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www.hollywoodreporter.com - : Hollywood Reporter - ''The Exorcist'' movie series is not so much a franchise as a perpetual going-out-of-business sale. There are now four official ''Exorcist'' films and many more imitations. ''The Exorcist'' (1973), written by William Peter Blatty and directed by William Friedkin, was truly one of the scariest movies ever made, for it portrayed a confrontation by humans with true evil rather than the monsters, mummies, ghosts and living dead that populate most horror films. Since then, however, audiences have been treated to the usual off-the-rack horror nonsense with the ''Exorcist'' label misleadingly attached to the titles. ''Exorcist: The Beginning'' continues the practice of false advertising. more...
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F
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filmcritic.com - : filmcritic.com - For all the dramatic potential of the story, Exorcist: The Beginning drags. Early intrigue gives way to disappointing payoffs, and Harlin seems content settling for cheap startles instead of true scares. You want rattling chills like the original? Sorry, you’ll have to settle for loud noises and disturbing yet almost laughable imagery, like rivers of blood, cannibalistic crows and a maggoty stillborn baby. At times, Exorcist: The Beginning feels reminiscent of a creaky haunted house ride at the county fair, and its abuse of CGI doesn’t provide a dollop of the impact that the head-spinning and pea-soup-spewing of the 1973 model did. more...
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C -
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metromix.chicagotribune.com - : Chicago Tribune - It's a prequel to the 1973 movie, charting the earlier devil-busting career of Father Lankester Merrin, the old priest who wrestled with the devil in Linda Blair. And, like the other follow-ups, it's more visually opulent and technically prodigious, but not as real or as scary. more...
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C +
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Critic Reviews
