Rating: 3.5/5
Lower Silesia, 1957
A priest brings a baby to a church. The baby has a distinct birthmark. The priest begs forgiveness from God as he draws a dagger, holding it above his head. Before he can bring himself to bring it down, the police rush in, killing the priest and saving the baby.
30 years later
Father Marek gets off the bus. He consults a map and then walks down a long dirt road to a monastery. Dead trees and stumps line the road.
A monk welcomes him in. They provide him with robes. They say the Evil One works the halls day and night. Changing into his robe, we see the birthmark on his shoulder.
Marek looks at a newspaper article that he hid away about a missing woman.
Later, they ask Marek to observe an exorcism on a woman — the same woman from the newspaper.
They record the exorcism on videotape. A group of monks gather as witnesses. The bed shakes. The wind blows through the closed-off room. The cross catches fire.
The food is miserable. Marek throws up after several meals. During his next meal, he crunches on something and pulls out of his mouth a clump of blonde hair.
The film has a thick, menacing atmosphere. It does not waste time developing its story. It knows it’s walking familiar ground.
The first act is top-notch! Filmmakers have made entire movies from the first half of this.
The second half is a little hit or miss for me, but it lands the ending.
Overall, this movie is better than I expected and one of the better horror movies I’ve watched lately.