The Pope's Exorcist

Few horror films have so benefitted from the presence of such a genuine, effortless star.

The Pope’s Exorcist will certainly never go down as a classic of the genre, but it’s better than it has any reason to be. Sometimes, the devil you know gets the job done just fine.

An absurdly plotted, blood-drenched haunted house movie...with all the vitality and vivaciousness of a 15th-century corpse.

It is a powerful historical drama and Crowe is outstanding as a real life Vatican exorcist-in-chief.

A tighter edit focused purely on the crazy bits could be a big cult hit&#59; as is, it might be timed just right for a 4/20 viewing with plenty of smoke breaks.

A watchable but far-from-special rehash of exorcism movie cliches.

One of the wildest movies i’ve seen in a while…also complete shlock…and also camp!

Its was a wild wacky time

…it seems unfair to penalise Crowe and Nero for their work here, since their performances are the only things that make this rehashed supernatural gumbo watchable…

Rather than a potentially intriguing biopic of its true-life subject focusing on his methods and beliefs, this uninspired thriller is merely a compilation of effects-driven calculations and threadbare genre tropes.