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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Exorcist: The Beginning

EMAILPRINTWarner Bros.

Exorcist: The Beginning reviews
30
4.5 User Score:

Generally unfavorable reviews

Based on 22 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 35 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama  |  Horror  |  Suspense/Thriller

Written by: Alexi Hawley
William Wisher Jr. (story)
Caleb Carr (story)
William Peter Blatty (movie The Exorcist)

Directed by: Renny Harlin

Release Date:
Theatrical: August 20, 2004
DVD: March 1, 2005

Running Time: 115 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: R for strong violence and gore, disturbing images and rituals, and for language including some sexual dialogue

Starring Stellan SkarsgÄrd, Izabella Scorupco, James D'Arcy, Remy Sweeney, Julian Wadham, Andrew French, Ralph Brown, and Ben Cross

In the place where Evil was born, Father Merrin will finally see its true face. (Warner Bros.)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

60

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

Here's a popcorn movie with soul, welcoming the masses to consider how much can change in popular culture over 30 years, as the horrific becomes the familiar.

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50

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Nothing fails like bad horror. But it's not despicable. It is merely boring.

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50

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

The movie goes too far on too little motivation - and the middle section, with its maggoty villains, roiling skies and native revolts, seems almost barmy. Yet Exorcist: Beginning does score a small victory. It's not as bad as you'd think.

50

Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust

A perfectly mediocre horror film. There is some hoot-inducing dialogue and cheesy effects, but the film's workmanlike narrative marches gamely forward, managing a handful of respectable scares along the way.

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50

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

While the fourth "Exorcist" movie may have unmitigated disaster written all over it, the finished product is somehow sort-of-kind-of not all that bad.

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42

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The new movie is a dusty piñata stuffed with omens and not much more.

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40

LA Weekly Ron Stringer

The “surprise” ending, when it comes, is more of a hoot than a holler.

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40

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

The gooseberry Harlin came up with will win no proselytizers, but it does have a pleasant matinee modesty, a cool sepia-period look, and an interesting flashback relationship with Nazis.

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40

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

A horror movie that starts off decently but quickly falls victim to cliché. It is, ultimately, a disappointing genre entry, and one that falls far short of the original’s greatness.

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40

Variety Joe Leydon

Earns points simply for not being bad enough to leave a stain on the screen. Unfortunately, this annoyingly disjointed shocker stumbles badly after promising early scenes, and quickly devolves into a chaotic blur of underdeveloped characters, illogical transitions and standard-issue scary-movie tropes.

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40

Empire Ian Nathan

It isn’t quite hell, but clambering to the end of this dusty remnant of an idea is certainly purgatory.

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38

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Congratulations, Renny Harlin. You've successfully exorcised all the horror out of The Exorcist.

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38

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

The devil is back in Exorcist: The Beginning, and he is more disgusting than ever. Not more scary, just really yucky, in a kind of maggots-on-a-pizza-slice way.

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30

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

There's no pea soup, but sketchy effects, cheap jolts, swirling cameras, and buckets of blood surround Exorcist: The Beginning with the potent aroma of cheese.

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30

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

The scariest thing about this film is how desperate the makers are to earn a scream.

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30

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

The risible dialogue, the bulging eyeballs, the heaving bosoms, the digitally rendered hyenas and squirming maggots, the movie fails to achieve the status of the instant camp classic. That's partly because the vibe of the film is too torpid.

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25

New York Post Lou Lumenick

The acting is serviceable at best, the direction unfocused - and the special effects and makeup cheesy-looking. This is surely the most dreary-looking film ever shot by the great Vittorio Storaro ("Apocalypse Now").

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25

Premiere Aaron Hillis

It’s terrible enough to torture the damned.

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20

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Pokey, blood-spattered, cheap-scare-larded prequel.

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20

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

The serious Catholic themes that made the original film genuinely disturbing have been flattened out into a cartoonish backstory.

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12

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

This prequel has something to appall everybody.

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11

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Sloppy, confusing, and dull as a dented crucifix.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 4.5 (out of 10) based on 35 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Alec B. gave it a7:
i actually really enjoyed this movie a lot.. . but it didn't really show how it all began now. Basically it was just a body count movie with tons of violence and gore and scary images. There wasn't even a exorcism in the movie except that cheap one at the end.

Marc D. gave it a6:
Lacks focus and any true sense of pace. It steers clear of the psychological themes and horror from the original, instead hoping to evoke some reactions by throwing as much ugly effects at us as possible. Unfortunately, fear doesn't work that way.

Mohammed R. gave it an8:
One has to judge a horror movie with a different yard stick that say a drama. In a horror movie it is 80% about the horror and around 20% about char development. This movie is not the most scary movie and being a sequel or a prequel does not help it being original. Is a total was of money. Absoultly not. It has a few good horror scenes and some char development. Is it all tied together well, not really, that is why I gave an 8. If you have not seen any other exorcist movie, this one is not bad to start, but it is somewhat different. Finally, the quality of the acting is not below average for a horror movie.

Tyler N. gave it a10:
Very under-rated. Next to Saw, this is the next best horror/suspense movieout on DVD. Definately for fans of the original. Its good.

harry m. gave it a10:
Just rating it in my own taste. I love the film. The critics are the worst. Thats all.

Kacey G. gave it a4:
A little better than the first Exorcist, but that isnt saying much.

Alberto R. gave it a6:
It was not that bad, i think the critics are being quick to label it horrible, it was not the best, but not the worst. A good tv movie to watch.

Read more user comments >

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