Download Film Exorcist The Beginning [2021]

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The film's hero, Merrin (Stellan Skarsgard), considers himself an ex-priest; during World War II he was forced by Nazis to choose some villagers for death in order that a whole village not be killed. This is seen by a Nazi officer as an efficient way to undermine Merrin's belief in his own goodness, and indeed forces the priest to commit evil to avoid greater evil. This is not theologically sound; the idea is to do no evil and leave it to God to sort out the consequences.

The film's battle between good and evil involves everyone on the dig, notably the young priest Father Francis (Gabriel Mann), who has been assigned by Rome to keep an eye on Merrin. Then there is the doctor Rachel (Clara Bellar), whose special concern is a deformed young man named Cheche (Billy Crawford). Curiously, Cheche seems to improve beyond all expectations of medicine, as if something supernatural were going on. Also on the site, in "British East Africa," is the Sergeant-Major (Ralph Brown), a racist who assigns the devil's doings to the local Africans.

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In a lesser movie, there would be humid goings-on at the camp, and a spectacular showdown between the humans and special effects. Not in the Schrader version, which trusts evil to be intrinsically fascinating and not in need of f/x enhancement. His vision, however, was not the one the powers at Morgan Creek were looking for (although Schrader was filming a script by Caleb Carr and William Wisher Jr. that the producers presumably approved). After Schrader delivered his version, a scenario developed that is, I think, unprecedented in modern movie history. The studio, having spent millions on the Schrader version, hired the director Renny Harlin to spend more millions remaking it in a presumably more commercial fashion.

Harlin kept some of the actors, including Skarsgard, and substituted others (Gabriel Mann was replaced by James D'Arcy, Clara Bellar by Izabella Scorupco). The same cinematographer, the great Vittorio Storaro, filmed for both directors. After Harlin's version did a break-even $82 million at the box office but drew negative reviews, Schrader succeeded in getting his version screened at a film festival in Brussels, where the positive reception inspired this theatrical release, a resurrection fully in keeping with the film's theme.

I've seen both versions and much prefer Schrader's, and yet it must be said that Harlin did not prostitute himself in his version. Indeed, oddly, it opens with more talk and less excitement than the Schrader version (Harlin dissipates the power of the Nazi sequence by fragmenting it into flashbacks). What is fascinating from a movie buff's point of view is that the movie has been filmed twice in different ways by different directors. Maybe this is what Gus Van Sant was getting at when he inexplicably did his (almost) shot-by-shot remake of Hitchcock's "Psycho." Film students are often given a series of shots and assigned to edit them to tell a story. They can fit together in countless ways, to greater or less effect.

Horror classic The Exorcist received nearly identical prequels, released a year apart, and the reason behind that happening is rather complex. 1973's The Exorcist is undoubtedly one of the most celebrated horror films ever, earning ten Oscar nominations, and winning two. The Exorcist also became the first horror film to receive a Best Picture nomination, starting what is today still an extremely small club. The harrowing tale of teenage Regan MacNeil's possession by a foul-mouthed demon, The Exorcist sits at a level most horror films could never hope to reach.

In 2002, Morgan Creek Productions hired John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate) to direct a prequel to the original Exorcist film. Liam Neeson was hired to play a young Father Merrin, and production was set to begin that summer. That was until Frankenheimer died, leaving the prequel without a director and star, as Neeson also exited afterward. Taxi Driver writer and Cat People director Paul Schrader was then hired to take over the project, with Stellan Skarsgard cast as Father Merrin.

While Schrader insists he faithfully filmed the script provided to him by Morgan Creek, the company ended up being unhappy with the finished product, and got cold feet on releasing it. Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4) was then brought in to do some reshoots, but that ended up spiraling into a full-on rewrite of the prequel, and full reshoot of the film, despite Schrader's version already being mostly finished. Harlin's prequel, released under the title Exorcist: The Beginning in 2004, went on to be both a critical and commercial failure.

Michael Kennedy is an avid movie and TV fan that's been working for Screen Rant in various capacities since 2014. In that time, Michael has written over 2000 articles for the site, first working solely as a news writer, then later as a senior writer and associate news editor. Most recently, Michael helped launch Screen Rant's new horror section, and is now the lead staff writer when it comes to all things frightening. A FL native, Michael is passionate about pop culture, and earned an AS degree in film production in 2012. He also loves both Marvel and DC movies, and wishes every superhero fan could just get along. When not writing, Michael enjoys going to concerts, taking in live professional wrestling, and debating pop culture. A long-term member of the Screen Rant family, Michael looks forward to continuing on creating new content for the site for many more years to come.

"The Eras Tour has been the most meaningful, electric experience of my life so far and I'm overjoyed to tell you that it'll be coming to the big screen soon Starting Oct 13th you'll be able to experience the concert film in theaters in North America!" Swift tweeted.

