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March 2005

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by Wilson Morales The Exorcist: The Beginning (Widescreen Edition) Starring: Stellan Skarsgard, Izabella Scorupco, Alan Ford, Billy Crawford Director: Renny Harlin Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound Rated: Not for sale to persons under age 18. Studio: Warner Home Video DVD Release Date: March 1, 2005 Run Time: 113 MIN Summary: This film will tell the tale of Father Merrin's (Skarsgaard) journey as a young missionary priest to post-WWII Africa, which led to his first encounter with demonic forces. DVD Features: - Available subtitles: English, Spanish, French - Available Audio Tracks: English (DTS), English (Dolby Digital 5.1) - Commentary by director Renny Harlin - Behind-the-scenes featurette - Theatrical trailer

Review: The funny thing about this film once viewed on the small screen is that it's not as terrible as people make it out to be; but because it is associated with a famous and somewhat classic, people expect it to be on par with the original. Nevertheless, Skarsgaard who was a holdover from the film that Paul Shrader intended to make is decent in his role as the priest, but it's the rest of the film that crumbles like a house of cards. Renny Harlin is mostly known for films with lots of special effects, and here his touch is all over the film and it's just too much. There's never a scary moment because the setup is so obviously and the pace is a bit slow that you no longer are braced for the thrill. The opening scene is quite captivating but the middle and last acts of the film is the usual good vs. evil moment we come to expect. In the end, there's no connection that will take you to THE EXORCIST.

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