I don’t know—maybe it’s my Catholic upbringing, but despite the fact that I don’t believe in god and find most religion to be, at best, silly, movies about the Devil are not too far behind zombie films on my list of favorite horror. The Amityville Horror, Prince of Darkness, The Omen—they all still creep me out, and I still have yet to get all the way through the director’s cut of The Exorcist.
Thus, while in the video store this evening, I rented The Exorcist: The Beginning, despite the near-universal critical revulsion it generated when it was in theaters. I have a soft spot in my heart for crappy horror movies, so I figured that it would at least be good to laugh at. As it turns out, it wasn’t half bad. Sure, it fell apart in the last fifteen minutes, but if a good ending were a requirement for me liking a horror movie, I’d never watch any. There’s a general sense of creepy menace throughout most of the film that keeps to the spirit of the original (as well as to that of the underrated Exorcist III), and the performance of Stellan Skarsgard as a young Father Merrin makes up for a somewhat spotty story.
Anyway, it’s definitely not a great movie, but it kept me interested for close to two hours, so I figure that deserves some praise. Now I’m off to watch the Tobe Hooper remake of The Toolbox Murders. Good times!