Overall, as expected, this is a better movie than Exorcist: The Beginning. From the way it opens on a Schindler’s List type setting with snow (or ash) falling from the sky as Nazi soldiers indescriminately kill innocents in front of the helpless Merrin, you know it’s not going to be the all-out shameless shocker the studio evidently really wanted instead.

It’s not like this version is completely missing shocks though – indeed, when Schrader goes for the scares, he comes the closest to replicating the original’s heart-stopping power than any before. I love the way the demon-possessed boy moves, semi-rigid, sort of impossible but not ridiculous. The glowing Mumm-Ra eyes might be a bit much, but it does help sell a nice touch towards the end (I mean, where’s a cast-out demon supposed to go exactly?) and you’ve got to give the movie makers kudos for creating a good demon voice, too – not quite Mercedes McCambridge quality, but close.

There are still little things I like about Renny Harlin’s movie – the nods to Merrin in the original in particular, his line about drinking, for example, and in general the fact that it was more of an all-out shocker: I mean, there’s a place for that sometimes. But I’m certainly glad that Schrader’s cut finally got released and for me it’s up there next to, if not above, Blatty’s own Part III tied as the best of the sequels so far (not counting The Ninth Configuration which I think is even better than the original movie).

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 1st, 2005 at 12:34 am in 4 hearts, Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.