The Exorcist: The Beginning

(Herald rating: *)


Doomed prequel to the 1974 shocker: director No 1 John Frankenheimer died, director No 2 Paul Schrader's slow-burning version was trashed, this is director No 3 Renny Harlin's in-your-face gore-fest. When he finished shooting, Harlin was knocked over by a car in Rome. Spooky. It tells how the flawed priest, Father Merrin (Max Von Sydow then, Stellan Skarsgard now), grappled with the demon Pazuzu in Africa during the 40s. Harlin overplays his hand with bad CGI, too-obvious "scares" and his trademark volume; Skarsgard underplays his.