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Plot: A highly revered priest carrying a decades old burden of sin is called to face an evil linked to his past, even as mysterious ailments afflict the children of his parish and unholy terrors haunt his dreams.
"The Exorcism of God" is not a movie anyone will ever call great. In fact, it lives and breathes the aura of its direct-to-video fate. Coupled with the fact that, historically, exorcism flicks have largely been tripe, this might be a death knell to most. However, it is also not an overtly bad movie and, shockingly, it manages to achieve what a lot of imitators in the wake of "The Exorcist" failed to.
After "The Exorcist" terrified audiences, there was a proliferation of imitators. Films like "Beyond the Door" and "The Manitou" often made the mistake of focusing on the more visceral, strange, and gruesome elements while neglecting the spiritual/human drama that was at the core of Blatty and Friedkin's classic. When efforts were made to address dramatic elements they were largely laughable.
It's very clear that "The Exorcist" will remain the gold standard of the genre for many more years to come. It is almost futile to attempt to topple it but it is also rather shocking that the more direct copycats never resulted in something that was, at the very least, entertaining and a bit enterprising.
Enter: "The Exorcism of God" which openly acknowledges that it is cribbing the story beats of "The Exorcist" (several homages will either delight or induce groans) but it also amusingly flips the formula on its head a few times and, better yet, offers up some substance in the mix.
Instead of Father Karras' faltering faith from "The Exorcist", we get Father Peter Williams, a man virtually revered as a saint for his many good deeds and his exorcism of an afflicted nun, and the burden of unworthiness he carries. You see, the exorcism that put him on the map is shrouded in a shameful act of sexual deviance that the Church largely overlooked in favor of the outcome. He has since then gone on to be a shining example of holiness but his inability to face the full consequences of his sin linger like a Sword of Damocles. And that's when the entity that he encountered before re-enters his life and it is made clear that all this was part of its sinister plan.
And therein might lie the greatest issue. When it comes to the entity and the possessed the movie tends to overindulge in gaudiness with its horror set pieces. There are some nice effects and sufficiently passable ones, don't get me wrong, and there is some imagery that will incite discomfort in the religious and maybe laughter in the more agnostic but all this mostly contrasts the more dramatic (and interesting) elements. Still, it's admirable that they do reign back these sequences to allow for the story and themes to never stray too far.
And this is how this Exorcist imitator offers up something more than its ilk. The movie injects intriguing themes about the nature of sin, self-doubt, and forgiveness while also taking some jabs at the Catholic Churches mishandling of sexual deviance and even hints at the idea that repression is a gateway to evil. Not to imply this is a fine tuned work of art that deftly handles these themes throughout but, it is an amusing balance of the excesses of exploitation and a legit effort to tell a story. Though nothing is ever fully developed and explored as in "The Exorcist", you have to tip your hat to them for trying to give us both and not being boring about it.
By the end, the more garish elements overwhelm and you'll see other influences (most notably the undeniable one to "The Omen") rear up) but it does pay off in a way that very knowingly inverts the way these types of films usually go and reenforces some of those aforementioned jabs at the Church's obfuscation of evil. It doesn't necessarily break new ground but, rather, takes the mirror-world route to get to where it's going. And you know what? That's okay.
Make no mistake, the movie is seedy and prone to theatrics but it's also admirably ambitious at times. Yes, this is a direct-to-video offering that actually feels like you snagged it up at the mom and pop video store for weekend viewing on your own (because the 'rents would disapprove). You're not proud you enjoyed parts of it, you know it's not amazing, but it just does something for you. Maybe it's that sometimes you need an alternative to the weighty affairs in the film it's brazenly ripping off or maybe it's just a gas.
