In this Exorcist knockoff, Eric Bana plays a lapsed Catholic policeman who rediscovers his faith while investigating a series of crimes whose perpetrators are all possessed by the devil. Director Scott Derrickson (Sinister) demonstrates a knack for atmosphere but little sense of pacing; some sequences are effectively spooky (particularly one set at the Bronx Zoo), though just as many feel uninspired, and the longer dialogue scenes stop the movie dead in its tracks. There’s a nicely modulated performance from Edgar Ramirez, as a drug-addict-turned-priest, that hints at the more accomplished film this might have been.
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