The Crucifixion (2017) User Reviews (92)

The Exorcism of Adelina Marinescu

[philneil · 6/10 · 17 October 2017]

Like 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose' (based on the true story of Anneliese Michel) this movie is also based on the true story of the Tanacu exorcism, which was a case wherein Maricica Irina Cornici, a mentally ill nun at the Romanian Orthodox Church monastery of Tanacu in Vaslui County, Romania, was killed during an exorcism by priest Daniel Petre Corogeanu with the help of four other nuns.

Adelina's story is told through a series of flashbacks and this is where there are some truly disturbing elements and shocking visuals which push the genre from murder/mystery/thriller to actual horror.

The Romanian setting has an almost Gothic allure and certainly adds atmosphere.

Although there were some cheap jump-scares it did actually manage to shock (and disgust) me a couple of times when something 'real' occurred.

I don't want to come across as negative in this review as this is a nicely made movie, however it's nothing I haven't seen before (done better).

6/10

Not fully clicking

[subxerogravity · 6/10 · 14 October 2017]

Not the most exciting film, it's a horror mystery, that's more mystery than horror and the mystery was not that interesting. It was about a faithless journalist trying to prove God is not real by doing a story about a Priest in jail for murder because an exorcism went wrong. Sounds like a good story. The setting of the movie also seemed good as it takes place in Romania, during a holiday that, according to the film is similar to Halloween, and when I herd this at the beginning of the film I was jazzed to watch a Halloween picture during the season.  The Crucifixion shows a lot of elements of mystery and sexuality that makes if feel like a homage of Hammer Horror, but it falls a little short from become a classic of even a cult classic, real short.

Not bad

[buzz_babe · 6/10 · 10 May 2019]

Storylines not bad and it's nice and scary but the main actor is rubbish

Unfortunately not a good movie

[jakubbartoszkowalczyk · 3/10 · 24 October 2017]

Plot is boring and repetitive but the worst part is the way main character plays her role, she might be the weakest chain of this movie. Also, it is pretty unbelievable that all Romanians speak fluent English...(no ofence here, this just makes this movie strange to watch). If you seen more than 5 possession horrors you can skip this one, there's nothing new.

No more exorcism movies, please!

[Kolobos51 · 3/10 · 1 December 2017]

A priest and several nuns are arrested after an exorcism in Romania goes wrong and a woman ends up dead. A young female, American reporter with an ax to grind shows up to tell a biased story about the tragedy. Her initial reporting suggests the priest was a dangerous zealot but later experiences suggest something supernatural may actually be happening.

Let me start by saying I normally don't like these kind of movies. In fact, with the exception of The Exorcist part 1, I don't really like any of them. I only saw this because I really like its director, Xavier Gens, the man behind the memorably trippy French splatter fest Frontier(s) and the truly outstanding and very under-appreciated bomb shelter thriller The Divide. But The Crucifixion has none of the visual flare or shocking imagery of his past movies. I would actually say this is his worst movie by far and I can't help but wonder if he just had a house payment due or something because the whole effort feels kind of half hearted.

This movie is painfully slow with a story that could be described as a thinner, cheaper remake of The Exorcism of Emily Rose. They draw inspiration from similar true stories and hit many of the same notes. But, The Crucifixion isn't nearly as good or well made as Scott Derickson's breakout hit.

The lead actress is terrible. She's too young for her role and delivers her lines as though she's reading them off a cue card. The movie seems to realize how boring she, and the film itself, is so she starts showing a little skin around the half way point and, sadly, this is the most interesting thing about her. The supporting cast isn't dramatically better.

So, with a weak cast of dull characters and a story that takes forever to get started and pads its run time with lame jump scares, I can't say there's any reason in the world to watch this movie.

Maybe check out The Exorcist TV show instead. It's actually really good and its ratings are terrible so watch it while you still can and avoid The Crucifixion like the plague.

