I’m a sucker for films that involve exorcisms and demonology and possession. I don’t know if it’s because I grew up Catholic, but I’ve always found this particular subgenre of horror interesting and frightening. Even if there are rarely fresh takes, they’re still fun to watch.
That’s basically what you get with The Pope’s Exorcist. You get what you’re looking for with the aging priest and the possessed child. There are a few good scares and Russell Crowe is great, as always, as the lead. But there is nothing original about the film.
The basic plot is this: Following the death of their patriarch, a family consisting of a woman and her two kids move into an old castle in Spain. As per the usual arrangement for horror films, the kids are super bummed about moving into a lame castle, which is absurd because the castle is stunning. It should come as no surprise that the castle has a history involving possession and problems going all the way back to the Spanish Inquisition. So in very short order the boy of the family becomes possessed. He is, of course, confined to the bed while possessed. Why do possessed children never leave the bed unless they’re floating above it? I have no idea. Then the old, controversial priest is called upon when no one else is able to help. And, tell me if you’ve heard this before, the younger priest is there too, sort of as a sidekick.
Yeah, this is pretty much the plot of every exorcism movie ever.
It was fine. Like I said, it has the creepiness. The library/tomb they find below the castle is pretty damn cool. It actually gets gory toward the end, which I was surprised by. And the CGI effects weren’t terrible. The one thing I absolutely detested—and this goes for a ton of movies in this subgenre—is the stupid fucking demon voice they give anyone who is possessed. It is so damn fake the way they do it. Every movie that uses the demon voice sounds exactly the same and I can’t stand it.
PC3’s Horror and Exploitation Movie Scale of Awesomeness!
Gore - 6
Special Effects - 6
Nudity/Sexuality - 1
Wow Factor - 2
Acting - 7
Fear Factor - 6
Story/Plot/Originality - 3
Cinematography/Atmosphere - 6
Sound/Music - 3 (points off for that damn demon voice)
Fun Factor - 4
The Pope’s Exorcist gets an overall score of 44. It’s not terrible; it’s just been done a thousand different times. And no one will ever beat the GOAT: The Exorcist. But it’s definitely not a waste of time and it’s free on Netflix.
If you want horror with a Catholic crossover that is something unique, then check out my novel Vampire Nuns Behind Bars.