Most people have seen the cult classic film “The Exorcist,” but for the people that have not (and I highly recommend you do), it is the story of a girl whose body is taken over by the Devil-possessed, if you will. The original, starring Linda Blair’s character strapped-down-to-a-bed-vomiting-pea-soup, is practically in a class of its own. With so much pressure to do as well as the first, “Exorcist: The Beginning” does a fairly good job, carving a niche of its own in the horror genre. In the original, the Devil happened to be brought back in a totem her father got on a trip abroad. The movie then goes through the events of the possession and what goes on when a priest performs the exorcism. Similarly, the prequel takes place a bit before the first film just after World War II, at an archeological dig in Africa where a church built 1,000 years before the advent of Christianity is being excavated. “The Beginning” is the story of a priest named Father Merrin (Stellan SkarsgÃ¥rd) who has lost his faith and goes to work on the dig with another young priest, Father Francis (James D’Arcy) and a female doctor, Sarah (Izabella Scorupco). Strange things begin to happen as the dig goes on. On the scare level, the movie contains some very good jump-out-of-your-seat moments. In fact, it had some scream moments too. The young woman behind me in the theater was whimpering and screaming out loud for a lot of the scenes. The whole film has a very dark feel to it, and the cinematographer plays with light and shadow very well, which adds a lot to the scare factor of the movie. Not so much in the “oh my god something is going to jump out of the shadows” sense, but in that you feel that the lead demon is always there watching the characters. The acting was also quite good; to me, what makes a good horror movie is how seriously the actors take the movie in which they are acting. This was no hokey horror movie, though it had some very comical parts that you could tell were supposed to lighten a rather intense moment or two in the movie. The actors did a great job carrying the movie through some of the darker parts of the film. At certain points, the audience could empathize with the characters, unfortunately in some places, the actors lost it. You could tell they were just actors, which happens to be the film’s fatal flaw. Over all, it was a fairly good movie, and worth your time to go see it. It’s fun and somewhat scary and will leave you slightly on edge for a bit of time afterward. If you liked the original “Excorcist” you will like this one, though I don’t think it has the cult classic potential like its predecessor. It’s kind of like Diet Dr Pepper-not quite as good as the original but still enjoyable. So, if you’re looking for a fun and thrilling movie for the weekend check out “Exorcist: The Beginning.”