Her faith made her give up hope

[nogodnomasters · 5/10 · 8 December 2017]

Nicole Rawlins (Sophie Cookson) who has issues with her own mother's death works as a reporter. She travels from NY to Romania to cover a story about a priest accused of murder while performing an exorcism on a nun. She visits everyone involved in the case who have no trouble talking to her. She does some of her own investigative work as she begins to doubt her skepticism.

This is another skeptic comes to Jesus film with a possession and exorcism. Nothing great, low action.

Guide: No swearing. Brief sex and nudity.

A watchable interesting film

[mjsreg · 7/10 · 26 August 2018]

Well I don't know what the people giving this movie a low rating were expecting, but to me it was an enjoyable film. It is certainly worth more than 5!

Obviously intended to make it easier for an American audience to relate to and understand, every person encountered spoke English - even in remote villages. That was annoying, as was this young American girl stomping around showing little respect. But this happens a lot in films like this set in foreign lands and was minor.

The acting overall was good as was the story. It was well produced and very watchable.

Why was this made?

[Finfrosk86 · 4/10 · 18 October 2017]

What the hell is this crap? What happened here?

This is so by the numbers, so bland, so boring. Check it out: every single jump scare in this movie, which is pretty much every single "scare", is accomplished with an ear piercingly loud sound. Seriously. Every time. A car horn. A dogs bark. A bang on a door. And the sound is so ridiculously loud, while the talking is super low. Man I was just so effing angry. It pains your ears. And the sound is not even accompanied by scary imagery! Most of the times it's just a fake scare. With SUCH loud noise. JEEEZ.

The best thing about the movie is Sophie Cookson. She does the best she can with a very uninteresting and boring script. There is very little gore, the little there is is OK. There are a couple of effects, they also work. But all in all it's just very tame. The story, I think, leans on being "true". Unfortunately it's still boring.

I should probably give this a lower score, but if my mood were better I think I might have enjoyed it more. Also, the movie does have some qualities, it's just all to by the numbers.

Effective film with a more realistic take.

[jmbovan-47-160173 · 7/10 · 4 April 2020]

Production is done well, acting is good. This takes a more realistic perspective in the idea of demon possession and exorcism as it uses the Eastern European background and culture to spin doubt well. That being said, the story is somewhat standard and thus bordering on perfunctory in terms of the tropes that are consistent within all possession films. Otherwise a decent watch.

Stay away from this (light spoilers)

[kuarinofu · 5/10 · 7 August 2018]

There is so much wrong with this movie I don't know where to start. There were warning sings though, the opening title says "INSPIRED by true events" not based on, which is clearly not a good sign.

Then, without wasting any time, we jump straight into the story. No character introductions or mood-establishing shots, nothing. I thought they didn't want the movie to feel boring because it's too long, I checked the run time - almost 90 minutes. That was the moment when I realized I'm in trouble.

In like the first 5 minutes our main character, a journalist, driven by a very bleak motivation we know nothing about yet (remember, no introduction), decides to go to Romania to investigate a crime based around exorcism (INSPIRED by the Tanacu Exorcism of 2005).

Throughout the movie the main character just walks around, drives around and asks stupid questions to provide for more expository dialogue. There is no atmosphere or any sort of horror feel to this, no mystery. They way it is directed, lit and shot makes you feel like you're watching a bad commercial. It's so unoriginal and as much NOT SCARY as a movie can possibly be.

After 70 minutes of wandering around while being subjected to non-scary scares (boring jumpscares, mostly) the movie finally decides it is time to end. A sort of climax comes and the big mystery is revealed which was never a mystery to begin with. 2 hard cuts and the movie just stops. Wow.

The movie ended and here is what I can say about it:

1. It feels heavily cut and re-edited, some scenes contradict each other and are out of order, some scenes are very noticeably split into two segments (like the talking scene with Sister Vaduva). The introduction and a better ending was probably cut out as well I assume.

