CaptainHowdy.com The #1 Exorcist Fansite Since 1999
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I received Exorcist: The Beginning in the mail today, and I have now viewed both films. Here is my rundown…
First thing’s first: let’s face it, in a perfect world, neither of these movies would have been produced, and the slot for any kind of official Exorcist prequel would have been carefully thought-out and planned with love; incorporating elements of the original film in tasteful and respective ways, resulting in a single ‘prequel’ installment that would have flown majestically into the original film, and would have been something that we would have felt privileged to have in our prized Exorcist anthology. Sadly, such was not the case.
I viewed Dominion first, and really respected the way Skarsgard portrayed himself as Merrin. That was believable, that kept me interested throughout both films. The CGI utilized for the Hyenas in Dominion was absolutely shocking, and the same can be said for the would-be ‘subliminal’ Captain Howdy face that briefly appears, along with CheChe’s demonic appearance and voice. If such believable effects could have been pulled off in 1973, how could they allow something so shit to be put into a film post-millenium? In any case, those scenes were not pretty. My other complaint with Dominion was the peformance of Father Francis. To me, he was like a replication of Wendy from The Shining; a whining, scrawny, irritating character who I was hoping WOULD die at some point throughout the film. Thankfully, he did. Perhaps a little too late for my liking, however.
Now, with The Beginning, the role of Francis was much more appealing. He had dignity, and seemed (at least, to me) to fit the role much more believably than the Wendy clone in Dominion. The CGI used for the Hyenas in The Beginning looked much smoother and more believable, and I absolutely loved the performance of Alan Ford. I have a soft spot for him because of his role in Snatch, but I still found him to be a fun character. I also admired Merrin’s line of “I shouldn’t, but my will is weak,” from the original film, along with the clock stopping as he awakens from his flashback dream sequence. In regards to that, I found Merrin’s overall distress and desperation from it much more powerful in The Beginning, despite the way it was hacked from Dominion.
Had the equally disastrous make-up from The Beginning been re-vamped, and not simply attempted to rip-off Regan’s make-up from the original (with which they entirely missed the point; Regan’s scars existed for a reason – the result of scarring herself with the crucifix, they weren’t just there for the fun of it), and removed some extremely trite dialogue, I feel that The Beginning would have been quite a good film.
For me, here is what needs to be done: the overall psychological aspects of Dominion kept, replacing Francis with The Beginning’s Francis, keeping Scorupco as Merrin’s love interest. Re-doing the make-up and voice-over effects to something the audience would actually respect and believe (it’s post-millenium, for Christ’s sake!), and cutting down on the irritating-as-Hell British military (save Alan Ford).
Overall, I think I enjoyed The Beginning the most. A merging of ideas and a competent director, I think, would have saved it. Perhaps we will see a third prequel somewhere down the track…?
I quite enjoyed Dominion. Still waiting for E:TB to arrive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WUIc94E1Zs
I found the end of that scene rather gripping.
Given that the ‘franchise’ should have gone in accordance with Blatty’s true wishes — his trilogy of faith — The Exorcist, The Ninth Configuration and Legion, I will say yes. I like them all, and rate all three 10/10. It is one cohesive theological masterpiece that never came to be because of fat, money hungry, corporate pigs.
