Of all the FrightFest offerings, this was the movie that I most wanted to see since I am unlikely to ever have another opportunity of seeing it in a cinema. The reason for this is that it was shelved by Warner Brothers as not being scary enough and the powers that be then brought in Renny Harlin, who is little better than a hack-director of late, to rewrite and reshoot the film which was released in 2004 as "Exorcist: The Beginning". I have not yet had the misfortune to view this one, but I understand it is very poor indeed and it was a complete bomb at the box office.
If Warner Brothers knew what they were doing in the first place, they would never have hired a cerebral talent like Paul Schrader. The film he made may not be super-scary, but it has its moments of terror and is very professionally shot and mounted. Stellan Skarsgard plays the younger Father Merrin (the Von Sydow character from the original) in the years following World War II when he has lost his faith; he is working on an archeological dig in British East Africa where he meets the satanic presence that will follow him throughout his days. The movie is out on DVD in North America and hopefully will be available here in due course. It is certainly worth seeking out.
More FrightFest reviews to follow over the next few days.
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