It is an extremely tiring undertaking to discuss the sense and nonsense of possible sequels, prequels and reboots of well-known classics or cult films. What is certain, however, is that William Friedkin’s ‘The Exorcist’ is one of the biggest and best horror films of all time, and due to its iconic appeal (including mega-success at the box office) it was of course inevitable that sequels would be produced. However, “Exorcist II – The Heretic” (1977) and “The Exorcist III” (1990) fell significantly (!) short of the quality of the original.
In 2004, they again tried to cash in on the ‘Exorcist’ brand with the prequel ‘Exorcist: The Beginning’. That didn’t work, as with a budget of $50 million, the Renny Harlin-directed prequel (“Die Hard 2”) only managed to gross just over $78 million worldwide.
You can now find out whether the film is still worth watching by subscribing to Netflix. But watch out: Here you can find “Exorcist: The Beginning” under the title “Dominion: Exorcist – The Beginning of Evil”. You can now discover how this confusion arose:
An average prequel that exists twice!
In the official FILMSTARTS review, “Exorcist: The Beginning” received an average rating of 2.5 out of 5 possible stars. Our author Carsten Baumgardt writes in his conclusion: “The prequel can’t even compete with William Friedkin’s standard original, but at least it has a touch of raw B-movie charm that overlooks many of its weaknesses.”
However, the weaknesses of “Exorcist: The Beginning” are self-made. Renny Harlin’s efforts already make it clear that it is no longer about a subtle build-up of tension, about horror that slowly creeps under the audience’s skin to gradually dig shafts into the intestines. Instead, the focus is on spectacle – and the psychological background of the event is largely ignored. This can still provide entertainment, but it is neither sustainable nor smart.
The film’s backstory is interesting, as Paul Schrader (“The Card Counter”) was previously hired to direct “Exorcist: The Beginning” – and he did! But producer James S. Robinson was so shocked after seeing Schrader’s version that Finn Renny Harlin was paid $50 million to film a completely new version (Schrader had already been paid $30 million).
After no great success (both with audiences and critics), the production studio once again gave the pissed-off Paul Schrader a limited budget so he could finish his original version. This was published in 2005 under the title “Dominion: Exorcist – The Beginning of Evil” and clearly focuses on the psychological aspects of the plot.