The Pope’s Exorcist Blu Ray Review (Sony Pictures)

The Pope’s Exorcist is a 2023 supernatural horror film directed by Julius Avery (Overlord, Samaritan, and Son of a Gun). It was written by Michael Petroni (Messiah, Backtrack, The Book Thief, The Rite, Possession, and Queen of the Damned) and Evan Spiliotopoulos (The Unholy, Snake Eyes, Charlie’s Angels, Hercules, and The Huntsman: Winter’s War). It’s based on the 1990 book An Exorcist Tells His Story and the 1992 book An Exorcist: More Stories by Father Gabriele Amorth. The budget was $18 million and it grossed $77 million worldwide at the box office!!!!In 1987, Father Gabriele Amorth (played by; Russell Crowe from Gladiator, American Gangster, A Beautiful Mind, Justice League, Thor: Love and Thunder, Unhinged, The Mummy, Man of Steel, and LA Confidential), the Pope’s personal exorcist visits an Italian village where a man is seemingly possessed by a demon. With the local priest, Amorth enters the room where the man is tied up. While exorcising him, using a Saint Benedict Medal sacramental, Amorth taunts the demon, challenging it to possess a pig; when it does, the pig is killed with a shotgun. This incident gets Amorth in trouble with a Church tribunal, since he acted without permission from superiors. One tribunal member is a friendly African Bishop Lumumba (played by: Cornell John from Captain America: Civil War and Gangs of London), but another is a vicious American Cardinal Sullivan (played by: Ryan O’Grady from The Fool and Junction Dogs), skeptical of demonic possession. The Pope (played by: Franco Nero from the Django franchise, John Wick Chapter 2, The Lost City of Z, Die Hard 2, and Enter the Ninja) assigns Amorth to visit a possessed boy named Henry (played by: Peter DeSouza-Feighoney) in Spain. His mother Julia (played by; Alexandra Essoe from Starry Eyes, Midnight Mass, Doctor Sleep, and Tales of Halloween), and his rebellious teenage sister Amy had traveled from America to take possession of a mysterious old Spanish abbey. Julia’s husband’s sole bequest to his family after he died in a car accident where Henry was present. The traumatized Henry has not spoken since the accident. Father Amorth must figure out this demonic situation. He keeps finding more mysterious information and secrets hidden from the Vatican as his investigation continues. Can he help the boy and discover the Vatican’s past before it’s too late????The Pope’s Exorcist was much better than expected. The possession sub-genre in horror is honestly one of my least favorite. I think it’s been way overdone over the years, too many produced and most of them feel like the exact same thing. The worst thing about then is that they are almost always PG-13 so they feel watered down. Luckily, this one is actually Rated R and that’s one of the best aspects of this production. It doesn’t hold back and it feels true to it’s subject. The script was written by two longtime writers so it’s very good and it explores the world of demonic possession. Oscar winner Russell Crowe elevates the entire feature with his presence. He always gives a good performance no matter what he does. This was something different for him when it comes to acting so it’s cool for his fans to experience. It has a decent supporting cast that includes Daniel Zovatto, Alexandra Essoe, Franco Nero, Peter DeSouza-Feighoney, Ryan O’Grady, and Cornell John. It has some visuals here. I enjoyed the special fx and the possession moments in this. The Pope’s Exorcist is one of best entries from this tired horror sub-genre and it’s worth checking out. Last time that I checked, it was streaming on Netflix if you are curious about it. RECOMMENDED!!!!Let’s discuss this high definition presentation from Sony Pictures! This 1080p (2.39:1) transfer looks fantastic in HD. It has a few different audio options which includes English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French (Canada): DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, and Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1 on the disc. All of the dialogue is crystal clear, the possessions are elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It has English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Korean, Mandarin, Mandarin, and Thai subtitles. Sony provides a real solid technical home video release for this horror film. “Introducing Father Amorth” is a little over 6 minutes. It focuses on the main character here. It goes over the real life version and Crowe’s performance as the Father. “What Possessed You?” Is almost 5 minutes. It has interviews with the director, lead actor, and a producer. They chat about demons and new ways of doing this sub-genre. It comes with a digital code. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!