The Eras Tour film comes after Swift completed her U.S. leg of the tour, with many fans unable to attend a show. Swift's decision to move her tour to the big screen might give those fans a second chance.

You are, no doubt, well aware of the trials and tribulations that have gone into making this prequel to one of cinema's greatest nerve-wrackers (a film already burdened with two less-than-scratch sequels), and how The Beginning was completely reshot, with previous incumbent Paul Schrader shown the door as rumours spread like black flies that he'd neglected to include anything that was, well, scary. This, though, is Renny Harlin's version and we should hear him out.

Alas, he also keeps hitting the CGI panic button and the film is afflicted with too many gratuitous, cheap shocks. Skarsgård manfully wrestles to maintain some dignity throughout the lurches of the barely re-animated storyline, and occasionally the ghost of what may have attracted the former director flits past: a loose parallel between the supernatural evil on show here and the more pragmatic wickedness of the Nazis.

However, it's just too much of a muddle, with whole scenes baring no explanation and whole actors looking like they've stumbled into the wrong movie (naming no names, Alan 'Snatch' Ford). As the film twists its tail like a demented serpent, you half expect Schrader to leap out his complexion gone, literally, to hell and yell, "I told you so!" in that cough-drop snarl that's been the butt of too many parodies to be scary anymore. And they wouldn't even cough up for Tubular Bells on the soundtrack, either. Boo, hiss all round.

What appears to be a 12 Gauge Double Barreled Shotgun is used by several characters throughout the film. Lankester Merrin (Stellan Skarsgård) uses it to fend off a pack of hyenas and fires more rounds than the weapon can hold. Merrin's guide and translator Chuma (Andrew French) is seen holding it in various scenes.

The Enfield No.2 Mk.I revolver is seen as the primary issue sidearm for the British officers in the film. Major Granville (Julian Wadham) uses it to kill the Turkana village chief and not long after on himself when the demonic forces in the area drives him insane.

This chapter of The Exorcist remains as one of the most bizarre troubled productions in film history. Originally Paul Schrader was brought to direct a psychological horror movie in the vein of the original; he did his job and almost completed what was called Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist. However, as the movie was being marketed, Morgan Creek Productions decided it was not scary enough to fit expectations, so they tossed the unfinished film to a vault and brought an entirely new director, Renny Harlin, to direct an entirely new movie. This was the final result, a retooling named Exorcist: The Beginning that only shared Skarsgard as the main role and the outlines of its plot. Only after it failed at critics and box office they allowed Schrader to finish and release his film, edging the previous in success and giving birth to the strange event of two films in one.

