Release Date: 7 Oct 2004

Synopsis (Courtesy from Warner Bros) :

Father Lankester Merrin thinks that he has glimpsed the face of Evil. In the years following World War II, Merrin (STELLAN SKARSGÅRD) is relentlessly haunted by memories of the unspeakable brutality perpetrated against the innocent people of his parish. In the wake of all he has seen, both his faith in his fellow man and his faith in the Almighty have deserted him. He can no longer, honestly, call himself a man of God. Merrin has traveled far from his native Holland in a desperate attempt to escape the horrors that he witnessed there. While drifting through Cairo, he is approached by a collector of rare antiquities to join a British archeological excavation in the remote Turkana region of Kenya. They have unearthed a Christian Byzantine church in inexplicably pristine condition - as if it had been buried on the day it was completed. The collector wants Merrin, an Oxford-educated archeologist, to find an ancient relic hidden within the church before the British discover it. But beneath the church, something much older sleeps, waiting to be awoken. Madness descends upon the local villagers and the contingent of British soldiers sent to guard the excavation. Merrin watches helplessly as the atrocities of war are repeated against another innocent village - atrocities he had prayed never to see again. The blood of innocents flows freely on the East African plain, and the horror has only just begun. In the place where Evil was born, Merrin will finally see its true face.

Review:

After plaguing with endless production matters from re-shoot to re-casting and changing of Directors. The prequel will be terrifying audiences comes October 7. Helmed by Director Renny Harlin who gave us non-stop action movies liked "Die Hard 2" and "Cliffhanger" (amazingly, he started his directing career in one of the "Nightmare on Elm Street" sequel), the prequel deals with the younger Father Merrin, a man who has lost all faith in God after witnessing and haunted by massacres during the Nazi era. Merrin is then invited to Kenya to find an ancient relic but strange happenings start to descend on the villagers as the excavation goes deeper.

Stellan Skarsgård performance as Father Merrin is faultless and engaging. (There was a stage whereby Liam Neeson was attached to take on the role). Similarily so does the rest of the relatively unknown cast. Although the whole reshoot process lasted less than 45 days, it never shows in the movie except for some special effects and matte paintings which were poorly rendered in today's technological standards. Sequences involving CG hyenas and crows are apparently too cheesily done too.

Aided by tremendously loud superb digital sound, the scares are generous in proportions as compared to popular Japanese horror thrillers liked "The Ring" or "Ju-On". The squemish might be discomfort at some of the more bloody sequences. Well, the whole concept of evil awaiting in the dark is ominous and freakishly frightening. Men is forever tempted by lust and weak by faith even in the case of Father Merrin, a man of God. Evil subdued you when you are at your weakest which is the basic underlying message of this movie. "Exorcist: The Beginning" will not go down in history as a wonderful prequel to the original classic but it's still feel good to watch the father brandishing evil with his cross and bible.

Movie Rating: B-

Review by Linus.T.