2. The director of photography is either in a relationship or is heavily obsessed with Sophie Cookson. Up to a 15% of the movie are close-ups of her face. She is a beautiful young lady, but there is really no need to focus this many shots on her face. They also introduce a lot of unnecessary nudity from Sophie Cookson. It really feels like they just wanted to see her naked or something, this is so wrong. In fact, if you google "Sophie Cookson nude" the first results you get will be from this movie (don't ask me why I did it), FOR SCIENCE!

3. This has no story, no characters and thus no character arcs, no horror or scares, no interesting locations, no creative shots or setups, nothing.

The only thing that didn't suck was probably the casting. Some of the supporting cast was in fact Romanian and felt somewhat believable.

Why even bother with the "inspired by real events" thing? Just take pseudo-Romanian setting - mountains, small county, introduce us into Orthodox Christianity and try to defile it in front of us. So much can be done with this concept...

Anyways, if you want to know more about the Tanacu Exorcism - watch Dupa dealuri (2012) instead.

I rarely say this, but seriously, don't waste your time on this movie, it is not worth it.

Quite good!

[fil-nik09 · 8/10 · 12 November 2017]

I decided to watch this film because I was attracted to the fact that it was based on a true story and that it is connected to Romania, which is very close to my city.

Anyway, the film is quite good. The rating of 5 here really does not reflect the overall experience.

I would give 10 for the setting, the interiors ( especially the room of the possessed girl and the churches and all the rooms ) as they have that 'something' that really stands out.

The acting of all the actors, except the main actress is really good. The main reporter girl is kinda too ... hasty and there was something about her abrupt ways that did not click with me. Maybe she was meant to be like that.

The last ( 2nd exorcism) was kinda non believable while the 1st one was on point.

I am not 100% sure if they filmed all in Romania but it looked that way and that gave extra + to the story.

My rating is 8. The film was entertaining and interesting 99% of the time.

One of the better exorcism movies

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 7 April 2019]

I so often have such high expectations in this genre, but am almost always disappointed. I went into this with very low hopes, but was pleasantly surprised. Based on true events, this film is interesting, entertaining, and very well made.

Initially I thought it was a historical story, and was a little confused to see it was present day Romania. I liked the setting, it was certainly different.

Very well acted, with super production values, and of course we get every single stereotype known to man, the voice, the levitation, the flies, and of course the dishy priest.

Predictable, but very well made. 7/10

AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE!

[djmathers · 1/10 · 4 June 2018]

Where do I start?... the main actress was unbelievably terrible. Not convincing at all any time. This so called 'horror' relies on cheap fright moments throughout to justify its label in this genre. And the plot? Good luck finding it. Nowhere in sight. Incoherent, laughable & an absolute waste of time. Dont say I didnt warn you.... utter rubbish.

Dull, unoriginal, n non scary. Go watch Exorcism of Emily Rose, an awesome film.

[Fella_shibby · 5/10 · 4 March 2018]

Had seen the trailer n was looking forward to it. My curiosity n excitement doubled after i came to kno that its directed by Xavier Glens. I am surprised that after making such a brutal n atmospheric film, Frontiere(s), what made Glens create such a slow n tame film. Saw this on a rented dvd. It is a beautifully shot film. The Romanian country side was pleasant but the overall film was a disappointment. Firstly, the film was unoriginal, stale n not scary enuff for horror fans. Its more like an investigative mystery drama but predictable. U can call it poor mans Exorcism of Emily Rose. Forget the blood, nudity or sex, the story was dull, the tension was zero n the character development nada. In the trailer v get to see spiders in the crotch which was scary but the real scene in the film is meh. Also, in the trailer v get to see the needle scene which was again scary but the scene in the movie was a blink n a miss.

fara sens

[Pegasus-10 · 1/10 · 12 September 2023]

Best thing about this mess is the short running time; although it's still too long.

This inexperienced nepotist journalist travels to Romania to flesh out a story of a nun who died during an exorcism.

She calls back to her newspaper to give the actor playing her uncle more screen time, and luckily it's always daytime in both places, except once although it should have been dark in both places.

