THE POPE’S EXORCIST. Most — nearly all — exorcism movies come off as nasty, pale hokum, and for good reason. The Exorcist (1973) towers over all of them, the alpha and the omega, a procedural examination that presents itself without cynicism and without any seeming agenda. It does the essential work of believing its own story, at least during its running time, and thus treating the audience with intelligence. The movie is exceptionally well crafted, of course, compellingly acted and all of that. But above and within its competence is its inherent honesty, a unique integrity that demands the mental flexibility of a child from both its creators and observers.
I obviously cannot say whether William Peter Blatty, William Friedkin, Linda Blair or Ellen Burstyn believe in demonic possession, but from strictly textual reading of the document they’ve provided, it is apparent that in making The Exorcist, they approached the material with an absence of disbelief; which, of course, is also our job as audience.
Few to none of the copies of copies of that ur-text have come anywhere close to its insight and vulnerability, much less its legitimate scariness — although for my money The Conjuring (2013) should be part of the conversation — partially because they are often quick cheapies manufactured to exploit all-but-guaranteed profitability. But perhaps more vitally, the delicacy of managing skepticism (balancing simple-minded reverence and convenient disbelief), represents an ever-rarer strain of creative intelligence.
In fairness both to the subject at hand and my opinion of it, The Pope’s Exorcist is not necessarily a work of high art or moral philosophy. Rather, it is a sort of action-comedy from the director of Overlord (2018) with Russell Crowe in the titular role going up against the king of Hell in a fallen-angel black site. It also features a naked woman exploding into a fountain of blood; so, you know, caveat emptor.
Because Crowe remains an actor of considerable power, though, and Julius Avery a director capable of transmuting and hybridizing genre with technique and vision, The Pope’s Exorcist is something both greater than and apart from the accepted standard in possession cinema.
Where so many of the others have insisted on vacuous bleakness and a binary system of acceptance to foreground the action, putting aside such trivialities as humor, technique or character development, The Pope’s Exorcist strives to inhabit its own created world — one where Franco Nero is the pope — and to enact the sacred rite of suspending disbelief for a couple of hours. My comparison to The Exorcist is, admittedly, something of a put-on, but not entirely. Because this movie actually sets out to make its own space and to carry us through the events taking place therein without side-eyeing. (Mr. Friedkin’s representatives should direct their complaints to the Editor.)
In returning, even in the story’s chronology, to a bygone era of scary-movie making, The Pope’s Exorcist kind of rewrites the events of the intervening decades. Set in 1980s Spain with a 1990s self-awareness and an all-encompassing mashing-up of genre and an enveloping atmosphere of spookiness, it almost makes one forget all the pallid, unscary versions of this story to which we’ve been subjected. R. 103M. BROADWAY, MILL CREEK.
RENFIELD. It was a weekend for it, I guess. Although Renfield doesn’t rise to the coherence or unified style of the top half of our little double bill, it is a suitable companion piece. A gleefully gory, unabashedly cheeky, often ridiculous but self-aware riff on one of the truly canonical movie genres, it may not make any sense at all but makes for a good time.
Long-suffering Renfield (Nicholas Hoult, whom I will continue to celebrate as one of the foremost self-effacing handsome guys in contemporary movies), diminished by his century-long servitude to Count Dracula (Nicolas Cage), seeks solace in codependency support groups. Having decamped to New Orleans for the Count’s recuperation from their last run-in with the good guys, Renfield may finally have had enough of his boss’s insatiable demands for “loving couples, innocent tourists, nuns … a busload of cheerleaders.” His process of self-extrication from the abusive relationship is both assisted and complicated by his introduction to Officer Rebecca Quincy (Awkafina) and the comically vicious Lobo crime family, represented by the equally cruel and inept Teddy (Ben Schwartz). Quincy, working within a corrupt department, longs for justice for her slain hero father; her crusade becomes the expanded stage for Dracula and Renfield’s uncoupling.
There’s way too much going on here: One scene strives for upper-level stunt choreography while the next drifts into comic-book bloodletting; the color palette drifts from sepulchral dark to Mardi Gras neon to J. Crew pastel; the story wants to be about everything and nothing.
At the same time, though, there is something undeniably likable about the cast, the colors and the abject, R-rated silliness of the whole works. It’s a pleasure to see Cage in a wide-release movie with a real budget where his joy for the work and weird charisma can stretch out. Renfield may be too much and not enough; I’ll take it, all the same. R. 93M. BROADWAY, MILL CREEK.
John J. Bennett (he/him) is a movie nerd who loves a good car chase.
NOW PLAYING
AIR. The sneakerhead drama about the birth of the Nike-Jordan branding partnership starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon that nobody has been waiting for. R. 112M. BROADWAY, MINOR.
THE COVENANT. Director Guy Ritchie goes to war with Jake Gyllenhaal as a U.S. soldier and Dar Salim as an Afghani interpreter. R. 123M. BROADWAY, MILL CREEK.
EVIL DEAD RISE. It’s sisters vs. monsters in the continuation of the gory franchise. R. 97M. BROADWAY, MILL CREEK.
DAZED AND CONFUSED (1993). A 4/20 showing of vintage stony comedy. R. 102M. MINOR.
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES. Get in, nerds. Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez are going on an epic quest. PG13. 140M. BROADWAY, MILL CREEK.
HUMBOLDT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. Annual celebration of narrative, documentary, animated and experimental films. MINOR.
JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4. Keanu Reeves returns as the globe-trotting hitman and dog lover on the run from an international cast of stylish killers. R. 169M. BROADWAY, MILL CREEK.
MAFIA MAMMA. Toni Collette stars with Monia Bellucci in a Princess Diaries-style comedy but with the Black Hand. R. 101M. BROADWAY.
SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE. Mustachioed brothers race to save a princess. Starring Chris Pratt, Charlie Day and Anna Taylor-Joy. PG. 92M. BROADWAY (3D), MILL CREEK (3D), MINOR.
SUZUME. A teenage girl uses magical doors to prevent disasters in Japan in this anime that will probably make you cry. PG. 122M. BROADWAY, MILL CREEK, MINOR.
Fortuna Theatre is temporarily closed due to earthquake damage. For showtimes call: Broadway Cinema (707) 443-3456; Mill Creek Cinema 839-3456; Minor Theatre (707) 822-3456.
This article appears in ‘Poke the Bear’.