The Exorcist prequels: Not nice, so they made twice
In 1973, The Exorcist became a cultural phenomenon, revived interest in the concept of the exorcism, and would become known as one of the scariest horror films ever made. The film is a borderline masterpiece and impacts nearly every viewer to this day; it is debatably the most influential horror film of all time.
The same cannot be said for any subsequent films in the Exorcist franchise. The film out of all of them that can be uttered in the same breath as the late William Friedkin’s masterpiece is William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist III (1990), which is a genuinely great moody thriller and the only film in the franchise that has done something different than “child gets possessed by a demon.” Then there are the other two: Exorcist: The Beginning (2004) and Dominion: Prequel To The Exorcist (2005).
In The Exorcist, it is mentioned that the elder priest, Father Lancaster Merrin, performed an exorcism on a young boy in Africa that “lasted for months” and nearly killed him. In 1997, James G. Robinson, who owned the rights to the franchise, and produced the underrated third film, began a prequel based on that single line from the first film. A script written by William Wisher and Caleb Carr got the attention of John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate). Health issues forced Frankenheimer’s departure, and Paul Schrader, notable for writing multiple Martin Scorsese films, was hired to direct, and Stellan Skarsgard to star in the lead role.
Schrader proceeded as director, with principal photography starting in November 2002 and ending in February 2003. Following a two-hour rough cut screening, James G. Robinson and other studio executives demanded a re-edit film, claiming it was not scary enough. The re-edits grew into rewrites, which evolved into reshoots, and eventually, the reshoots grew into scrapping the film entirely and the firing of Schrader altogether.
While requesting rewrites, Robinson met with Renny Harlin, the director most known for action films. Harlin was eventually hired to film a version with a rewritten script and re-shot almost the entirety of the film, with different versions of similar plot beats. The budget ballooned to $90 million instead the original budget of $35 million when Schrader was still attached. Upon release in August of 2004, the film, now titled Exorcist: The Beginning, bombed, only making $78.1 million.
Ironically enough, Schrader went to see the film with the author of the original Exorcist novel and writer/director of Exorcist III, William Peter Blatty. Both Blatty and Schrader criticized the film, with Schrader saying that it was so bad that the studio might consider releasing his cut. Surprisingly, this came to fruition, with Robinson allowing Schrader to recut and complete the film. However, Schrader was only given $35,000 to finish the film, giving us Dominion: Prequel To The Exorcist, released in May 2005 to underwhelming success.
Both films are deeply flawed. Exorcist: The Beginning is more of a traditional horror movie sequel than a worthy follow-up to Friedkin’s masterpiece; while doing what Robinson requested, the film is too in-your-face about everything. It also tries to make unnecessary connections to the original, such as several shots mimicking one from the 1973 film, where Father Merrin gazes ominously at a statue of the demon who will possess the subjects of both films. In addition, this film’s possessed subject is unnecessarily put in similar makeup to Reagan MacNiell from the original 1973 film. It also contains more unnecessary gore than the original, which only included select, subtle wounds that would grow over time.
At first glance, Schrader sounds like a reasonable choice to helm an Exorcist prequel, having done work including themes of religious guilt and confrontations with evil in multiple forms—which seems like a good fit for an Exorcist film. However, the film is not much of a horror film; the only unsettling moment is an inclusion from the Renny Harlin version but nothing from the original release. Schrader attempts to comment on colonialism and its relationship with religion but ends up with such provocative takeaways as “it’s bad.” The film’s $35,000 post-production budget also shows through, making ominous hyenas look like a poor man’s muppet or a CG effect worthy of a mockbuster; it is safe to assume that Schraeder was not the right call for a film of this nature.
Even with that being said, both films include extremely respectable make-up effects, courtesy of Gary J. Tunnicliffe for the Harlin version, and Gregory Nicotero in the Schrader version. In addition, both films look fantastic, thanks to cinematography legend Vittorio Storaro; even if they fail in all other regards, they look aesthetically pleasing. While both films are, in my opinion, not good, Schrader at least has some ideas on what kind of story it wants to tell, while the Harlin version is too inconsistent in its tone. Both films fail to deliver on the original premise of a month-long exorcism that nearly kills Father Merrin, leaving us with half-baked ideas and two poorly executed stories that cannot stand close to the original.