Alice Oscura, Featured Writer
Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD
Must admit that I was more than a bit confused when I saw the initial poster for The Exorcism with actor Russell Crowe. I was like haven't we seen this already, is this the sequel to The Pope's Exorcist (2023) already? Even the colour palette used on the poster looked the same. However, it is not. In fact, their plots couldn't be more different from each other.
No, you filthy hellspawn, you listen to me!
Crowe returns to the screen to battle yet another demon, but the story this time around is quite ambiguous in nature. Technically, The Exorcism began shooting in 2019 before The Pope's Exorcist. Production got interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the film didn't get completed until 2023.
But, before we get into The Exorcism, let's take a brief trip down memory lane to the year 1973. Most horror aficionados know that this is a very significant year for us. It's when one of the most terrifying horror movies ever was released, The Exorcist. Why the backstory, you might ask? Well, remember the key character of Father Karras? He was portrayed by actor Jason Miller, who in turn made the character simply iconic and relatable to audiences. A priest with a conflict of struggling to have faith and yet in the end he chose to perform the most selfless act in order to save a young girl that was being possessed by a demon. Well, keep this aspect of the plot in mind for later on in my review. Actor Jason Miller just so happens to be the father of The Exorcism's director, Joshua John Miller. It is made abundantly clear that Miller chose to fashion his main protagonist with hints of his father's character, Father Karras, as well as being heavily influenced by the film, The Exorcist itself, without being overly pretentious. While his film, The Exorcism, is not without its fair share of issues, it makes more than a great effort at trying to strike out on its own merits.
So, what you're telling me, is they're making a Gladiator sequel, without me?
The Exorcism follows the story of an actor aptly named Anthony Miller, played by Crowe. Miller is a recovering drug and alcohol addict whose career has been down in the dumps due to being in rehab for almost two years. His wife suffered and died of cancer while he was in rehab, and it is for this reason his relationship with his teenaged daughter Lee (Ryan Simpkins) is estranged. After being suspended for the rest of the semester from school, Lee is back home with her father, who she calls simply Tony, refusing to call him Dad. At the same time, Tony gets an opportunity to jump start his career by getting the chance to audition for the part of a priest who needs to exorcise a demon from a young girl but has a conflict of faith. See what I meant about remembering the story of Father Karras as being useful? But, to add to this, the director of the film conveniently knows about Tony's dark history stemming from his childhood as an altar boy. Tony is tortured by the trauma of this abuse, as well the guilt of not being strong enough to be there for his wife when she was dying and his daughter. The director wants Tony to tap into this side of himself, which in hindsight only threatens to derail the actor's recovery.
Excited to be awarded the role, Tony studies his lines diligently with the help of his daughter Lee, who has now become a temporary personal assistant on the set. Lee slowly begins warming up to her father. However, looming in the background always is the threat of Tony's trauma, guilt and addiction threatening to consume him while he struggles with his role. The role that he has doesn't help either because he is forced to become what created his childhood trauma and destroyed his faith in God.
Oh, it's just like that old movie. What's it called? The Omen?
The plot is skillful because it's a movie within a movie based upon another movie that became one of the scariest horror movies of all time. It even mentions and kind of pokes fun at the fact that strange things tend to happen on the sets of these kinds of devil movies. The Exorcist (1973) was plagued with all sorts of problems during the production, including almost the entire set being burnt down except for the character Regan's room. Even the name of the film being shot is an ode to the original Exorcist film by being dubbed "The Georgetown Project". For those of you that don't know, Georgetown University, Maryland was where the one of the most iconic scenes was shot the infamous "M Street Steps". It also just so happens to be the alma mater of the writer of The Exorcist, William Peter Blatty.
These Easter eggs are all well and good, but it doesn't hide the fact that the story takes the time to highlight one of the most disturbing facts that gets glossed over by the Catholic Church., the abuse of young boys who serve members of the clergy. Got to admire the stand taken to change the constant narrative of always bringing to the forefront the female victims of such abuse.
Stuff just got real
The story goes into the ambiguity of the plot for a little too long, which kind of deflates the impact of when the direction is finally shifted. It gives a whole new meaning to the terminology "battling your inner demons". Here in order to triumph over the real demon, in this case Moloch, the main protagonist had to purge his own guilt and inner demons. It's poetic in a way. It's just that the execution is not as fluid as it should be, especially during the most climatic sequence of the film. One thing is for certain, and that's the fact that Russell Crowe is one heck of an actor. You can't help but wonder if he was able to pull some inspiration from his own career shortcomings within the past few years.
The Exorcism is simple to understand and doesn't use a lot of fanfare and pyrotechnics to get a good scare out of a scene. I would say that messy production scheduling and over-emphasis at certain junctures depletes the overall impact of the film itself on audiences. In conclusion, I would still recommend it as a decent watch, especially if you're a fan of Russell Crowe. However, if you want to see the actor in all of his glory, The Pope's Exorcist (2023) is by far the better and more entertaining of the two.
Dark Alice's Score: 6.5 out of 10
And you can check out more horror content below:
THE POPE'S EXORCIST IS POSSESSED OF DARK HUMOUR
'LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL' FALLS SHORT OF MUST-SCREAM TV
THE EXORCISM OF GOD: FRESH HEAD SPIN ON THE SUB-GENRE
Dark Alice has an old soul and a curious mind. I believe that anyone can be a hero and that the good guys should always win! I dislike cruelty to animals and think that they have far superior qualities to humans. My motto is there is no future without the past. I also have a weird penchant for Paranormal TV shows even though the slightest sound makes me jump. I enjoy writing reviews and throwing in fun facts to pique the readers' curiosity. My ultimate goal in life would be to become a published writer one day. Read More
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