If ever a film screamed at you from a shaking bed to give it a "meets" quote for its DVD cover, it is Exorcist Vengeance. The complement this film is fishing for being "Death Wish meets The Exorcist meets Midsomer Murders". Exorcist Vengeance is the latest star vehicle for professional Charles Bronson lookalike Robert Bronzi, who in the tradition of such performers as Bruce Le and Robert Sacchi has made a career for himself in B Movies on the basis of resembling a dead star. American director Rene Perez effectively birthed the 'Bronsonsploitation' genre by putting Bronzi into his horror/western 'From Hell To The Wild West', but it was their follow up 'Death Kiss' that ended up catching the media's attention. Perez's formula of extreme violence, exposed breasts and conservative politics making him a worthy Michael Winner to Bronzi's Charles Bronson reincarnate.
Homebody Perez might be reluctant to shoot outside of Shasta County (although
his upcoming horror film 'Nightfall' has British involvement on the producing
side) but Bronzi has been lured to the UK by the duo of Scott Jeffrey and
Rebecca J. Matthews. First for the action movie The Gardener (green fingered
Bronzi Vs. home invaders) and now Exorcist Vengeance. The latest film to walk
the...ahem 'Bronzi beat' sees Bronzi play Father Jozsef, a maverick Catholic
priest whose penchant for vigilantism makes him both a liability and an asset
to the Vatican. After a spot of vigilante justice on the streets of London gets
Father Jozsef in trouble with the law, he is bailed out and 'weaponised' by the
Vatican. The church then sending him off on a mission to help Christine (Nicola
Wright) whose country home has come under demonic attack, one which has left
Christine's mother dead and her maid Magda (Anna Liddell) possessed.
Fortunately Jozsef is the kind of priest who believes in bringing a gun to an
exorcism, and soon tools up with holy water, a bible and a firearm. Jozsef's
arrival is met with hostility from Christine's son Nick ("what is this… a
fucking exorcist...you're all out of your minds") and skepticism from her
brother Patrick (Simon Furness) and daughter Rose (Nicole Nabi) but receives a
warmer reception from Christine's other daughter Rebecca (Sarah Alexandra
Marks) who becomes Jozsef's closest ally in the house.
Exorcist Vengeance is a lively affair by Scott Jeffrey and Rebecca J. Matthews standards. It's tempting to wonder if the hands on, US involvement in the production- which includes Death Kiss producer Jeff Miller and Commando director Mark L. Lester- resulted in a faster paced movie than we've come to expect from the British duo. Indeed, if you're accustomed to Jeffrey & Matthews movies having a punchy pre-credits scene followed by twenty minutes of melancholic drama, it's jolting to see Exorcist Vengeance go straight from its Death Wish flavoured opening to immediately piling on the horror movie incidents. The order of the day here being throat slashings, levitation, vomiting up blood (there's lot of that in this film) and dog collar shaming insults aimed in the direction of Jozsef. Exorcist Vengeance even toys with following Amityville 2: The Possession down the rabbit hole of brother and sister incest, before nipping that idea in the bud, or to be more precise stabbing it repeatedly in the neck. In a first for Jeffrey & Matthews, the two films they've made in collaboration with Miller and Lester, also manage to afford the luxury of established, name actors. Gary Daniels in The Gardener, while Exorcist Vengeance ropes in, and robes up, Steven Berkoff for a couple of scenes as a bishop who clashes with Jozsef over his methods, but when push comes to shove has his back. "The pope appreciates your service"
Exorcist Vengeance doesn't entirely follow The Exorcist beat for beat. There's
a massive plot twist halfway through that succeeds in both pulling the carpet
from under you and freeing the film to go off in the direction of a Midsomer
Murders type whodunit instead. As Jozsef turns amateur sleuth and attempts to
figure out which member of the household is going around committing murders-
including the oh so British demise that is death by watering can. Before the
third act returns to exorcist territory with even more possession, vomiting up
of blood and Father Jozsef taking on the forces of evil, anyone would think he
had a (wait for it)...Death Wish.
Exorcist Vengeance does, but of course, include many of the hallmarks we've come to expect from a Scott Jeffrey production. Namely, aerial views of the countryside (where would modern British horror filmmakers be without their drones), put on American accents (some of the family "went off across the pond") and age blind casting (Magda is meant to have raised Nick and Rebecca since childhood but the actress playing her is roughly the same age). Like Father Jozsef himself, Jeffrey & Matthews stick to their guns, playing Exorcist Vengeance totally straight and admirably avoiding the piss taking faux-Grindhouse approach...no matter how preposterous the action gets. My favourite piece of dialogue in the film comes after Jozsef pulls a gun on Magda during the exorcism, causing do-gooder Patrick to complain "the only thing I expect to see in your bloody hand is a bible". Exorcist Vengeance does put a couple of steps wrong at times, with the back-story about Jozsef's troubled youth and the death of his wife threatening to kill the momentum. It does strike you that Exorcist Vengeance missed a trick by not having Jozsef's wife be killed by muggers, which would have given the opportunity to work further Death Wish elements into the film. Although the Bronson spirit is evoked in the scene where Father Jozsef finally loses it with do-gooder Patrick and beats him up at the breakfast table.
Unlike his earlier films, in which he was dubbed by someone trying to impersonate Bronson, the Hungarian born Bronzi gets to use his real voice here. The strong accent initially feels incongruous with the Bronson image, but does at least manage to give Bronzi an identity outside of merely being a tribute act. Exorcist Vengeance, along with the recent prison based Bronzi vehicle 'Escape from Death Block 13', represents an honourable attempt at giving him more to do acting wise, even if Bronzi's appeal remains primarily visual. Fortunately Jeffrey regular Nicola Wright is on hand to lend solid acting support, and as the good (i.e. devout and non-incestuous) daughter Sarah Alexandra Marks leaves a bigger impression here than she did in the Jeffrey produced 'Monster Portal' boding well for the half a dozen other movies Jeffrey just signed her up for. The cast is filled out with the irrepressible Chrissie Wunna in a relatively sedate role as a policewoman, albeit one whose dress sense is more in keeping with an Ann Summers customer impersonating a policewoman. If you've ever wanted to put a face to the name, I believe that is also Scott Jeffrey himself playing the man who yells 'Oi' at the thug being chased by Bronzi in the opening scene.
Overall, Exorcist Vengeance is everything I expected and wanted it to be, others may not necessarily see that as a recommendation, but for my money the world is a slightly better place for having a British made, exorcist themed Bronsonsploitation movie in it.
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