I took a friend of mine to see Exorcist: The Beginning and he proved to be the most entertaining part of the movie. I laughed through the entire movie and had a great time. But, if it wasn't for Guy, would I have liked this movie? The more I thought about it, the more the answer is no.

This is the fourth installment of the Exorcist series. The first goes down in cinematic history as one of the scariest movies ever. Based on a true story, the original Exorcist was the first movie to graphically look at demonic possession (well, Rosemary's Baby but that was different). It was truly scary. However, since then there have been tons of movies about demonic possession, most of them not very good, including the second and third installments of the Exorcist. The Beginning wisely goes back in time to look at Father Merrin, the exorcist of the original and his first encounters with evil as a youngish priest. It was a good idea and would have been a great one had it been better executed.

The Beginning begins in Cairo several years after the end of World War II, where a disillusioned former Father Merrin (Stellan Skarsgård) is trying to forget some harrowing memories of the war (which we see in flashback). No longer a priest, Mr. Merrin is now an archeologist. He's invited to Kenya  to join an excavation of a buried church. Once at the excavation site, he discovers an insane archaeologist, a beautiful nurse, Sarah (Izabella Scorupco), a troubled African boy named Joseph (Remy Sweeney) and a Vatican priest Father Francis (James D'Arcy) who might be hiding something.

What made the original scary was the battle between Father Karras and Father Merrin and the demon. The Exorcist chronicled that battle for the soul of young Regan. Young Father Karras initially was a man of weak faith. The much older Father Merrin was strong in faith but lacked the physical stamina to really put up a fight. In the Beginning, we see a lot of Father Merrin struggle with his faithlessness after experiencing evil during the war. Yet his redemption has to come from the exorcism. Really the only way he can redeem himself and regain his faith is through the exorcism process. Through confronting the personification of evil, he can reclaim his faith, his goodness. It isn't until three-quarters into the movie that the exorcism begins. It's too little, too late.

Director Renny Harlin spends too much time setting up his story. He focuses on the budding relationship between Merrin and Sarah. He explores how the villagers feel about the evil in their midst. He examines the escalating tensions between the excavators and British colonists and the Africans. These stories have their place but they take up too much time. Overall they distract from Merrin and the exorcism. The exorcism in the first movie took weeks, this one took one scary night.

Exorcist: THe Beginning does have a few scary moments and also its gross and gory scenes. Harlin knows how to spew blood and make you jump a time or two. But the Exorcist is supposed to be about the epic struggle of good and evil not about blood and nasty maggots. 

In reading about this movie, there was a lot of talk about the movie being cursed. In the making for over a decade, the first director William Friedkin, died before shooting begin. Second director, Paul Schrader, fared a little better he didn't die, but his version of the film was shelved because producers thought it wasn't scary enough (apparently it was more of a psychological thriller).  Third director Renny Harlin crushed his leg  in an auto accident while filming. His leg now has 14 metal pins in it and is still healing. To me, the story of the making of this movie would make a more compelling movie than the actual film.

Another reason to wait for DVD is that it is likely that the Scrader version as well as Renny Harlin's will be released on DVD. Then you can decide for yourself which version is better.