Exorcist: The Beginning

First, let me say that I didn't know Dominion existed until I discovered it going through the program guide. I started watching and man was I confused! I though that there was ANOTHER prequel that I didn't know about, until I continued to watch. Dominion seemed to me like a movie made out of pieces of film on the floor of the editing room. Clara Bellar's acting was awful in my opinion. I was completely distracted by her performance as well as several others.

While not a true horror movie, I really enjoyed The Beginning. I've watched it many times and found it very suspenseful. It kept my attention. I enjoyed the actors and the story. I've watched it over ten times and the scenes where Father M had to choose those to die? Chilling. Who wouldn't lose faith? The boy being torn apart? There were some good scenes.

Peace

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spits 'em out: one minute, director Paul Schrader is working on a long-awaited prequel to The Exorcist; the next, he's been replaced by Renny Harlin, one-time director of mega-budget action films starring the likes of Stallone and Willis, now reduced to the task of salvaging other people's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.

This psychological thriller centers Priest Merrin (Stellan Skargard) who's assigned by Vatican to solve the enigma upon a buried church and built in Turkana (Kenya) . He's helped by another priest (James Dárcy) and a nurse (Isabella Scorupco) . They will have to take on Lucifer and evil forces . The fighting will be terrible . The final showdown between the starring Father and the devil is terrifying and spooky .

This is a horrifying and startling story about possession with usual poltergeist phenomenon caused by the supernatural demon , because of the violence and crude murders are extreme it isn't apt for boys , nor squeamish . From start to finish the screams , chilling frames and the scary scenes are unstoppable . This prequel blends terror , suspense , horror , shocks , strong emotions and lots of gore . The picture has violent shots , as a child has been eaten by African dogs or another one making himself savage acts , that's why the film is rated ¨R¨ .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¨ . This rare film not for squeamish and is superior to ¨Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist¨ by Paul Schrader , being shot at the same time , remaining Schrader's version for the market video . Nice acting by Stellan Skarsgård , he is playing a younger version of Max Von Sydow's character from The exorcist (1973) . Skarsgård is nearly a decade older than Von Sydow was during the filming of the original movie . Special effects , colorful cinematography , creepy music and intelligence by director Renny Harlin , all combined to make it a decent film .

The motion picture achieved success in the box office but inferior to the first Exorcist , but more than Exorcist II (John Boorman) and Exorcist III (William Peter Blatty) which obtained flops . Trevor Ravin music and Vittorio Storaro cinematography are excellent . Rennie Harlin direction is acceptable and originally supposed to be a best adaptaion than Paul Schrader retelling . As Schrader was originally hired as director of The Exorcist : The beginning (2004) but it was deemed by Morgan Creek as a failed version and ultimately rejected his peculiar approach . The decision was made to extensively rewrite and re-shoot the script, re-cast several roles , add new roles and give the director's chair to Renny Harlin . Schrader's version was commercially unmarketable at the cinemas and released direct to video , as a bonus feature on the DVD release of Harlin's version . Rating: 6/10 . Passable . The flick will appeal to terror and Exorcist series fans .Although is a prequel of prior movie , it's one the highest earning horror picture of the last years .

I watched Schrader's "Dominion" in the morning and Harlin's "Beginning" in the afternoon, hoping that watching them back to back would make a comparison easier than for most people who waited a year until the deleted version by Schrader was finally released. Renny Harlin used only a few minutes from the already existing footage, so "Beginning" really became a new movie. But unfortunately, the whole effort of re-shooting didn't make the movie better.

In Harlin's "remake", we get a smart young priest, straight from the Vatican (James D'Arcy) who has received all the information about the buried church in advance. In "Dominion", Gabriel Mann played an innocent priest who does not expect anything terrible, he just wants to start a school in the middle of Africa. The latter was the better screenplay idea in my opinion, because D'Arcy is such a cool "professional" that we don't really care about him, whereas Mann was a character the audience loves for his human feelings. 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. This will probably entertain people who just want a horror movie and nothing else. Mind you, "Beginning" also has good photography, a few unforgettable moments like the battlefield at the beginning and good actors! But the release of the original version "Dominion" proved that the story has had more potential, Schrader worked more careful with the characters and their relationships and gave more food for thought. I voted 6/10 for "Beginning" and 8/10 for "Dominion".

In 1949, the British army has stumbled onto a buried Byzantium church in Kenya. The church's date is too early and shouldn't exist. Merrin (Stellan Skarsgård) is a former priest who suffered a traumatic war experience. He's called in to help with the archaeological dig. Father Francis (James D'Arcy) is sent in by the Vatican, and Sarah (Izabella Scorupco) is also trying to escape the horrors of WWII.

This is simply not a scary movie. That's the biggest and really the only measuring stick for a horror movie. At almost 2 hours, it's way too long. The pace is way too slow. The look of the production seems smaller than what the budget would indicate.

The feel of the movie hearkens back to the 70s, and not in good way. Horror movies have moved on, but this one still believes that flies are scary. The CGI is not the best. The blood and guts are acceptable. The baby with maggots looks creepy. But other times, the movie holds back too much. The coyote attack should have been scary, but it's never given a chance. It's just not good enough for today's audience.