In 1949, because of the torments seen during World War II, Father Merrin (Stellan Skarsgård) abandons his faith and turns to archaeology. Finding himself in a region of Kenya on the commission of a collector, he stumbles upon a Byzantine church built a full 1,500 years earlier. The British, who have discovered this antiquity, are excavating it in order to explore it.A representative of the Vatican has been requested to oversee it.
Merrin, along with Dr. Sarah Novack (Izabella Scorupco), becomes involved in an investigation related to mysterious happenings pertaining to the Buried Church.
This film, with music by Trevor Rabin and cinematography by Vittorio Storaro, appears cursed from its making. Started by John Frankenheimer (who passed away shortly after filming began), the film was brought to a conclusion by Paul Schrader (who was later fired because the product was seen by the producer as ineffective) and then eventually shot completely afresh by Renny Harlin.
The Exorcist - Genesis relies mostly on the special effects, done by Gary J. Tunnicliffe, which show us such things as crows suddenly appearing, hyenas mauling a baby, several crucifixes toppled over, a stillborn baby being eaten by worms, etc.
The film has several references to events that took place during Nazism, and on this theme it often strays, glossing over purely horror aspects that could have made it more palatable. In general, however, entirely superfluous scenes are offered, coupled with some incredibly unnecessary dialogue.
Father Merrin, who in the progenitor of The Exorcist series (1973) exorcised little Regan (a little girl known to any fan of the horror genre), is presented here as a mixture of Indian Jones, with a stormy past, and Rambo of the exorcists. In short, he is a figure that is just hard to digest.
The whole prequel, with the screenplay by Alexi Hawley, looks like a copy of a chapter in the Indiana Jones saga. By changing Father Merrin for another father, the film could present itself with another title, since the practice of exorcism is decidedly scarce here. It was certainly profitable for the backers of the project to put this production alongside such a successful series as The Exorcist.
In conclusion, we could say that this film is not among the least successful in recent years, but it does not add anything new to a series that, with the first chapter removed, no longer has any reason to be remembered.
Not recommended!
Review by Vampira
