After Exorcist: The Beginning (2004) became a disappointment, Paul Schrader decided to release his originally rejected version of the same story, one that features the same sets and Stellan Skarsgård as Father Merrin, but has a different victim of demonic possession.

Some critics hailed the film as superior to Renny Harlin’s, but it isn’t really. Both movies are somewhat mediocre and not scary enough.

On the other hand, Schrader is a better storyteller than Harlin, showing Satan’s influence on the evil acts of the Nazis and the British more effectively.

2005-U.S. 117 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Paul Schrader. Cast: Stellan Skarsgård (Lankester Merrin), Gabriel Mann (Father Francis), Clara Bellar (Rachel Lesno), Billy Crawford, Ralph Brown. Voice of Mary Beth Hurt.