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Exorcist: The Beginning
Exorcist: The Beginning
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Exorcist: The Beginning

Exorcist: The Beginning

2004
Drama, Suspense/Thriller
1h 54m
In the place where Evil was born, Father Merrin will finally see its true face. (Warner Bros.)

Directed by:

Renny Harlin

Screenwriter:

William Peter Blatty, William Wisher, Caleb Carr, Alexi Hawley

Starring:

Stellan Skarsgård, Israel Aduramo, Ralph Brown, Andrew French, Antonie Kamerling, James D'Arcy, Izabella Scorupco, Remy Sweeney, Julian Wadham, Ben Cross, David Bradley, Alan Ford

Franchise:

The Exorcist

Genres:

Drama, Suspense/Thriller, Horror

Country:

USA

Language:

English
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Exorcist: The Beginning

2004
Drama, Suspense/Thriller
1h 54m
Your probable score
Ratings & Reviews Cast Collections Similar Stats Trailer
Avg Percentile 22.74% from 1244 total ratings
Ratings & Reviews Cast Collections Similar Stats Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

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paxtonPaxton
Rated 31 Dec 2012
22
2nd
Here's something no one ever said: "Renny Harlin to the rescue!" One of the funniest things I've experienced in a long time was clicking on Renny's bio page and having a little bar on the right tell me that "No one has marked Renny Harlin as their favorite"
Rated 31 Dec 2012
hellboy76hellboy76
Rated 01 Jan 2012
21
6th
Renny Harlin is an asshole.
Rated 01 Jan 2012
moribunnyMoribunny
Rated 14 Aug 2007
10
5th
Bloody awful.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
billyshearsBillyShears
Rated 12 Oct 2014
35
8th
davidblastDavidBlast
Rated 02 May 2011
30
13th
Is for 'The Exorcist' what 'Hannibal Rising' was for 'Silence of the Lambs'. I remember reading in Empire Magazine that this had "The silliest scare in movie history" and I was absolutely astonished to find out that it is completely true.
Rated 02 May 2011
abunchofcatsABUNCHOFCATS
Rated 30 Apr 2009
18
3rd
Just bland all around with a terrible unsuspensful ending. Oh no, the bad special effects are going to get you!
Rated 30 Apr 2009
europeansEuropeans
Rated 17 Nov 2007
2
0th
I had to see this movie twice in theaters because of my friends. For the longest time after, I hated my friends.
Rated 17 Nov 2007
monkeycatmonkeycat
Rated 14 Aug 2007
40
5th
A woman threw-up in the theatre when I saw this film. I think she was drunk (not tipsy, but balls to the wall wasted) I like to imagine it was because of how bad this movie was.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
kasperlKasperL
Rated 05 Nov 2024
30
10th
Compared to the original, this mediocre effort is obviously unsatisfactory but I did like Skarsgård and Scorupco, and it kept me reasonably entertained. They should have left out the flashbacks to Schrader's Holocaust massacre footage, though, as it's not sufficiently motivated in the rewritten script and was in poor taste to begin with.
Rated 05 Nov 2024
ununniliumUnunnilium
Rated 30 Mar 2024
14
5th
Somehow both chaotic and boring. There's a lot of gore but it's mostly very fake, the jumpscares don't even make you jump, these shocking scenes barely get a reaction from our main character, they didn't think even a little about the politics of the original movie's "we need Catholics to go down to Africa and drive out the devil" *or* the Holocaust stuff they added, and it all ends in a twist that not only makes absolutely no sense but is also full of very gross implications.
Rated 30 Mar 2024
ytadelYtadel
Rated 18 Oct 2023
1
5th
This Exorcist lore gettin mad complicated yo. Original seemed straightforward enough to me but now we got all these sequels & prequels, WW2 and Nazis and shit. This is some goofy ass nonsense, not scary at all, I’ll take even Exorcist 2 over it, it at least felt more of a piece with the original. Renny Harlin may be the king hack of all hacks, near 40 continuous years working in Hollywood and he’s made like two movies that pass the bar of “watchable.”
Rated 18 Oct 2023
doyler29doyler29
Rated 16 Feb 2023
20
0th
There's a whole spooky sequence in this involving somebody playing around with his butterfly collection. If you think about what circumstances lead to this character being in the film, the idea that he would bring along his ENTIRE butterfly collection is laughable. What a stupid waste of time.
Rated 16 Feb 2023
djrossdjross
Rated 07 Feb 2023
30
12th
