'The Exorcism' Movie Review
- Details
- Category: New Series and Movie Reviews
- Published: Saturday, 06 July 2024 11:41
- Written by Lupe R Haas
Russell Crowe is one scary dude in THE EXORCISM, and his performance saves the movie.
The demons of Anthony’s (Crowe) past make him an easy target for an evil entity on the set of his new movie. The washed-up actor’s daughter Lee (Ryan Simpkins) moves in with Anthony to help in his sobriety. The film also stars Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg, and David Hyde Pierce.
The premise is an unexplainable one. The movie ignores any explanation as to why an entity has inhabited a movie set on a soundstage. Several things don’t quite add up or make sense.
The glue that holds the movie together is Crowe’s performance. Anthony unravels frighteningly. His descent into madness is a gradual one and by the time he’s possessed, you fear for his daughter.
Crowe’s possession was free of prosthetics instead relying on make-up and the actor’s “if looks could kill” face to drive the horror. As Crowe’s performance in UNHINGED proves, the Australian actor can play intimidating with just one look.
Director Joshua John Miller explained to CineMovie why they chose to go without prosthetics for Crowe but use them for actor David Hyde Pierce.
Another cool factor about THE EXORCISM is the set design. The doll house set up on a sound stage is visually interesting as a vehicle to portray the manipulation of characters within the space. It’s effective in particular in one frightening scene with Anthony smashing his head onto a table as the possession takes full control.
However, what happens next after that scene is confusing and makes zero sense. That kind of behavior would immediately get you locked up in the mental ward. instead, he’s back home. Other instances of nonsense take you out of the movie.
Crowe jumped on the horror genre bandwagon with THE EXORCISM being his second scare flick surrounding an exorcism in THE POPE'S EXORCIST. Crowe's latest film is far better than the previous possession-related flick.
THE EXORCISM is now playing in movie theaters.