I liked this better than the first sequel, THE HERETIC, and less than part 3. Here, we're taken back to 1949 Africa where we find an alcoholic, disillusioned ex-priest Merrin (who would later perform the EXCORCISM on Linda Blair in the first movie). He's recruited to go investigate an ancient temple in Africa, a temple built around 5 A.D, way before Christianity even reached that far.He meets the other people at the dig, including a female Doctor (a possible love interest) and a couple of native children. One of the kids is torn apart by hyenas and the other appears to be possessed by evil spirits. As more and more of the buried temple is uncovered more bad things happen in the surrounding area, foremost among them the hostility between the locals and the British soldiers.Merrin discovers that this Christian temple was build over a far more ancient temple, which had performed human sacrifice. And he learns, through a young priest who accompanied him to the site, that this area could very well be the spot where Lucifer was cast down from heaven. That's why the place is so evil.The story really parallels John Carpenter's PRINCE OF DARKNESS more than it does the first EXORCIST film. And there are way way too many computerized effects. Those hyenas don't look quite real and the scenes where the possessed person is crawling along the walls like a spider is anything but horrific. In fact, this movie isn't scary at all, though it makes sure to have all those 'horror' elements we've already seen so many times in so many better movies.After the movie was finished and the credits started to roll I sat there feeling as if I had just watched a rerun. It makes me very anxious to see the first version of this movie (it will be released on the DVD), which was directed by Paul Schrader (CAT PEOPLE, AFFLICTION). For whatever reasons the studio wasn't happy with Schrader's version-so they hired Renny Harlin, an action director, to completely shoot the movie over again! Well, it was obviously a mistake. Schrader's version can only be better.
I liked this better than the first sequel, THE HERETIC, and less than part 3. Here, we're taken back to 1949 Africa where we find an alcoholic, disillusioned ex-priest Merrin (who would later perform the EXCORCISM on Linda Blair in the first movie). He's recruited to go investigate an ancient temple in Africa, a temple built around 5 A.D, way before Christianity even reached that far.He meets the other people at the dig, including a female Doctor (a possible love interest) and a couple of native children. One of the kids is torn apart by hyenas and the other appears to be possessed by evil spirits. As more and more of the buried temple is uncovered more bad things happen in the surrounding area, foremost among them the hostility between the locals and the British soldiers.Merrin discovers that this Christian temple was build over a far more ancient temple, which had performed human sacrifice. And he learns, through a young priest who accompanied him to the site, that this area could very well be the spot where Lucifer was cast down from heaven. That's why the place is so evil.The story really parallels John Carpenter's PRINCE OF DARKNESS more than it does the first EXORCIST film. And there are way way too many computerized effects. Those hyenas don't look quite real and the scenes where the possessed person is crawling along the walls like a spider is anything but horrific. In fact, this movie isn't scary at all, though it makes sure to have all those 'horror' elements we've already seen so many times in so many better movies.After the movie was finished and the credits started to roll I sat there feeling as if I had just watched a rerun. It makes me very anxious to see the first version of this movie (it will be released on the DVD), which was directed by Paul Schrader (CAT PEOPLE, AFFLICTION). For whatever reasons the studio wasn't happy with Schrader's version-so they hired Renny Harlin, an action director, to completely shoot the movie over again! Well, it was obviously a mistake. Schrader's version can only be better.