In encountering unexpected difficulties, a traumatised man regains his sense of purpose. Watching this straight after DOMINION, it is interesting to see the way that more or less the same screenplay can lead to such varied interpretations: here, the themes have been diluted to the point of inanity, but it does also seem to contain a lot more visual ideas than Schrader’s attempt. Still, it’s all a bit of a mishmash, suffering from the fact that “exorcisms” are not very cinematically compelling.
Rated 07 Feb 2023
glumpy99glumpy_99
Rated 17 Jan 2023
76
51st
Enjoyably overwrought prequel can’t hold a candle to the original; as a slick, almost torture-porn version of THE EXORCIST it works reasonably well, with Harlin handling the filming competently, and dragging a nicely understated, authoritative performance from Skarsgård, who fills von Sydow’s robes about as well as anyone could. Lacks the queasy, mildewy atmosphere of the first film, but still manages to create the requisite tension to pull off some decent shocks (the hyenas were terrific).
Rated 17 Jan 2023
overratedoverrated
Rated 27 Oct 2021
10
4th
Notable for having a scene where a man shoots himself because a butterfly crawled out of his mouth.
Rated 27 Oct 2021
iamdwgIamdwg
Rated 08 Sep 2021
57
14th
This was a chore to get through...and from what I understand, it's just a retooled version of the next film - Dominion....which means I have to watch this same movie...twice. Sigh. Hopefully that next movie is better.
Rated 08 Sep 2021
hadleyreisHadleyreis
Rated 04 Aug 2021
35
11th
I don't think I was the only one that thought, Yeah, I would.
Rated 04 Aug 2021
metalhankmetalhank
Rated 06 Oct 2017
60
41st
Another rather under-rated film that is well made and quite entertaining. The story is interesting, perhaps a little over the top at times though. Skarsgard is truly great in this role that seems written for him specifically.
Rated 06 Oct 2017
glm01glm01
Rated 01 Oct 2013
45
6th
45.000
Rated 01 Oct 2013
tjlmovfrks23TjlMovFrks23
Rated 04 Feb 2013
45
12th
the only thing that make this prequel still watchable is its credible set location and good make-up artist. though Stellan Skarsgard is believable in playing the younger version of Father Merin.still the movie could be much better with some detail on the origin of the demon pazuzu and maybe with Linda Blair Cameo.
Rated 04 Feb 2013
kramyessevKramYessev
Rated 27 Jan 2012
8
1st
I can't even comprehend the amount of awful in this "film".
Rated 27 Jan 2012
glmglm
Rated 17 Dec 2011
27
1st
26.500
Rated 17 Dec 2011
slantmagSlantMag
Rated 24 Oct 2010
15
21st
"It never approaches the stratospheric badness of Exorcist II: The Heretic, but this lemon does its damndest to heap more dirt on the franchise's grave." - Nick Schager
Rated 24 Oct 2010
bookhouseboybookhouseboy
Rated 09 Sep 2010
14
3rd
#00s(m)#, story, S Skarsgård, Izabella S.
Rated 09 Sep 2010
marlinbrandoMarlinbrando
Rated 14 Aug 2010
48
9th
All exorcist sequels stink.
Rated 14 Aug 2010
pazuzuterrorPazuzuTerror
Rated 24 Jul 2010
30
2nd
horrible film, hard to get to the end, even Exorcist II is better
Rated 24 Jul 2010
lupisterlupister
Rated 11 May 2010
60
68th
not that bad
Rated 11 May 2010
seryxaSeryxa
Rated 04 Dec 2009
0
15th
One only for _Exorcist_ completists or masochists; a disjointed horror with cheap shocks that gives the impression of being made in too much of a hurry, which it no doubt was.
Rated 04 Dec 2009
amymcAmyMc
Rated 18 Oct 2009
20
1st
this had potential and does not live up to the originals.
Rated 18 Oct 2009
fantacbobFantacBob
Rated 12 Jun 2009
50
21st
Evil, trapped for centuries, is released upon the World. Fair.
Rated 12 Jun 2009
sandwichlordSandwichlord
Rated 06 May 2009
0
0th
I must admit, those jackals had me going. They looked so real I thought they were actually going to jump out and get me!
Rated 06 May 2009
jkendrickj.kendrick
Rated 19 Mar 2009
10
3rd
"...marks an important moment in which a production company's incessant desire to cater to the bottom line completely blew up in its face, a lesson we can only hope others will take to heart."
Rated 19 Mar 2009
eggbeatereggbeater
Rated 13 Mar 2009
33
19th
Competently made, shot by the great Vittorio Storaro, with many horrific images; all that's missing is a reason why we should care.
Rated 13 Mar 2009
luciusgoreluciusgore
Rated 18 Feb 2009
30
37th
"...the very best of the sequels."
Rated 18 Feb 2009
eric_janeric-jan
Rated 26 Jan 2009
65
30th
Why a remake that doesnt really present anything extra...?
Rated 26 Jan 2009
markkermodemarkkermode
Rated 09 Jan 2009
0
0th
"Harlin's hamfisted horror-show offers an hour and a half of tooth-grinding boredom followed by 20 minutes of all-singing, all-dancing, knees-up stupidity."
Rated 09 Jan 2009
ohadOhad
Rated 11 Dec 2008
0
1st
There aren't many movies I couldn't watch wholly, that's one of them.
Rated 11 Dec 2008
kameronKameron
Rated 05 Nov 2008
0
1st
this gave me nightmares
