder, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Deep Blue Sea) made an entertaining supernatural horror thriller for two thirds of a movie.
It is connected good to the original exorcist and the acting and make-up makes this movie even more better.
Real Kudos should go to Caleb Carr and Renny Harlin, this film compliments the original Exorcist very well, and still maintains its own story, depth and horror.
Working from a paper-thin script (which cobbles together images copied from the original "Exorcist", along with several other horror films), director Renny Harlin is reverent to the classic predecessor without knowing how to give his picture any personality of its own.
But when time after time characters do completely illogical things, direct about-faces in personal motivations without any emotional signals of the difficulty of a given choice, when there are countless instances of cheap tricks designed solely mislead the viewer while having no reference to the world in the film, well, c'mon, now you're in camp territory, even cheese.If you like watching movies where the flick feels the need for "scare" music to make sure you know when jump, this might be a good choice.
This prequel to "The Exorcist" seeks to follow the first confrontation between a young Father Merrin and Pazuzu, countering the opening scenes of the first film.
The astonishing aspect about Exorcist: The Beginning is that Farther Merrin's back-story wasn't made into a film ten or twenty years ago.
I do like the horror genre so I try my best to appreciate a good story line either way.I was drawn to the side-story that "bad things" were happening during the filming of this movie back in 2003.
Low expectations might have something to do with it but overall "Exorcist: The Beginning" is not a bad horror movie.
Merrin must ultimately battle the devil who resides there and may have already possessed a small child in the surrounding village.First there was "Dominion; Prequel to The Exorcist" directed by Paul Schrader and also starring Stellan Skarsgaard as Father Merrin but the movie was nixed and Finnish action movie director Renny Harlin was hired to re-shoot 90% of the film and make it more modern in terms of gory showstoppers and less emphasis on talky meditations of what evil is.
Needless to say it isn't nearly as effective as the original "The Exorcist" but Harlin equips himself well and manages to make a surprisingly coherent film splicing together small elements from Schrader's vision and making it fit here.The prologue from "Dominion", pretty effective in it's own right, is actually bettered here by spreading it over the course of the film and a new one (admittedly CGI infested) inserted here which actually helps audience better grasp why Merrin lost his faith.Overall, "The Beginning" is a solid horror film, not as brooding as "Dominion" but a well paced flick that entertains and even has a solid twist in the end that I didn't see coming..
The story wasn't too shabby, the visual effects were done properly, Mr Skarsgaard has always been a fine actor, and besides from wanting to blow everything up (and he does also like his snow scenes doesn't he ...) Renny Harlin is a competent director who has proved he can turn any idiotic premise into a fun viewing (Deep Blue Sea, Cliffhanger, Mindhunters to name but a few).But of course I understand why this film was met with such disdain.
And on top of that, nobody in the world thought it was a good idea to add yet another title to the Exorcist list, because let's face it, the original still stands as a strong film, all the unnecessary sequels just didn't do it justice.In closing I'd like to say that The Beginning turned out to be a nice popcorn movie, nothing more, nothing less.
When putting Renny Harlin's Exorcist:The Beginning next to The Exorcist you will of course be extremely disappointed and somewhat angry.I like the story Renny was trying to tell but it is far too much overshadowed by Gore,and CGI.The Exorcist was a special film because it didn't need gore,it scared you and made you think.Renny Harlin brings a lot of suspense to his Exorcist movie but it either doesn't pay off,or the pay-off is disappointing because of the gore/CGI put in.Stellan Skarsgård's Father Merrin is excellent though.Merrin was an interesting character in the original,and I really can justify a prequel,Father Merrin's back story needed to be told.The story is set in 1949 roughly four years after the end of WWII,you know some characters had to be affected by it.Nazi's kill children in Merrin's town to force him to tell where he is hiding the Jewish people.Father Merrin is a good character,he has a good heart,and it burst when he saw an innocent child get their brains blown out,he steps down as a priest after this.Merrin has nightmares,and flashbacks through out the film of this,the Demon/Devil uses this against him.I will make a comparison to Father Karras in The Exorcist,Karras is trying hard to keep his faith,and Merrin in this one is trying hard to be able to get it back.Karras fails to be strong when The Devil torments him,and Merrin keeps his faith.The story isn't really scary,and a lot of people will cringe at some of the stuff in it.I like what Renny was trying to say,cut a little of the gore and CGI,and this would be a worthy companion to The Exorcist.I am interested in seeing Paul Schrader's Exorcist:The Beginning because it is supposedly more Psychological like the original..
So, director/writer Paul Schrader was in charge of directing a money stealing prequel that had actually a point to begin with (explaining the previous exorcism Father Merrin had done in "The Exorcist"), and the producers didn't like his so-called "psychological horror" approach.
Father Merrin, the Exorcist, is a priest who has lost his faith in God in this prequel to Friedkin's horror classic.