Night at the movies - Excorcist The Beginning

[Supreme Cmdr]

OK, whose first?

[Guest Shingen]

I've been thinking about this one, but I don't know if I'll actually have time to go see it.

It's the middle of the summer rush, when everyone wants everything built before winter sets in!

I watched the original on Sci-Fi last night (they cut it to shredds, the bastards), so I might just go see this new one just for the hell-of-it.

I'll post my review then.

[Scrivener]

I guess the major media blitz made it worth a midnight opening, so I figured "What the hey."

And now I wish that I just gone home and got the extra 2 hours of sleep.

So with that, I declare the summer movie dungheap parade is now in the full swing. If you're a sucker for "Bird flys in front of camera trying to make you jump" scares with the added bonus of insect-swarm effects stolen straight out of Steven "I make cinematic filth" Sommers' The Mummy, then you might not absolutely hate this film.

It's like a weak made-for-cable-horror Halloween special. The CG is god-aweful and the scares are ALL limited to the BANG! I MADE YOU JUMP variety.

Oh yeah, and those mysterious backstory monologues that we love so much (*snic*avp*snic*) are BACK! Oh joy of all joys!

Unlike AvP, this isn't so bad it's funny. It's just not interesting. Or fun. Or scary. Or entertaining. Wait for it on cable - which is where it belongs.

4/10

P.S. What's more infuriating is that Warner had another version that, when shown to test audiences, was supposed to be genuinely creepy. That's the kind of creepy you feel while watching Blair Witch at night by yourself in the dark in a cabin in the woods. Not "HelP! I'm being chased by a swarm of CG flies" scares. But no, they thought it needed more SUCK, so they scrapped the original and started over from scratch with all new people. Fortunately we'll get that one on DVD soon.

Edit: Fixed typos. Added formatting.

[ 08-21-2004, 04:22 AM: Message edited by: Scrivener ]

[Supreme Cmdr]

LMAO!! You know Scriv, once I finally get my blog going (its installed, configured and everything - I just have to bloody well start using the damn thing), you and I should get an E&R type movie/game review gig going. Your reviews are not only hilarious, but worth reading....even if they are diametrically misplaced.

Man, that was funny.

btw, didn't I read somewhere that it had gore in it? Did they remove it or what? What I liked about the original was it had no gore, just 100% scares (which give me chills just thinking about it).

[echo]

I hate when they do stuff like this, especially after the sequels blew!

I won't be wasting my time on this one.

[Scrivener]

Yeah, this is one of those situations where I'd stand around lambasting the lame use of CGI in modern cinema... except I think that I've already beat that dead horse sufficiently.

Good CG - Whale Rider

Bad CG - Exorcist: The Beginning. Also, anything Steven Sommers.

As for the gore, it's about par with the recent Dawn of the Dead remake. What's sad is that the gore (and I like me my gore) really dosn't help this big fat turd of a movie one iota. Give me creeps over gore any day (although I'd prefer both). ;]

Just avoid this one altogether and wait for the original Paul Schrader version on DVD.