He was hired by a mysterious collector of antiquities to join an archeological
excavation of a 1500 year old church that is in bafflingly pristine
condition under the desert in Turkana region of Kenya. No Christian
Byzantine church dating as long back as the 5th century, should exist
in that region, when Christianity had not even arrived in East Africa.
The collector wants Merrin to find an ancient relic hidden within the
church before the British discover it.
Merrin arrives at the site. He is accompanied by a younger priest
(James D'arcy) and Dr. Sarah Novack (Izabella Scorupco) who also has
a Holocaust background. They discover that beneath the church, something
much older sleeps, waiting to be awakened. They also learn that people
had been disappearing, wild hyenas circle the area and the villagers
believe that an evil force lurks within the old church. The villagers
are afraid to talk about this old church and the evil spirit surrounding
it. As the excavations proceed, evil things begin to unleash and Merrin
is faced with the same horrors he is desperately trying to forget. Many
a times in the middle of the dark night, Merrin goes alone inside the
church and the nearby graveyard to discover the truth behind these mysteries.
He does dig out a lot of truths and bring out the true face of the evil.
The film was originally set to be directed by John Frankenheimer,
but after he passed away, another director came aboard and shot a version
that was turned down by the producer Robinson for being not scary enough.
Then, Renny Harlin came aboard and re-shot the entire film with a new
cast and a new script. He does a fairly decent job but is not comparable
to the original masterpiece.
Cinematography by veteran Vittorio Storaro is awesome. The special
effects are reasonably good. Movie mostly focus on Merrin and his struggle
with his faith. Stellan Skasrsgard as Merrin does justice to his role.
As a whole the movie fails to create a real feeling of horror. Moreover,
it doesn't deliver any message to keep the faith in God. Even though
scary scenes are rare, horror fans may like it.
We rate this movie Average.
