THE EXORCISM
**
Directed by Joshua John Miller.
Starring Russell Crowe, Ryan Simpkins, Chloe Bailey, David Hyde Pierce.
Horror, US, 93 minutes, Certificate 15.
Released in cinemas in the UK on 21st June by Vertigo Releasing.
Much mirth has been made of the fact that we as an audience have now been subjected to not one but two Russell Crowe Exorcist movies in just over a year. THE POPE’S EXORCIST released at almost the same time last year was a fun if unoriginal spin on the usual possession tropes that had the good sense to place Crowe front and centre in a role that provided much in the way of levity, particularly with the sight of the portly actor zipping from one supernatural shenanigan to the next on his compact Vespa. With a sequel announced it does not seem unreasonable now to expect that Russel Crowe facing the devil could be a near annual event.
How this has come to pass does provide some interest, especially in the case of THE EXORCISM. Filming began in 2019 and was soon shut down due to COVID. Only last year, around the time of the release of THE POPE’S EXORCIST, was extra funding secured enabling filming to be finally completed. So, has it been worth the wait? Do we have a fun double feature on our hands here? Well, sadly the answer is no.
Crowe plays Anthony Miller, a troubled actor who has lucked into the juicy part of an exorcist after a fatal accident involving the previous leading man. Anthony’s issues with substance abuse have threatened his career and his relationship with his daughter Lee. Attempting to reconnect with Lee, Anthony manages to get her a job as an assistant on the movie. However cracks between them begin to widen once more as Anthony seems to become more and more affected by his role, leading both to wonder if there may be some truth to the various sinister rumours that are swirling around the set.
There is an interesting legacy at the heart of the film here. Director Joshua John Miller is already known to genre audiences for his affecting role as troubled child vampire Homer in the cult classic NEAR DARK. Also worth noting is that his father is none other than Jason Miller, already known to us all as the heroic Father Karras from THE EXORCIST. Jason himself had issues with alcohol so it seems that with such links and personal connections in place this could be a personal as well as meta take on the genre. Despite this however the result comes across as muddled and rushed despite its protracted shooting schedule.
The film skips through various scenes that will be familiar to even those who have only given a cursory glance towards possession cinema while other aspects such as Anthony’s own troubling past experiences as a child with the church are barely looked into while the various supernatural incidents that plague the shoot are never remarked or acted upon by anyone despite the large number of witnesses present each time. Concessions also seem to have been made behind the scenes here with a highly billed Sam Worthington barely visible throughout.
Cliches are revisited but never with a fresh angle to play out on. What we are left with is a film with decent performances but against a backdrop of a plot that keeps tripping over itself before arriving at a tension free climax. A disappointment then for a film to have gone through such a difficult production, only to end up likely to forever be known as the other Russell Crowe exorcist film and/or an obscure slice of trivia.
Iain MacLeod