Exorcist: The Beginning contains examples of: open/close all folders Tropes A-G

• The '40s: Set three decades before the original, which was set at the time it came out in The '70s.
• Abnormal Limb Rotation Range: While possessed by Pazuzu, Sarah bends her spine backwards completely.
• Actionized Sequel: Exorcist the Beginning is an actionized prequel to the 1973 horror classic, as well as an actionized remake/reshoot to Schrader's Dominion, since it has a noticably faster pace, as well as an elaborate battle scene with a huge body count.
• Adventurer Archaeologist: Merrin becomes an archaeologist for hire after leaving the Church.
• Airvent Passageway: The passage leading to the final cave underground is exactly big enough to let Merrin crawl through it.
• The Alcoholic: Jefferies is almost always seen drinking, reaching to drink, or appearing to be drunk.
• All Love Is Unrequited: Sarah ignores Jefferies' advances and is obviously more interested in Merrin, who obliges, but is reluctant to begin a relationship due to his recent commitment to the Church.
• All Just a Dream: Sarah finding Joseph caressing his brother's decapitated head is just a nightmare of hers.
• Almost Dead Guy:
• One of the Byzantine priests in the beginning finds the other in the battlefield. Believing him dead, he makes the sign of the cross and tries to take the Pazuzu head from him before the "dead" guy grabs him.
• Sarah can only trade a few words with Merrin before she dies from her injuries.
• Aloof Big Brother: James to Joseph.
• All There in the Manual: In Dominion, Merrin's encounter with the Nazis takes place in a Dutch village, and the woman that gives birth is the Turkana chief's wife. It is unclear if it's the same in The Beginning due to the exposition being cut.
• Ambiguously Evil: It is just as possible that all questionable behavior of the characters is a result of Pazuzu's influence, or that Pazuzu only amplifies tendencies that are already inside them.
• Ancient Evil: The Catholic Church believes Derati is the place where Lucifer fell. Even if Pazuzu isn't Lucifer, he is an ancient Mesopotamian demon, and the church was built to seal him 1500 years ago.
• And the Adventure Continues: The movie ends with Merrin using the Father moniker again before heading into the Vatican.
• Anyone Can Die: Only Merrin and Joseph survive the massacre between the locals and the British military.
• Arc Words: "God is not here today, priest." Said by a SS commander during the war to Merrin, and repeated by Pazuzu to taunt him.
• Ascended to Carnivorism: Due to Pazuzu's influence, some cows feed on hyena carcasses after the massacre at the end.
• Asshole Victim: Even if all evil activity at the site comes from Pazuzu, some examples still come across as this.
• Major Granville is openly racist toward the Turkana.
• Jefferies' interest in Sarah is as obvious as rape-y.
• James is a bit of a jerk to his younger brother. Not that he deserves what happens to him because of that.
• Ate His Gun: After Granville witnesses supernatural activity in his tent in the form of finding himself preparing a crow for his butterfly collection instead of a regular insect specimen, his collection coming to life and then having butterfly crawling out of his mouth, he puts his gun into his mouth and pulls the trigger.
• Big Bad: Pazuzu, just like in all other movies in the series.
• Birth-Death Juxtaposition: Merrin finds and opens an ancient tomb inside the church at the same time as a Turkana woman gives birth to a child. The child is born dead.
• Bloodier and Gorier: Blood and guts are deliberatedly ramped up in comparison to Dominion, starting with the very first scene set in the aftermath of a battle with almost no survivors on both sides. This is the bloodiest entry in the series by a long shot.
• Book Ends:
• The movie opens with a Byzantine army massacred on the future site of the buried church, which is mirrored at the end by the Turkana and British garrison massacring each other in the same place.
• Merrin meets Semelier only at the beginning and the end of the movie.
• Body Horror: All over the place.
• One of Pazuzu's pet taunts is an eviscerated but still alive crow. The second time it happens, he also makes a butterfly crawl out of Granville's mouth. Other favorites are blood and maggots appearing from nowhere.
• James is Eaten Alive by hyenas.
• Jefferies develops larger and nastier looking pustules on his face as the movie goes on, with one appearing to have something crawling inside at one point. He is then attacked by an unseen force; the next morning, Merrin finds parts of his teeth in a pool of blood in the bar, and his eviscerated body hanging in the church.
• Sarah has a particularly bloody period while in the shower... despite having lost her period for good in a Nazi camp.
• Sarah finds Joseph carrying his brother's severed head. Which then opens his eyes. But it's okay, it was just a dream!
• A Turkana woman gives birth to a dead fetus covered in maggots.
• The possessed tears its own tongue to mimic a snake.
• The Turkana shamans who try to sacrifice Joseph have their bones broken and sometimes ripped out of their bodies.
• Cain and Abel: Played with brothers James and Joseph, the only two Christian children in Derati. The older James seems mean-spirited in comparison to the younger, innocent Joseph, until he is eaten by hyenas while Joseph watches. Double Subverted when it's revealed that the possessed is not Joseph, but Sarah, and therefore she's the one who summoned the hyenas. Pazuzu did it, in any case.
• Call-Back: Many to the original The Exorcist. Most (if not all) were added after Dominion was filmed, in order to tie the movie better with the first.
• Merrin is hired to find the same Pazuzu head as in the first film's prologue (or one that looks the same), but loses it when it buries itself in the ground during a sandstorm. In the original Exorcist, Merrin unearths the Pazuzu head during a sandstorm.
• Merrin also finds a complete Pazuzu statue under the church, in a cave that used to be a Pagan temple. This statue is identical to the one in the original movie, while in Dominion it just loosely resembled it.
• Sarah's scars, voice, and general appearance in the end is clearly meant to evoke Regan. Pazuzu even drops a "the whore is mine", similar to the original's "the sow is mine".
• When offered a drink, Merrin says "I shouldn't, but my will is weak", paraphrasing the original film's "My doctor says I shouldn't, but thank God my will is weak."
