10 Promising Films Ruined By Changing The Director
5. Exorcist: The Beginning
The Exorcist franchise had seen some ups and downs. The first movie is a horror masterpiece, and still holds up to this day. The less said about Exorcist II: The Heretic, the better. And though Exorcist III had some rough spots, its still a decent follow-up to the first film (and was directed by William Peter Blatty, the author of The Exorcist). One thing we knew was that The Exorcist was not the first time Lankester Merrin encountered the demon Pazuzu. Exorcist: The Beginning was to be a prequel that told the story of a young Merrin and the studio hired Paul Schrader to direct. Schraders version was a psychological horror film more in line with the original movie. The studio balked at this, instead wanting something violent and gory. They fired Schrader and replaced him with Renny Harlin. Blatty said of Harlins version that it was his most humiliating professional experience. The film did so bad that eventually, the studio allowed Schrader to release his own version of the film direct to video, which was titled Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist. Despite both movies having virtually the same plot and setting, the tone is markedly different in Schraders version. This, at least, was one time when the director managed to win out in the end.
Percival Constantine is the author of several novels and short stories, including the Vanguard superhero series, and regularly writes and comments on movies, comics, and other pop culture. More information can be found at his website, PercivalConstantine.com
