Exorcist: The Beginning
Originally Written: August 2004
This is a lot more interesting than it had any reason to be. But I want to see someone else make this film, and that might just happen. The history of the prequel to William Friedkin’s 1973 classic “The Exorcist” is such- after original director John Frankenheimer (the original “Manchurian Candidate”) dropped out shortly before he died, Warner Bros. turned to Paul Schrader to direct. Now, if you know what films Schrader has been associated with in the past (he wrote “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” and “Bringing Out the Dead” for Scorsese, and has directed the likes of “Affliction” and “Auto Focus”), you know you aren’t going to see your typical horror film from him. Apparently, Warner Bros. and Morgan Creek- who produced the film- didn’t think about that, and were kind of shocked when they got a film more psychological in nature than “scary.” So what did they do? They fired Schrader, shelved the film, and brought in Renny Harlin- the director of “Die Hard 2,” “The Long Kiss Goodnight,” “Deep Blue Sea,” and “Cutthroat Island”- to rework the script and reshoot it, using some of the same cast, including Stellan Skarsgard (“Ronin,” the original “Insomnia”) in the role of Father Merrin, who was played by Max Von Sydow in the original “Exorcist.” Here’s Harlin’s goal with his version of the film, right from his mouth (as quoted by Entertainment Weekly): “We wanted to make it more visceral; a movie that anybody can grasp without having to go into theological contemplations.”
OK. That sounds interesting. The problem with such a goal, however, is that the theological contemplations that Harlin sought to avoid were part of why the original “Exorcist”- Friedkin’s original theatrical cut, not 2000’s misguided “Writer’s Cut”- has held up so well for 31 years (don’t expect mention of the two sequels, which I haven’t seen). I love that when I watch the original “Exorcist” that I contemplate theology and the nature of good and evil in such context, as well as get sucked into the lives of the characters as they deal with this unusual phenomenon, and question themselves in the process. More visceral filmmaking- which this film certainly achieves (in a loud and bombastic way)- is no substitute for the kind of personal, probing realism Friedkin and writer William Peter Blatty delivered in the original.
That said, Harlin’s “Exorcist: The Beginning” is better than it could have been. Skarsgard is effective as a young Father Merrin, respecting the authority Von Sydow brought to the original role as he fills in some of the blanks in Merrin’s mysterious past. For such a low-budget production (Harlin’s was reportedly $50 million or so, up from Schrader’s $30 million), the production design- undoubtedly thanks to some location work- is first-rate and realistic. And the cinematography by Vittorio Storaro (“Apocalypse Now”) is a brilliant exercise in dark, dramatic lighting that works in the film’s favor at creating an atmosphere of dread akin to the original. This is the best-looking film Harlin has ever done.
However, the film still falters more than it succeeds, by resorting to traditional horror movie scare tactics and gimmicks that are not just blatently ripped from the original, but pale in comparison; one-dimensional writing that fails to develop characters beyond Father Merrin and Sarah, the doctor played by Izabella Scorupco (“Goldeneye”), and borders on thoughtless racism in developing the African tribe doing the digging in escavating a Christian Church surprisingly discovered in Africa in 1949; and following the cliches of modern horror film writing it’s great predecessor- being the original film- was so good at avoiding. Still, while Harlin’s “Exorcist: The Beginning” may be misguided in some of it’s choices- which makes you curious for Schrader’s take that much more (with luck, those DVD release rumors of both being made available will be true)- it’s nice to see a horror film that revels in old-school seriousness-remaining as unsettling as Friedkin’s original was- as opposed to the modern day tongue-in-cheek that infects most contemporary horror entries.