Rated 05 Nov 2008
dippyblondedippyblonde
Rated 17 Oct 2008
20
7th
Dominion has better written characters this one has slightly better Maybe if the two had been merged you would have got a better film. If u are going pick one to watch then pick Dominion. Stellan Skarsgard is still the highlight as Father Merrin but the rest of the film is just plain daft special effects.
Rated 17 Oct 2008
vandelay1Vandelay1
Rated 03 Sep 2008
23
16th
bad movie
Rated 03 Sep 2008
ruloaasruloaas
Rated 30 Jun 2008
0
3rd
Boring, barely scary, if that.
Rated 30 Jun 2008
bhansenbhansen
Rated 24 Jun 2008
68
32nd
I'll be honest, I fell asleep. It just wasn't really doing it for me.
Rated 24 Jun 2008
luna6ixLuna6ix
Rated 17 May 2008
85
89th
i felt pretty scared for a while in this movie, and it is pretty damned interesting. people are overly critical of this movie, it's actually quite good.
Rated 17 May 2008
therevTheRev
Rated 29 Mar 2008
0
2nd
WTF?
Rated 29 Mar 2008
dayndayn
Rated 06 Mar 2008
60
49th
weird ***
Rated 06 Mar 2008
necro_visionnecro-vision
Rated 10 Feb 2008
30
21st
sucked
Rated 10 Feb 2008
muutanetmuutanet
Rated 04 Feb 2008
15
12th
All points for the original idea of the movie. Was there a church upside down? Typical Harlin ending. Sucks!
Rated 04 Feb 2008
jsopanenjsopanen
Rated 17 Jan 2008
56
71st
I am not ashamed to say I like this prequel. Gripping atmosphere, a little action and exploration added to the traditional horror elements. It ain'saying much but this is Harlin's best.
Rated 17 Jan 2008
cubalCubal
Rated 13 Jan 2008
20
7th
Tasteless, vauge and not the least scary.
Rated 13 Jan 2008
nandorizzinandorizzi
Rated 08 Oct 2007
30
19th
The film is a great disappointment. Does not have much connection to the great classic. So, does not have much relevance. But the main actor, does not was bad and some scene or another, is good.
Rated 08 Oct 2007
dustydDustyd
Rated 16 Sep 2007
25
3rd
Stupid horror film with one good performance and a few bits of nice gore.
Rated 16 Sep 2007
jhmclellanjhmclellan
Rated 14 Aug 2007
65
26th
Doesn't live up to its potential.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
fudgiebfudgieb
Rated 14 Aug 2007
55
16th
Better than I expected.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
gareth_watkinsGareth Watkins
Rated 14 Aug 2007
40
2nd
Awful prequel to a classic horror. Avoid.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
mathewMathew
Rated 14 Aug 2007
45
26th
The original exorcist was ok, the hype about it being incredibly scary was nothing more than a marketing scam IMO, as I did not think the film was that scary at all. To put it short, all the other exorcist films are tosh, this one being the best of the sequal/ prequals but still it is just bad.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
ripviciousripvicious
Rated 14 Aug 2007
76
45th
Nice prequel but slow moving at times. I feel good knowledge of the first exorcist is necessary.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
nancysidnancysid
Rated 14 Aug 2007
25
1st
the power of christ compels you to skip this crap@!
Rated 14 Aug 2007
aushabfanaus_hab_fan
Rated 14 Aug 2007
78
70th
Really good ending
Rated 14 Aug 2007
thedicemanTheDiceman
Rated 14 Aug 2007
25
6th
Poor.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
vcarub20Vcarub20
Rated 14 Aug 2007
85
13th
it was just SOO against god.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
absentisabsentis
Rated 29 May 2007
21
7th
Fell asleep watching this yet it felt like I hadn't missed anything in those 30min...
Rated 29 May 2007
stainStain
Rated 22 Mar 2007
10
17th
Embarrassing shit
Rated 22 Mar 2007
mjvmoviemanMJVmovieMan
Rated 20 Mar 2007
48
17th
Wow- not terrible, in fact Stellan Skarsgaard actually impressed quite a bit, but the movie never finds it's exorcism plot until the final fifteen minutes (and it ain't all that scary either).
Rated 20 Mar 2007
murravenerMurravener
Rated 28 Feb 2007
74
34th
An interesting look at what is basically the first 7 minutes in the original film, this one goes more in depth and tells the story behind it. It doesn't feel as though it was trying to milk off the name however because it truly does develop a feel of it's own. Thats not to say its incredible.
Rated 28 Feb 2007
doctor7doctor7
Rated 24 Feb 2007
8
3rd
Nowhere near as well written or scary as the original. It's "Exorcist" by name only. Skip on this one no matter how much of a fan of the series you are.
Rated 24 Feb 2007
sassysaysSassysays
Rated 21 Jan 2007
75
30th
A few good scares/creep out moments, nothing I need to see again.
Rated 21 Jan 2007
madisomadiso
Rated 20 Jan 2007
50
33rd
it wasn t that bad
Rated 20 Jan 2007

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