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Lankester Merrin
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Father Lankester Merrin is a fictional character in the novel The Exorcist (1971), its film adaptation, The Exorcist (1973), and several sequel films.Best films
(1973)
(2004)Played by the actors
Filmography of Lankester Merrin (4 films)
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, 1h57Directed by Paul Schrader
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Fantastic, Horror
Themes Films about religion, Demons in film
Actors Stellan Skarsgård, Gabriel Mann, Clara Bellar, Billy Crawford, Ralph Brown, Israel Aduramo
Rating51%
Many years before the events in The Exorcist, the young Father Lankester Merrin (played by Skarsgård, who played the same part in Exorcist: The Beginning) travels to East Africa. Merrin has taken a sabbatical from the Church and devoted himself to history and archaeology as he struggles with his shattered faith. He is haunted especially by an incident in a small village in occupied Holland during World War II, where he served as parish priest. Near the end of the war, a sadistic Nazi SS commander, in retaliation for the murder of a German trooper, forces Merrin to participate in arbitrary executions in order to save a full village from slaughter.
Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)
, 1h56Directed by Renny Harlin
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Fantastic, Horror
Themes Films about religion, Demons in film
Actors Stellan Skarsgård, Izabella Dorota Skorupko, James D'Arcy, Ralph Brown, Julian Wadham, Ben Cross
Rating51%
The film opens with a bloodied and terrified priest slowly making his way across the bodies of thousands of dead soldiers. There are many crows and hyenas roving around the bodies. The priest reaches the dead body of another priest and tries take a small demon idol of the head of Pazuzu from his hand, but, suddenly, the dead priest briefly comes back to life and stops the living priest from taking it. The camera pulls back to reveal that the entire valley is littered with dead soldiers, many have been crucified upside down. The movie then cuts to Cairo, Egypt in 1949, where the young Father Lancaster Merrin (played by Skarsgård, who played the same part in Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist) has taken a sabbatical from the Church and devoted himself to history and archaeology as he struggles with his shattered faith. He is haunted especially by an incident in a small village in the occupied Netherlands during World War II, where he served as parish priest: near the end of the war, a sadistic Nazi SS commander, in retaliation for the murder of a German trooper, forces Merrin to participate in arbitrary executions in order to save a full village from slaughter.
Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)
, 1h58Directed by John Boorman, Rospo Pallenberg
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Fantastic, Fantasy, Horror
Themes Films about children, Films about religion, Demons in film
Actors Linda Blair, Max von Sydow, Richard Burton, Louise Fletcher, James Earl Jones, Kitty Winn
Rating38%
Philip Lamont, a priest struggling with his faith, attempts to exorcise a possessed South American girl who claims to "heal the sick". However, the exorcism goes wrong and a lit candle sets fire to the girl's dress, killing her. Afterwards, Lamont is assigned by the Cardinal to investigate the death of Father Lankester Merrin, who had been killed four years prior in the course of exorcising the Assyrian demon Pazuzu from Regan MacNeil. The Cardinal informs Lamont (who has had some experience at exorcism, and has been exposed to Merrin's teachings) that Merrin is up on posthumous heresy charges due to his controversial writings. Apparently, Church authorities are trying to modernize and do not want to acknowledge that Satan as an actual evil entity exists.
The Exorcist (1973)
, 2h2Directed by William Friedkin
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Fantastic, Horror
Themes Films about children, Films about religion, Films about television, Demons in film
Actors Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn, Jack MacGowran, Jason Miller
Rating80%
Lankester Merrin is a veteran Catholic priest who is on an archeological dig in Iraq. There he finds an amulet which resembles the statue of Pazuzu, a demon who Merrin defeated years ago. Merrin then realizes the demon has returned to seek revenge.