Rating: R
Genre:
Horror
Theatrical Release: 05/20/2005(USA
Release Date: 10/25/2005
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD5.1
Run Time: 116 Minutes
Flags: Graphic Violence, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Profanity
Distributor/Studio: Warner Home Video
In 2003, respected filmmaker and screenwriter
Paul Schrader was hired to direct a prequel to the 1973 box-office smash
The Exorcist. However, when
Schrader turned in his film to executives at
Morgan Creek Productions, the producers felt the film was not marketable, and they opted to remake the picture with director
Renny Harlin, who brought a more visually aggressive approach to the story than
Schrader's more contemplative vision. In 2004,
Harlin's film,
Exorcist: The Beginning, was released to middling critical and financial response, while the following year,
Schrader's version went into limited release following film festival screenings. In
Schrader's
Exorcist: The Prequel,
Father Lankester Merrin, the aging exorcist from the original story (played here by
Stellan Skarsgård) is introduced in 1944, as he serves a flock in Holland during the Nazi occupation. After Nazi officers force
Merrin to choose ten members of his congregation for immediate execution,
Merrin is left an emotionally broken man, and he takes a leave of absence from his duties. Three years later,
Merrin is taking part in an archeological project in East Africa, and he and his crew -- including priest
Father Francis (
Gabriel Mann),
Major Granville (
Julian Wadham), and
Rachel Lesno (
Clara Bellar) -- discover that a church from the fifth century has been buried in the desert. As
Merrin and his associates discover that that a porthole to evil is located in the church,
Cheche (
Billy Crawford), a local boy
Merrin has taken under his wing, begins showing signs of having fallen under the spell of Satanic forces.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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