Exorcist - The Beginning (2004)
Average Rating: 3.5/10
Reviews Counted: 128
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 114
A mediocre, gory horror film, nowhere near the quality of the 1973 original.
Average Rating: 3.2/10
Critic Reviews: 24
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 23
A mediocre, gory horror film, nowhere near the quality of the 1973 original.
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Average Rating: 2.8/5
User Ratings: 79,844
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Movie Info
Planned for years, but plagued by problems such as the death of director John Frankenheimer before production had even begun and the exiting of star Liam Neeson, the fourth installment of the Exorcist saga finally got off the ground with Paul Schrader (Affliction, Auto Focus) behind the camera and Stellan Skarsgård filling the shoes left empty by Neeson. But the pitfalls didn't stop there, as Morgan Creek decided against their initial approach assigned to Schrader after seeing his finished cut,
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Cast
-
Stellan Skarsgård
Father Lankester Merrin -
Izabella Scorupco
Sarah -
James D'Arcy
Father William Francis -
Remy Sweeney
Joseph -
Julian Wadham
Major Granville -
Andrew French
Chuma -
Ralph Brown
Seargent Major -
Ben Cross
Semelier -
David Bradley
Father Gionetti -
Alan Ford
Jeffries -
Antonie Kamerling
Lieutenant Kessel -
Eddie Osei
Emekwi -
Israel Adurama
Jomo -
Patrick O'Kane
Bession -
Joseph James Bellamy
James -
Cecilia Amati
Little Dutch Girl -
Matti Ristinsen
Medieval Priest -
Lidia Darly
Sebutuana's Wife -
James Paparella
Boy in Market -
Silvio Jimenez Hernandez
Stricken Turkana Worker -
Yemi Ajibade
Turkana Shaman -
Michel Leroy
Tribesman in Hospital -
John Sesay
Turkana Warrior #1 -
Sayoh Lahai
Turkana Warrior #2 -
Alessandro Casula
Preacher with Pazuzu -
Roberto Purvis
Corporal Finn -
Lizzy X
Vocalist -
Indiana Woodward
Little Girl Vocalist -
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Exorcist - The Beginning Trailer & Photos
All Critics (134) | Top Critics (24) | Fresh (16) | Rotten (116) | DVD (28)
The serious Catholic themes that made the original film genuinely disturbing have been flattened out into a cartoonish backstory pitting Merrin against Nazi storm troopers.
Reams of tedious exposition finally give way to a random jumble of horror movie clichés, rising to a shrill pitch of hysteria that is never remotely frightening.
Top CriticAs shocking as an Dokken album cover and, finally, as pious as The Passion of the Christ.
Never feels like anything other than generic, brain-dead, Dolby-jolt, multiplex hackwork -- I kept expecting Skarsgard's habitually catacomb-prowling Merrin to bump flashlights with Lara Croft.
It rates fairly high on both the Scare-O-Meter and Gross-Out Scale, with an early hyena attack guaranteed to have you flinching in terror.
By the time the three or four false endings are finished and the credits roll, moviegoers will be left wondering whether Schrader's version will be released on DVD.
An utter violation of anything that ever made The Exorcist memorable... just gaudy effects and things jumping out to say "boo!"
Brutal. Not for kids.
Contrived, cliché, murky, muddled, and an utterly gory mess...
More than 30 years after the original hit screens, along comes the very best of the sequels.
Most of the movie feels nothing like an Exorcist film.
This is not horror. It's sadism.
Flawed, but still good.
Some things are better left mysterious, and some movies better left unmade.
It isn't quite hell, but clambering to the end of this dusty remnant of an idea is certainly purgatory.
One would think studios would shy away from this dead horse; I guess the power of crap compels them.
What is rather horrifying is how this would-be thriller manages the bizarre feat of being simultaneously dull and completely ridiculous.
Audience Reviews for Exorcist - The Beginning
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Latest News on Exorcist - The Beginning
May 31, 2009:
Five Favourite Films with Renny HarlinFinnish director Renny Harlin has one of the most schizophrenic CVs in movie-dom. He's directed some...
April 14, 2005:
Schrader's Exorcist Prequel Gets a Release DateRemember all the hoopla that surrounded last year's "Exorcist: The Beginning"? How the...
December 9, 2004:
Schrader's Shelved Exorcist Sequel to See Limited Release in '05Moviehole chimes in with an exclusive scoop update on Paul Schrader's version of "Exorcist: The...
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Foreign Titles
- Exorcist: The Beginning (DE)
- Exorcist: The Beginning (CA)