• Merrin's final showdown with Pazuzu takes place during a sandstorm. In the beginning of the 1973 film, he meets Pazuzu again during a sandstorm.
• Merrin's outfit in the last scene resembles the one he wears in the cover of The Exorcist.
• Canon Discontinuity: Zig-Zagged. The movie largely ignores Merrin's backstory as shown in Exorcist II: The Heretic, but doesn't contest it outright, as it is set before it. In all likelihood, both movies took the idea of Merrin carrying an exorcism in East Africa from the original book and did their own take on it.
• Catapult Nightmare: Sarah after dreaming of Joseph caressing James' severed head.
• Cat Scare: The characters are surprised several times by crows.
• Chekhov's Gun: When Merrin visits Bession in Nairobi, Father Gionetti gives him a copy of the Roman Ritual in case he has to exorcize somebody. Merrin says he won't need it... but of course he does, because this is an Exorcist sequel.
• Children Are Innocent: Pazuzu uses the young Joseph to lure, taunt, and hurt the people he wants to hurt the most.
• Christianity is Catholic:
• The Byzantine army that died in the area is said to have come from "the West" and the Vatican is the only vaguely aware of its existence, despite Constantinople (and the name-dropped Emperor, Justinian) having preeminence over Christians at the time.
• Though the church's architecture and wall paintings do resemble Byzantine art, the statues are much more in line with Western art from the Renaissance on. The Byzantine priests in the beginning correctly use the Chi-Rho instead of the Cross, but the rosary looks more Catholic than Greek.
• Finding a church from that age in that place would presumably interest every Christian church the same (and also scholars of every stripe), but all priests in the movie are Catholic. Catholics do exist in Kenya and are in fact the oldest Christian denomination in the country, but they are dwarfed in numbers by Protestants due to the British colonization.
• Church Militant: The Vatican has sent at least three expeditions headed by priests to the site, the last one consisting of Father Francis. The first one in the 6th century was outright army.
• Composite Character:
• In Dominion, it is not clear if the demon is Pazuzu or someone else, while in Beginning a lot of references are added to establish that it is indeed Pazuzu, as in the 1973 movie. Pazuzu may also be Lucifer if Father Francis is correct, though this is in line with the rest of the other movies in the franchise flip-flopping on whether Pazuzu is a devil or the Devil.
• Jefferies takes over from Merrin as head archaeologist of the site, and also plays the role of the soldiers who try to rob the church and are killed for it (somewhat).
• Granville combines his character in Dominion with his Adapted Out second-in-command, who was the racist one.
• Corrupt Church: The Catholic Church knows, or at leats suspects, the truth about the buried church and hides it from the public. Ultimately for good, but the trope is still present.
• Creepy Child:
• Joseph, who seems to attract bad luck everywhere he is present. Subverted since the one actually possessed is Sarah, the doctor.
• Merrin often daydreams about a little girl he met during the war, which is used by Pazuzu to taunt him.
• Creepy Crows: Crows like to fly into and out of the cursed church, and are obviously attracted to the carnage.
• The Darkness Gazes Back: In one scene, Merrin is stopped on his tracks by the reflection of several hyenas eyes peering out from the darkness.
• Decapitation Presentation: In a dream sequence, Sarah finds Joseph caressing James' severed head. Which then opens its eyes.
• Demonic Possession: Sarah at the end. It wouldn't be a part of the franchise without one, would it?
• The Devil: The church has a painting of Lucifer and he is believed to have fallen in Derati after the War in Heaven.
• Disposable Woman: Near the end of the film, Sarah is brought back from her exorcism and she's the only character left besides Merrin and Joseph. In any other film she would probably adopt Joseph and form a family with Merrin, but we can't have that because this is a prequel to The Exorcist and Merrin must become a priest again. Therefore she's suddenly revealed to have a fatal head wound from her fall on the cave floor and dies in Merrin's arms instead.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Despite being main characters, Father Francis and Sarah are dispatched in such sudden and simple manners that would have been avoided or survived if they were in any other movie.note Francis is stabbed with a spear by Possessed!Sarah and left hanging to be found by Merrin; Sarah has a brain hemorrhage after hiting the cave's floor at the end of her exorcism. In fact, the counterparts of both in Dominion did survive the film.
• Driven to Suicide:
• Bession slits his own throat after being driven mad by the demon.
• Granville shoots himself in the head after seeing his butterfly collection come to life.
• Eaten Alive: James is eaten alive by hyenas. A Turkana baby is "born" dead and covered in maggots.
• "Eureka!" Moment: Merrin realizes that the real possessed has been Sarah the whole time after finding Pazuzu's silhouette drawn on her wall and a photo of her wedding to Bession.
• Everybody's Dead, Dave: Merrin and Joseph come out of the Church to find the British and Turkana forces massacred.
• Evil-Detecting Baby: Merrin realizes that the exorcism has been unsuccessful when he sees that Joseph is still afraid of Sarah.
• Evil Laugh: Pazuzu laughs when he first comfronts Merrin.
• Family Theme Naming: Brothers James and Joseph.
• Fantastic Catholicism: The Catholic Church deals in exorcisms, demon-hunting, curse investigations...
• Fisher King: Evil version. As Pazuzu's influence grows outside the Church, the people, animals, and eventually the weather itself (in the form of a night sandstorm) become more dangerous.
• Flies Equals Evil: Flies are present in places with higher density of demonic activity.
• Foregone Conclusion: Merrin will survive and become a Catholic priest again so he will face Pazuzu again 30 years later.
• Forgotten Fallen Friend: Sarah resumes flirting with Merrin almost as soon as she is told that Bession died. We later learn that he was her husband. And the time they were separated was just three weeks.
• Go Mad from the Revelation: Bession, the original head archaeologist, was institutionalized after becoming the first man to enter the church in 1500 years.

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