Luckily for her everyone she encounters in the "rural" part of the country speaks perfect English. That itself merits one star. She also luckily finds a wonderfully spacious room in the local hotel in this "rural" part of the country, where the manager speaks perfect English. She gets involved with a handsome local clergyman (who speaks, well, you know), and others in the church and local hospital who, well, you know.

I tried to find the Romanian word for "balderdash" but wasn't able to.

Welcome to rural Romania... where everyone speaks English!

[dartgabriel · 3/10 · 20 July 2023]

Oh god... where to even start? Possession movies are pretty easy to do terribly, and this was no different. The dismal acting reflected a dismal script. It was incredibly predictable, what with the tropes it made no effort to eschew. Girl lost her faith and has a chip on her shoulder, convinces uncle who owns a newspaper to let her fly to Romania and cover a story. Was it murder or was it an exorcism gone bad? Gee... I wonder what happened to our plucky hard-nosed "journalist" next? This film was so utterly devoid of originality or creativity. The hunky priest (but NOT a love-interest), Father What-a-waste? Check. Mysterious village boy who's somehow connected to everything? Check. Running through a cornfield? Check. British actors putting on a vaguely "Eastern European" accent? Check.

If you want a movie that blurs the line between possession and mental illness, just watch The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

Didn't feel like tone to watch

[arcanjl · 7/10 · 9 October 2019]

I love to watch horror movies in OCT, and this made the list. I thought the acting was meh, and the story was a little different than cookie cutter, and it was a Exorcism copy. So all put together I thought it was fun, and entertaining.

trailer looked good, but that acting

[mikesgrl-90047 · 3/10 · 10 September 2023]

Acting was subpar at best. Story wasn't that horrible, but was predictable. For a main stream movie studio this was absolutely not up to snuff. And it wasn't just the main female lead or the main male lead, it was literally every actor in this film that sucked. IMO there was no real emotion in their acting whatsoever, it sounded like they were reading from a cereal box. I did like the camera shots for the most part, scenery was lovely but again have seen way better at way smaller movie companies. I wouldn't so much as have this movie on in the background. Other reviews are spot on, Exorcism of Emily Rose was way better.

A fresh horrorfilm ?

[pikayaehm · 7/10 · 13 January 2019]

Basically, "the crucifixion" is about a failed exorcism on an Rumanian girl back in 2004 which is based on a real story.

Starting with the positive aspects of the film, the setting is an uncommon fresh environment. Romania stands in the total contrast to the basic horrorfilm settings like villages in the suburbs of an big American city. So from the beginning on the viewer has an strange feeling watching the protagonist exploring lost monasteries and small towns looking like the time was standing still since the 70'. The cast brings also new faces with it and even though there aren't that much characters, the spectator is never feeling bored. The story had also an very positive effect on me by not only focusing of how to fight demons, but also discussing in which way the church influences everyone of us. (The question about ethnical concerns is a very important one.) I also liked how the film was cutted (very smooth and pretty for the visitors eye). The scenery was stunning at several points as well as the colour design of the film.

These aspects are very surprising for an free Amazon movie. But as well there are positive sides, the film has negative ones as well.

The plot in general is quite good, but I think the implementation has it's little weaknesses. The problem is that most of the scenes who are realy scary, are based on jumpscares. The movie misses to use the great location and the very dark story of romania to shock the spectator. Also there are a lot of scenes where I was sitting in front of the TV knowing what's going to happen in the next few seconds. These two aspects are influencing the quality of the film drastically, because of them, the film turns into one which is optically very attractive but has massive problems with the plot.

All in all i would recommend this movie to everyone who's searching for a good going movie for chilly movie nights with a bit of horror and the question why religion is important.

Very bad movie

[kruno-18306 · 3/10 · 26 May 2018]

This is so lame. Watched it yesterday in cinema and my expression is that watching this movie is waste of time. I was so excited when I watched the trailer but when the movie starts it was really bad. Low performance, low budget and the acting is not so good.

