Product Details

• Actors: Stellan Skarsgård, Gabriel Mann, Billy Crawford, Izabella Scorupco, James D'Arcy
• Directors: Renny Harlin
• Writers: Alexi Hawley, Caleb Carr, William Peter Blatty, William Wisher Jr.
• Producers: David C. Robinson, Guy McElwaine, James G. Robinson
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: March 1, 2005
• Run Time: 114 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (162 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00065HKKW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #387,647 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

"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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You People Need to Open Your Eyes, August 27, 2004

By 

John (United States) - See all my reviews

Yes, you need to open your eyes and stop listening to these idiotic reviewers in the newspapers and television because I've never seen such biased reviews. It seems like they went into this movie ONLY looking for the negative things to b*tch about rather than concentrate on what was really going on. First of all, the movie was NOT EVEN THAT GORY. Ok, the baby covered in maggots. GET OVER IT. Every single person who whined and complained about that scene has seen 10 times worse in movies and you know you have. Second of all, another big complaint about this movie by those so-called professional reviewers was some crap about having lifted other scenes from famous movies. Uhhh, wait a minute, this sounds familiar. Didn't we just give lavish praise borderlining fellatio to Quentin Tarantino for Kill Bill 1 and 2? Didn't he do the EXACT same thing. Not only did he steal scenes from old style kung fu flicks and spaghetti westerns (not that I watch that crap but I heard that's what happened), but there was also endless amounts of blood and gore in that crap, infinitly more than there was in the Exorcist: Beginning. A heaping pile of contradiction is what that is.

All ranting aside, this movie was a sitting duck and I know why it was so easy to bash. For one thing, it was the prequel to a timeless classic. But this movie is not, I repeat, is not trash. It kept me enthralled from beginning to end. Of course it was not exactly like the original, it was modernized a bit. They paid homage to the original in a few scenes which I thought was fantastic. After watching this and then watching the original again after, it made even more sense. This is a movie that can make you think. But then again, people don't want to think about anything. They just want to see moving pictures. Mindless action is good once in awhile, but when the market is saturated with it, it can become excruciatingly boring and retarded. Watch the movie for what it is and not look for all the negative aspects of it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Exorcist IV: We Will Scare You To Death If You Watch Another Sequel, October 30, 2006

By 

Steven Hedge "Movie Fan" (Somewhere "East of Eden") - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Exorcist - The Beginning (Widescreen Edition) (DVD)

Chad had earlier given another great synopsis of this last entry into the world of Pazuzu. You might want to read any of his reviews just to get a good understanding of what went on in the movies he's reviewed.

I do not disagree with him on this one as far as the quality of the film. This film is a mess. I always wanted to know what the previous meeting between Father Merrin and Pazuzu was like based off of the hints given us in the original Exorcist film, but this shallow film did little for me. I think Kat's review is on the money with this flick. If it wasn't for the good performance Stellan Skarsgard, playing Father Merrin, I would give this film a zero. I wonder what the author of the original story thinks (or would think if he's dead) how this prequel was handled. Only in his mind would we really know how Father Merrin really battled Pazuzu.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprising, March 6, 2005

By 

Sappho (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Exorcist - The Beginning (Widescreen Edition) (DVD)

I have to admit that I was pretty skeptical about watching this movie, and have to confess that I never liked the original Exorcist. I always have bad reviews about these movies because they look false or don't have a real storyline, but this movie really impressed me. Stellan Skarsgård gives a strong performance, in my opinion, as Father Merrin, with a good supporting cast to back him up. Though quite gory at times, the movie keeps you interested, and the end has a nice twist. Overall, I enjoyed the movie and would recommend it to anyone interested in The Exorcist movies series.