The Exorcism: Film Review
If you’re going into The Exorcism thinking it’s related to Russell Crowe‘s previous horror The Pope’s Exorcist, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. He’s just in two completely different exorcism movies!
In this film, which was actually shot four years ago, he plays disgraced actor Anthony Miller, who is hoping to revive his career after a well-publicised drink and drugs bender and a stint in rehab. After the original actor dies during pre-production, Miller is drafted in to play Catholic priest Father Arlington in a remake of The Exorcist (it’s never explicitly named but the parallels are obvious). During production, Miller begins to unravel and exhibit unhinged behaviour. Has he fallen back into his old habits or is something more sinister going on?
The Exorcism cannot decide whether it wants to be a psychological drama about an actor relapsing or a horror about a cursed movie set. Both of these ideas could have worked really well separately (I would have preferred the latter) but director/co-writer Joshua John Miller bites off more than he can chew by trying to do both and fails on both counts.
It was promising at the start and I enjoyed the meta concept but it became increasingly silly as it went along and I found myself wanting to laugh in places. The pacing was too slow, the writing was poor and expositional, and the finale was bad. Some of the horror moments worked for me though – Miller successfully built tension plus an unnerving and creepy atmosphere. There were a couple of horrifying moments, but most of these were edited to the point where you can’t see them super clearly. Also, the best bits are in the trailer so try to avoid that if you can.
I later learned that Miller made The Exorcism as a tribute to his father, Jason Miller, who played Father Karras in The Exorcist and later succumbed to a drug and alcohol addiction. So it makes sense that Crowe’s on-screen daughter Lee (Ryan Simpkins) is the heart of the film and the best-written character. We see his transformation through her eyes and understand how he hurt her with his behaviour. Crowe does the best he can with the material so he is innocent.
Unfortunately, I could not take David Hyde Pierce seriously as Father Conor, a consultant on the film-within-the-film, and I felt myself stifling a laugh every time he appeared onscreen (this got worse as it went along). Chloe Bailey and Sam Worthington do a good job but they are woefully underused and don’t add much to the plot.
The Exorcism’s promising potential was sadly squandered by its dodgy execution.
In cinemas from Friday 21st June