Latest horror flick based on history of real-life priest who performed exorcisms

By: Patrick Beech

For those looking to get spooked this April, The Pope's Exorcist is a good option.

Inspired by the actual files of Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican (Academy Award-winner Russell Crowe), the movie follows Amorth as he investigates a young boy's terrifying possession and ends up uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep hidden.

Father Amorth is a gentle soul who likes to joke with passing nuns and priests and is a keen football fan and strides the rural roads of an Italian village and the corridors of the Vatican with equal ease.

However, Amorth is no ordinary priest. He is an exorcist, sent to do battle with those whose bodies have been stolen by malevolent spirits.

Wielding the relics of his office, full of confidence and showing absolutely no fear, Amorth can overcome even the most blood-curdling cases. Even when all seems lost, Amorth brings forth hope from despair, a real-life ghost buster.

When Crowe began reading about the history of real-life Catholic priest Father Gabriele Amorth, who claimed to have performed over 50,000 exorcisms, he was intrigued.

“He left behind a whole bunch of his first-person experiences to read through. I think there are like a dozen books or something like that, you know. So, it was just his journey that really fascinated me to start with,” the 58-year-old said.

The haunting tale begins when an American widow named Julia, played by horror film veteran, Alex Essoe, moves into an old castle in Spain with her two children and they soon get more than they bargained for.

Home renovators break into a sealed room in the basement and unleash a demon that possesses Julia’s son, Henry, who is played by Peter DeSouza-Feighoney.

Amorth is tasked with ridding the demon from the child. However, unlike previous exorcisms, the demon feeds off the exorcist's own guilt and regrets.

Catch it now at a cinema near you.