Ep920: THE POPE'S EXORCIST (2023) / THE DEVIL AND FATHER AMORTH (2017) - Movie Reviews
Ian and David take on the forces of darkness with a double-feature review of The Pope’s Exorcist and The Devil and Father Amorth!
The first is a horror movie from earlier this year, in which Russell Crowe plays Father Gabriele Amorth, an Italian priest who served as the Vatican's designated exorcist from 1986 until his death in 2016. Amorth must vanquish a demon tormenting an American family who has just moved into an inherited Abbey in Spain--one which holds dark secrets that could shake the Church (and Christianity) to its core.
The second film is a documentary by The Exorcist director William Friedkin, who passed away recently. It follows the real-life Father Amorth, and claims to capture a bona fide exorcism on camera. The results are...curious, to say the least.
In this spoilerific episode, they guys dig into both movies, looking them as entries in the "possession movies" genre; as horror movies; and as examinations of faith. They also talk about Crowe's oddball performance, and imagine what a "Further Adventures of Father Amorth" series might look like!
Show Links
Watch the Pope’s Exorcist trailer.
Watch the Devil and Father Amorth trailer.
We referenced a couple of Matt Zoller Seitz's written reviews for RogerEbert.com in this discussion. Both are magnificent and worth checking out:
Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.
And join David next month (Monday, 9/11) at the Tivoli Theater in Downers Grove, IL, where he'll host an After Hours Film Society screening of Kelly Reichhardt's Showing Up (including a film discussion afterward!).
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