9. Exorcist: The Beginning
The original
Exorcist films came out and said that when Father Lankester Merrin attempted to exorcise the demon Pazuzu from Regan MacNeil, it wasnt actually the first time hed encountered that specific demon.
Exorcist: The Beginning was supposed to tell this untold story of Merrin first encountering the demon in Africa, while on sabbatical from the church. Morgan Creek Productions hired Paul Schrader to direct and he turned in a film that was more psychological. Morgan Creek was really disappointed with this,
as they expected a much bloodier and violent film. Schrader was fired and replaced by Renny Harlin. Schrader, it should be noted, was the writer of
Taxi Driver,
The Yakuza, and director of acclaimed films like
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters. Harlins big contributions to the world of film are
Die Hard 2: Die Harder,
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, and
Deep Blue Seaso theres a bit of a drop-off here. Harlins version was raked over the coals by critics and Morgan Creek gave Schrader $35,000 to complete his film. This was later released direct-to-video as
Dominion: The Prequel to The Exorcist. Although both movies tell essentially the same story, Schraders is more coherent and a better film overall. To give you an idea of the difference between the two, William Peter Blatty, who wrote
The Exorcist (both the book and the screenplay), said that
Exorcist: The Beginning was the most humiliating experience of his professional life, whereas he called
Dominion classy and elegant.