Exorcist: The Beginning

R

Released Aug 20, 2004

1h 54m

Horror

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List

11%

133 Reviews

Tomatometer

27%

50,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Father Merrin (Stellan Skarsgard) is haunted by his experiences in World War II, when occupying Nazi troops forced him to be complicit in their atrocities. In the aftermath, he has renounced his faith and begun working as an archaeologist. He travels to Kenya, where a fifth-century Byzantine church holds ancient relics. There he encounters Sarah (Izabella Scorupco), a doctor and concentration camp survivor. The strange occurrences that soon begin reunite him with the evil he sought to escape.

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Critics Consensus

A mediocre, gory horror film, nowhere near the quality of the 1973 original.

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Rospi D

Let's admit it if Exorcist: The Beginning camed before the first then the critics would be different. It has strong scenes, performances "the CGI could be better" but a perfect setting - country, actors and screenplay are the right choices for a well constructed Religious film like this. Just ignore the previous & new garbage and watch this movie directly.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/19/24

Full Review

Elvis D

Tras haber convertido The Exorcist en una trilogía que fue rápidamente olvidada, Warner Bros decidió excavar más a fondo ofreciendo una entrega que nos remonta varios años atrás antes de la primera película. Esta precuela toma elementos de las primeras dos películas y nos presenta la primera confrontación entre Merrin y Pazuzu. La película es evidentemente como muchas entregas del cine de terror lanzadas en los 2000, pero esta película mantiene ciertas características reconocibles de The Exorcist. Supieron replicar bien la estatua de Pazuzu, la historia logra encajar bien en el canon de la película original y la versión poseída de Sarah logra recordar un poco a Regan cuando estaba poseída. Una cuestión que queda es como la estatua de Pazuzu y su fragmento acabaron en Iraq como se vio al principio de la primera película. La película no toma en cuenta los flashbacks de la segunda película que presentaban a Merrin exorcizando a Pazuzu, pero se puede suponer que ese segundo enfrentamiento ocurrió tiempo después de lo que se presencia en esta película. Stellan Skarsgård logra encarnar una aceptable versión de Merrin antes de la versión veterana que interpreto Max Von Sydow. En aspectos técnicos y visuales, la película no logra tener ese aspecto terrorífico que tanto caracteriza a la película original, pero esta precuela de The Exorcist es una entrega decente para conocer los sucesos que darían inicio a la historia que todos conocemos. Mi calificación final para esta película es un 8/10.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/12/23

Full Review

KerryWhite's S

Rating: 6/10. 61/100

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/05/23

Full Review

Sahooon C

You'll be better of if you skipped this film. I didn't hate it but no one should go out their way to watch it. Just watch the first exorcist and pretend the rest don't exist

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

08/30/23

Full Review

joey v

Very boring/mediocre horror flick couldn't wait until it was over

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Ever remains as disturbing and sickening over scares besides some effective atmospheric creeps amid an unoriginal, uninspired direction despite a supposedly fairly better craft in being somewhat closer towards the original while Stellan Skarsgard did the best he could with given material in nicely capturing his acquainted character. (C-)

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

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Renny Harlin

Director

Stellan Skarsgård

Father Lankester Merrin

James D'Arcy

Father Francis

Izabella Scorupco

Sarah

Remy Sweeney

Joseph

Julian Wadham

Major Granville

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30%

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Exorcist: The Beginning: Trailer 1

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Namrata Joshi

Outlook

The sfx in the climactic duel with the Devil is cheesy to say the least and the Devil's makeup render him more laughable than scary. On the face of it, the dice is loaded heavily against the movie.

Rated: 2/4

Jan 7, 2019

Full Review

J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

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.

Feb 27, 2007

Full Review

Time Out

Reams of tedious exposition finally give way to a random jumble of horror movie clichs, rising to a shrill pitch of hysteria that is never remotely frightening.

Jun 24, 2006

Full Review

James Croot

Stuff.co.nz

One of the most pointless prequels of all-time.

Rated: 2/5

Oct 7, 2022

Full Review

Nigel Floyd

The List

Leaving aside the folly of making a prequel to William Friedkin's 1973 horror classic, this fails on every level. Ninety minutes of tedious exposition give way to a random jumble of horror clichés that rise to a shrill pitch of hysteria.

Rated: 1/5

Apr 22, 2019

Full Review

Dorothy Woodend

The Tyee (British Columbia)

Unlike the first film, in which audience members fainted and threw up, the showdown between good and evil prompted more laughter amongst the audience than terror.

Aug 24, 2017

Full Review

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Synopsis

Father Merrin (Stellan Skarsgard) is haunted by his experiences in World War II, when occupying Nazi troops forced him to be complicit in their atrocities. In the aftermath, he has renounced his faith and begun working as an archaeologist. He travels to Kenya, where a fifth-century Byzantine church holds ancient relics. There he encounters Sarah (Izabella Scorupco), a doctor and concentration camp survivor. The strange occurrences that soon begin reunite him with the evil he sought to escape.

Director: Renny Harlin
Producer: Guy McElwaine, David Robinson
Screenwriter: William Wisher Jr., William Peter Blatty, Caleb Carr, Alexi Hawley
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Morgan Creek Productions
Rating: R (Gore|Disturbing Images and Rituals|Language|Some Sexual Dialogue|Strong Violence)
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 20, 2004, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 7, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $41.8M
Runtime: 1h 54m
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby SRD, DTS, Surround
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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