The Exorcism of God Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

The Exorcism of God Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 16, 2022

How metaphysical are you? It may seem like an impertinent question, but it may well play into how you react to The Exorcism of God, a film whose very title might strike some as sacrilegious. The very idea of having to exorcise God is unabashedly provocative, but for those who subscribe to the notion that Whomever (or Whatever) is "in charge" of things is an undivided Whole are by that very definition then required to accept evil and any of its personifications in the form of lesser demons or that big bad Satan himself, are part of God. That kind of postulation has confounded philosophers for untold millennia, but it's given an at least somewhat more mundane (if unabashedly florid) depiction in this film, which concerns a priest "with a past" whose dalliances with sin come back to haunt him. The Exorcism of God can be rather interesting in how it revisits "exorcism film" tropes of yore, while injecting a bit of shock courtesy of things like a crab walking Jesus instead of a spider walking little girl. The film's subtext of a corrupt and rotting Catholic Church will no doubt not sit well with many believers, but that is probably another way that The Exorcism of God offers a bit of a challenge in what is in many other ways a rote piece of horror.

A pre-credits sequence hints at the focal sin of Father Peter Williams (Will Beinbrink), who has been called to perform an exorcism on a woman who for all intents and purposes could be a somewhat older Regan MacNeil from William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist. The woman's age plays into some pretty flagrant sexuality that is (not to pun too cynically) on tap, and indeed the good (?) Father seems to be possessed by a Bacchanalian demon himself, leading to the clear implication that Williams gives in to desire, a decision (again, with a question mark, since he's evidently in the thrall of being possessed) that of course then haunts him for the rest of the story.

It's actually kind of rare to find a film like The Exorcism of God which traffics so overtly in imagery from other exorcism films, and in that regard, I'd refer anyone curious to Screenshot 6 that I've uploaded to accompany this review and then ask them, "Have you possibly seen something like that somewhere else?" That said, the whole "personification" aspect alluded to above in my opening comments is actually one of this film's more innovative qualities, with Father Peter seeming to be the embodiment of both what's right and wrong with the Catholic Church, at least according to co-writer and director Alejandro Hidalgo. By the time we catch up to Peter in the post-credits narrative, he's a virtual "saint" himself to the small Mexican village where he's been toiling away seemingly for quite some time, but who still can't quite escape from the sins of the past, as if to suggest no amount of good deed doing and/or penance can completely absolve a guilty soul (or conscience).

When pretty unsurprisingly a new rash of possessions breaks out Peter is of course confronted with that past, even if he attempts somewhat fitfully to cover it up. He's aided and abetted by a more experienced priest named Michael Lewis (Joseph Marcell), but the story almost starts getting into The Walking Dead territory (as weird as that may sound), with a gaggle of possessed inmates at local prison shuffling through shadowy corridors and seemingly not all that bothered by huge crosses being thrust in their general direction. Performances are generally committed, with Marcell perhaps unexpectedly bringing a dash of dry humor to the proceedings. There are a number of undeniable jump scares in the film, and Hidalgo offers a technically quite astute presentation, though as mentioned above, my hunch is those with more reserved tastes vis a vis depictions of religious symbols or even personages would probably do well to stay far, far away from this particular exorcism.

The Exorcism of God Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Exorcism of God is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb has no real technical data and while the making of featurette included on this disc as a supplement repeatedly shows some kind of digital camera, I simply wasn't able to discern any identifying logo. As usual, I'm assuming that the DI was finished at 2K. This is an often quite striking looking presentation courtesy of Hidalgo and cinematographer Gerard Uzcategui, but detail levels are often materially affected by how (one assumes intentionally) dark everything is. A lot of the second half of the film in particular plays out in heavily graded scenes that are swathed in almost cobalt blue tones, and as a result fine detail levels can falter. In the more brightly lit material, or even in some of the dimly lit material that is skewed more toward yellow hues, detail levels are often excellent.

The Exorcism of God Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Exorcism of God features a robust DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 that regularly exploits the surround channels as well as utilizing sudden bursts of almost overpowering LFE to up the jump scare ante. From the first scenes which depict a frightening thunderstorm and torrential downpour, there's regular engagement of the side and rear channels, and some booming activity from the subwoofer. A somewhat hackneyed but admittedly still quite effective score also wafts through the surround channels throughout the film. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. While there are optional English and Spanish subtitles available, there are also forced English subtitles for several Spanish language scenes.

The Exorcism of God Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deliver Us Toward Evil: The Making of The Exorcism of God (HD; 24:16) is an above average EPK with some good interviews with writer and director Hidalgo.


• Orchestrating Fear (HD; 6:09) is devoted to the film's score, which makes the absence of the composers kind of odd.


• Deleted Scenes (HD; 5:08)

Additionally a bookmarking feature is offered on the disc, and the keepcase includes a digital copy code.

The Exorcism of God Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There is some very interesting content in The Exorcism of God, at least for those who have questioning approaches toward Divinity and especially organized religion, but I'm not sure Alejandro Hidalgo really every fully exploits them, relying too often on some pretty hoary "exorcism movie" tropes instead. This is one of those films that may miss the bullseye, but which still targets some absolutely provocative subjects, and may therefore be of interest to a certain demographic beyond horror movie fans. Technical merits are solid for those who may be considering making a purchase.