Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)

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.

Director:

Renny Harlin

Writers:

William Peter Blatty (movie The Exorcist), William Wisher (story)

Stars:

Stellan Skarsgård, Izabella Scorupco, James D'Arcy

6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stellan Skarsgård	...	Father Merrin
Izabella Scorupco	...	Sarah
James D'Arcy	...	Father Francis
Remy Sweeney	...	Joseph
Julian Wadham	...	Major Granville
Andrew French	...	Chuma
Ralph Brown	...	Sergeant Major
Ben Cross	...	Semelier
David Bradley	...	Father Gionetti
Alan Ford	...	Jefferies
Antonie Kamerling	...	Lieutenant Kessel
Eddie Osei	...	Emekwi
Israel Oyelumade	...	Jomo (as Israel Aduramo)
Patrick O'Kane	...	Bession
James Bellamy	...	James

Storyline

Archeologist Lankester Merrin is asked to go to East Africa to excavate a church that has been found completely buried in sand. Merrin is also an ordained Roman Catholic priest who, still haunted by what he was forced to do during World War II in his native Holland, eschews any religion or belief. He's fascinated by what he finds and that it dates hundred of years before Christianity was introduced to the area. Accompanied by a young priest, Father Francis, to keep an eye on the religious elements of what they find, Merrin makes his way to the camp. There he meets a young doctor, Sarah and soon realizes there is an air of gloom that envelops the entire site. Workmen go mad and a young boy is mauled by a pack of hyenas while completely ignoring his younger brother Joseph. Inside the church itself they find signs of desecration. Merrin is forced to re-examine his lack of faith and come face to face with the devil.

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Plot Keywords:

lucifer morningstar character | supernatural horror | church | faith | excavation | 

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Taglines:

A Renny Harlin movie. The director of Cliffhanger, Deep Blue Sea and Die Hard 2

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and gore, disturbing images and rituals, and for language including some sexual dialogue

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [Brazil] Warner Bros. [Spain]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 August 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Exorcist IV

Filming Locations:

Casablanca, Morocco

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$18,054,001, 22 August 2004, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$41,821,986

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$36,178,600

Company Credits

Production Co:

Morgan Creek Entertainment, Dominion Productions, Post Amazers

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min 125 min (Unrated Version)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Both William Peter Blatty and Paul Schrader were nearly thrown out of this film's premiere for loudly laughing during the screening.

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Goofs

The 5th century Byzantine priest at the beginning of the films has a Western-style rosary clasped in his hand. While the use of prayer ropes (alongside other methods of counting prayers) was already known around that time, rosaries only reached their present form during the 15th-16th centuries. Note also that actual Byzantine prayer ropes - known as a komboskini or a chotki - are quite different in form and function from Western rosaries.

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Quotes

Father Merrin: Having orgies including goats doesn't make them possessed, simply horny... and inventive.

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Connections

Edited into Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005)

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Soundtracks

Hurry Back
Composed by Scott Nickoley, Ronald Dunlap & Steve Lang
Courtesy of FirstCom Music

User Reviews

Not the piece of trash that I was expecting

There's no denying that this Exorcist prequel is surplus to requirements in terms of movies that needed to be made; but in spite of that, it's actually not bad at all. 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. We follow him as he joins a British expedition in Kenya after an ancient church that has been buried underground for hundreds of years has been uncovered. You know what's coming, and this discovery is a springboard for all kinds of evil to be inflicted on the surrounding village.

The film really falls down on the character side, as we never really get to know any of them and with the possible slight exception of the lead; not a single one has any depth. That's unimportant, however, as this film's main focus is definitely the atmosphere; and it's suitably malevolent throughout, which does the film no end of favours. The action is very slow, especially for the first hour, but it hardly matters as watching the plot bathe in the atmosphere is always entertaining enough, and while it is slow you can always count on something to happen that will get the excitement levels back up. The film features several shocking and disturbing sequences, my personal favourite being the hyena attack; with the stillborn birth coming a close second. The CGI in the film leaves a lot to be desired, especially on the aforementioned hyena attack, but the effects aren't too much of an important element anyway. When the film boils down to it's ending is when it really lets rip, and the final fifteen minutes or so deliver some really great horror. While this film doesn't even nearly touch the original; it's much better than you would think considering all the turmoil surrounding the release and on the whole I give it a thumbs up!