By Victoria Hope

When the announcement was made about yet another exorcism film starring Russell Crowe, many imagined that this would be a sequel to the previous film by th star, 'The Pope's Exorcist', but both films deal with completely different universes and approeaches and it is just a coincidence that the same actor is in another film that addresses the same topic.

It is not quite clear who is behind the latest work choices of Crowe, who has already delivered masterpieces such as Beautiful Mind and Gladiator, but it is only known that in recent years, he has been involved in projects with a smaller budgets each time. 

That being said, 'The Exorcism', tells the story of a has-been actor who is battling more than just supernatural demons, but also internal demons such as addiction, depression and the feeling that his time has passed. One of the few things this film gets right is the character study aspect of the main character, but of course, it's all thanks to Russel Crowe who gives 200% of his effort and charisma to try and tell this story.

The Exorcism / Picture:  Miramax

The Exorcism starts very well, with a scene that manages to capture the audience's attention in the first few seconds and for a few minutes, the film really works well, with excellent performances on screen and a good dramatic load that promises to bring a good possession story to light, but from the middle to the end, that's where the problem begins.

The film tries to mix a lot of interesting ideas and concepts, but in the end, it doesn't quite have much to say and doesn't get there, which is unfortunate as the story had the potential to be an excellent retelling or even homage to the original Exorcist. At some point, the story gets lost and doesn't come back until the final seconds.

That being said, it's not a 'bad' film, but rather a film that needed more polishing and more story development. Perhaps the runtime was too short to develop this side, but if the story had focused more on the family drama instead of just bringing unnecessary jumpscares at times, this could have been one of the most interesting horror films of the year. Had they focused on the main character and his child a bit more, maybe showing some bits of their past together, maybe this would be another story.

Rating: 7.5/10

 

Por Victoria Hope

Após o enorme sucesso de O Exorcista do Papa, o ator vencedor do Oscar Russell Crowe estará, novamente, de frente com o sobrenatural no terror O Exorcismo. Dirigido por Joshua John Miller (criador da série A Rainha do Sul), o longa será lançado nos cinemas brasileiros em 01 de agosto e acaba de ter seu trailer e pôster oficiais divulgados.

Em O Exorcismo, Crowe dá vida a Anthony Miller, um ator com um passado turbulento envolvendo drogas, agora determinado a seguir um caminho de sobriedade. Entretanto, enquanto trabalha nas filmagens de um longa de terror, seu comportamento começa a despertar preocupações, especialmente em sua filha, interpretada por Samantha Mathis. Ela teme uma recaída do pai, mas o que está por trás dessas mudanças pode ser algo muito mais aterrorizante.

O diretor Joshua John Miller atuou no clássico filme de terror Quando Chega A Escuridão, dirigido por Kathryn Bigelow, mas sua relação com o gênero vem de sua família. Ele é filho de Jason Miller, ator que interpreta o Padre Karras, no clássico O Exorcista, e Susan Bernard, uma famosa scream queen, que tem em seu currículo filmes como O Feiticeiro e Poder do Mal.

O elenco ainda inclui Sam Worthington (Avatar), Adam Goldberg (O Resgate do Soldado Ryan), David Hyde Pierce (Frasier) e a cantora Chloe Bailey (Enxame). Na equipe artística, o filme conta com direção de fotografia de Simon Duggan (O Grande Gatsby), desenho de produção de Michael Perry (Bela Vingança) e direção de arte de Jason Bistarkey (Homem de Ferro 3). A produção é assinada por Bill Block (Os Rejeitados), Ben Fast (Isolamento Mortal) e Kevin Williamson (da franquia Pânico).