The Pope's Exorcist 4K 2023 Ultra HD 2160p

Quite by chance, after stumbling upon the catchy title “The Pope’s Exorcist,” I discovered that Russell Crowe starred in it.

Although in his recent films Russell Crowe looks more like John Goodman than himself, the presence of this once-star actor drew attention to the new release. Even if the Australian actor was roped into this low-budget film just to put his name on the poster, at least they stayed true to the genre. Exorcism is always cool—it’s the same mysticism, but with more action.

Of course, comparisons to the film that set the standard for the entire subgenre are inevitable. Throughout the film, parallels with *The Exorcist* (1973) can be traced, and the further the plot develops, the more *The Pope’s Exorcist* resembles Friedkin’s classic.

However, after an hour, the situation begins to change. Interestingly, the original pales in comparison to this new interpretation. As the exorcism ritual gains momentum, a storyline involving the Vatican’s mystical mythology is introduced, and the final third of the film highlights the generational gap between Friedkin’s film and Julius Avery’s. Let me remind you that the film from fifty years ago was truly terrifying—primarily thanks to its incredible makeup and special effects. While the new film can’t boast such groundbreaking makeup, it compensates for the horror and dread unfolding on screen with superb sound effects and computer graphics. The $18 million budget was well spent. The combination of makeup, sound design, and graphics is genuinely unsettling at times. This is exactly what an exemplary horror film about exorcism should be.

It’s worth adding that Russell Crowe’s character is based on the real-life Italian Catholic priest and official Vatican exorcist Gabriel Amorth, who performed tens of thousands of exorcisms over the course of his career, continuing the practice even into the 1990s! In fact, the plot of the film “The Pope's Exorcist” is based on his memoirs. The excellent casting doesn’t stop with Crowe: Franco Nero (Django) plays the Pope. The film also features Alexandra Essou, a rising star of horror films and a favorite of Mike Flanagan from *Doctor Sleep* and *Midnight Mass*. Compared to his previous film with Stallone, *The Samaritan*, it’s safe to say that director Julius Avery is confidently moving toward success.