Tons and Tons of good jump Scares

[willandcharlenebrown · 8/10 · 16 October 2020]

Falls perfectly in line with Conjuring and Annabelle! Not as good of story but great acting and well staged jump scares that will keep your butt on the edge of the seat. My heart is still beating fast from all the scares haha! What a ride. Thanks director

Indroctination by fear... this is not good

[KikyNez · 7 October 2017]

I must agree with Sebastian Billman's review

I am not catholic, but I am from a catholic family, and we all agreed in loving horror flicks... so we reunited to watch "this", and even my family was completely disgusted with this movie.

From words from my mother: Having faith is what is important, no matter in what do you have faith. This film is trying it so hard the wrong, wrong way.

This movie take advantage from the kids and their taste from horror movies to create this "be catholic or demons will come for you to eat your soul" (in the way it is always showed in this kind of "be catholic" horror movies) playing with fear...but not fear as we used to in horror flicks, you know: full adrenaline and want some more!

I always love exorcisms films, they are creepy as hell, and some times are very good (like The Exorcist with Linda Blair, or The Rite with Anthony Hopkins).

Ressumming: a young 23 year old girl confess that she had sex, and a completely orthodox priest crucified her for that, adducing she was possessed by a demon. This pries is (at least for me) a disgusting character: he thinks he knows the truth and that "God" spoke through him (god complex, anyone?)

What it concerns me and worried me the most is the way how this turns in giving him the reason, like if a woman that is free to be sexual is so bad that she have to die.

And that is the impression it let me: a complete catholic brainwash.

I really hated this movie, and for only this time: I recommend NOT to watch. I will not give any stars, because is a minus 0 for me

good story and no The Exorcist rip-off

[trashgang · 7/10 · 15 July 2019]

Based on true events and about exorcism always makes me a bit suspicious. Beacuse which exorcism flick could beat those from the heydays of horror and isn't based on The Exorcist(1973).

But let me say, it wasn't bad after all and it's more about the mystery than about the exorcism itself. And that's the good thing but also the letdown for the geeks looking for green vomit and ugly faces. It does have scene's about the possession itself and they looked 'believable'.

Taking place in Romania does add towards the atmosphere of the flick. And of course not spoiling it you do know what is going to happen with the main lead. Acting was above mediocre and the erotism added gave it a bit of a thtrowback to the old flicks.

Ideal to start your creepy evening with this flick, some will turn their face away because the scary parts and exorcism is really well done. Not bad after all.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 2,5/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

Entitled White Girl Trash

[maggie_graves · 1/10 · 15 June 2023]

Stupid, entitled white girl goes to Eastern Europe with literally no cultural or ethical education proceeds to disrespect and judge local people. Ugh... She goes on to trespass, not follow local customs, destroy property and mock traditions.. impossible to watch.. was hoping the demon takes her away.. .Demon was too smart.. lol..She wonders around looking stupid and angry.. whoever made this movie needs to be strapped to a cross and prayed over.. oh, the script is meh.. her acting is one dimensional and awful.. it's a bad movie.. lame AF, haha.. seriously.. you will want the devil to win this one..

The Crucifixion: More of the same

[Platypuschow · 2/10 · 24 May 2019]

Of all the horror sub-genres I have to say I think possessions are my least favorite, they're all the same! In fact they frequently have scenes so identical to others they could interchange them and you'd likely not notice.

This particular one is based on a true story, about one of the many many many many did I mention many cases of an exorcism gone wrong and some poor innocent girl dying because of the beliefs of those she trusted to take care of her instead of trained professionals!

Starring the surprisingly good Sophie Cookson this bland possession tale see's a reporter travel to Romania to do a story on a nun who died during an exorcism. Lots of interviews, a lot of the usual exorcism cliches and you'll know exactly what to expect going in.

If you want to see a movie you've already seen just with a different cast then this is for you, it's just a remixed version of something we've seen countless times. Made even less funny when you realize this stuff actually happened and an innocent girl died as well as countless before her and plenty since.

Generic exorcism picture.

The Good:

Great location and architecture

Sophie Cookson

The Bad:

Too much religious foolishness

Highly pro-Christianity rhetoric

Absolutely no originality