Russell Crowe stars as an espresso-sipping, scooter-riding exorcist who answers only to the Pope (Franco fucking Nero!) himself. An American widow (Alex Essoe) moves to Spain with her children to renovate an old church. Before long, her son becomes possessed and it’s up to Crowe to save his soul. However, during the exorcism, he uncovers a centuries long cover-up by the Vatican, which explains why the demon isn’t so easy to banish.
Directed by Julius (Samaritan) Avery, The Pope’s Exorcist is a surprisingly fun and entertaining ride filled with lots of laughs and some rather wild moments. It kicks off with a solid exorcism sequence where Crowe transfers the soul of a demon into a pig, and it doesn’t look back. It hits all the hallmarks of the exorcism subgenre and gives you everything you’d want to see from this sort of thing, including a couple of new twists. The possession scenes feature all the old standbys such as neck twisting, writing appearing as cuts on the possessed boy’s body, and spider-walking. New additions include the kid puking up a bird and a great moment when the kid flips out on his mom for not breastfeeding him! Also, in this one the demon voice sounds less like Mercedes McCambridge and more like the Master Control Program from Tron.
Honestly, The Pope’s Exorcist probably could’ve gone either way, but Russell Crowe keeps the film on track with his amusing performance. While he stops short of hamming it up, he certainly looks as if he’s relishing the opportunity of taking the reins of a down and dirty B-flick. He adds dollops of humorous touches to character, which endear him to the audience. However, when it comes time to confront the demon, he’s all business.
It maybe runs a tad too long and the conspiratorial aspects of the plot kind of drag things down. Fortunately, none of that gets in the way of the Friedkin-inspired hokum. Let’s face it, any movie that has Russell Crowe as a priest on a scooter and Franco Nero as the Pope is more or less must-see entertainment in my book.
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