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Exorcist - The Beginning (Widescreen Edition)
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 9780790778198
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC
ISBN: 079077819X
Item Dimensions: 100
Label: Warner Home Video
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled),
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
MPN: 24674
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: March 01, 2005
Running Time: 113 minutes
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: August 20, 2004
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Editorial Review:
"This movie is cursed!" exclaimed movie-magazine headlines regarding Exorcist: The Beginning, but those dire warnings turned out to be exaggerated. Considering a tumultuous production history that actually did seem cursed, Renny Harlin's much-maligned prequel to The Exorcist is a surprisingly competent, serious-minded shocker filled with the same anxious foreboding that made the 1973 original so phenomenally effective. The story lacks focus and feels cobbled together (perhaps the result of its tortured development, which included the untimely death of original director John Frankenheimer), but Stellan Skarsgård is well-cast as Father (now Mr.) Merrin, a lapsed Catholic priest summoned to East Africa in 1949 to retrieve a demonic idol. He discovers a buried church, a vast underground cavern, demonic possession, and a legacy of carnage that preys upon guilt-ridden memories from his parish in Nazi-occupied Holland. Harlin delivers the gross-out moments that Warner Brothers demanded, but otherwise shows remarkable restraint while cinematographer Vittorio Storaro delivers doom-laden visual atmosphere. It's not the classic many were hoping for--not even close--but it's still a win-win scenario for horror fans, since it's rumored the unreleased and "abandoned" version directed by Paul Schrader will be paired with this film for its DVD release. Comparisons will no doubt prove interesting. --Jeff Shannon
Prequel. Exorcist: The Beginning traces the story of Father Merrin back to his first encounter with the Devil during his missionary work in Africa.Running Time: 114 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR UPC: 085392467426 Manufacturer No: 24674
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Get thee behind me, awful movie.
The original Exorcist scared the crap out of me, but this movie just bored me. Skarsgard is a pleasure to watch, as always, and the movie is competently filmed, but it is just terrible overall. The dialogue was ridiculous, the plot was stupid, the special effects were lame, and the horror was completely non-existent. I'm not going to devote one more thought to this very poor effort.
Rating:  - Lame attempt at horror
If you were finally looking for a worthy candidate to live up to the original 1973 movie then keep looking. This film is a lot more about cheap shots at startling people than actually bringing out the kind of scare and depth that the first movie gave us. While production values are high and the movie does achieve its goal at scaring its audience it's done at the expense of a good story. The sad thing is there was room to make this a truly engaging movie, but instead they took the low road. Sorry ... Read More
Rating: - The Face of Cinematic Evil
"The demon is a liar," Father Merrin intones in the original Exorcist. "He will lie to confuse us. But he will also mix lies with the truth to attack us." Unfortunately, the same is true about certain Hollywood producers and directors. Case in point: Exorcist: The Beginning, directed by Renny Harlin.
It seems the best that can be said about this film by those who prefer it over Paul Schrader's more intellectually honest rendering of the Father Merrin story is that there is better ... Read More
Rating: - Exorstink
I wouldn't say I had high hopes for this but I at least expected it to be decent. It wasn't. I was falling asleep for the last 20 minutes and absolutely couldn't wait for it to end it was so dull. I like watching scary/horror movies in the dark in my basement near Halloween and that's twice now that Exorcist sequels completely disappointed me. Very heavy handed, it was almost like watching one of those horrible "Friday The Thirteenth" movies where the music is used to make you think something ... Read More
Rating: - great up until...
i liked the movie immensely, up until we follow the priest down into the hole to face- the GIRL DEVIL?! im sorry, forgive me if im wrong, but in the first movie, a priest talking to father carras clearly states, "the same thing happened to father merrin in africa. in that case, the possessed was a young BOY." a BOY. the little boy, which all the evidence pointed to all throughout the prequel, was the clear antagonist. why the stupid twist? there was no TWIST needed! if i wanted to see the devil in ... Read More
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