Just in time for Easter, Russell Crowe has a rare old time as a maverick exorcist in his very first horror movie. It's so Crowe it aches
We’re unlikely to see much clutching of rosary beads and jeremiads from the pulpit over this rollicking movie about the life of real-life papal exorcist Gabrielle Amorth. The Spanish priest served as the Vatican’s official devil botherer and in his first ever horror flick, a grizzly and growly Russell Crowe has a wild old time in the title role.
Watch our interview with Russell Crowe
He plays the late Amorth as a buccaneering, Lambretta-riding, wise-cracking maverick with a strong faith but little time for his disapproving higher ups in Rome. Faith No More and The Cult are on the soundtrack and the good padre, who fought the Nazis in World War Two, quips things like "The devil doesn’t like jokes" and "My nightmare is France winning the World Cup."
Set in 1987 and with Dublin, Limerick and Wicklow standing in for various Vatican sites and a gothic old mansion in Spain, The Pope’s Exorcist follows Crowe as he investigates a 12-year-old boy’s possession in St. Sebastian Abbey in Castile, Spain, where a young family is making a fresh start by renovating the old property.
However, he ends up uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep hidden. Imagine!?
Crucifixes, holy water, and consecrated oil are all waggled about but Crowe plays Father Amorth is James Bond in a collar. Add a touch of Indiana Jones, Da Vinci Code gibberish and veteran Italian actor Franco Nero as El Papa to add some gravitas and The Pope’s Exorcist nobly tries to shake up the tired old genre.
The wonderfully named Peter DeSouza-Feighoney gives it his all as the demon child and before you can say "The power of Christ compels you!", the poor kid looks like a Francis Bacon painting and sounds like Tom Waits after 20 Rothmans. Actually, the CGI makes him look far too much like Gollum, as he spouts profanities and his sister’s head does a 360 and crucifixes spin on walls.
It’s daft and camp good fun that ends with the set-up for a sequel, if not a whole franchise. However, it could have done with more pea soup.
Alan Corr @CorrAlan2
The Pope’s Exorcist is in cinemas now.
