Russell Crowe’s latest flick has made viewers totally spooked, with some even going so far as to warn fellow scare-seekers to watch it only during daylight hours.
It comes after Crowe himself revealed that he experienced something rather out of the ordinary while filming for a new horror movie.
The film in question is titled The Pope’s Exorcist, where Crowe stars as the real life figure Father Gabriele Amorth. The Catholic priest acted as an exorcist for the Diocese of Rome from 1986 until he died in 2016.
Speaking to UNILAD, Crowe revealed that filming the flick wasn’t your typical movie experience…
“I think we were all aware of keeping ourselves sane throughout the course of the shoot,” he said. “There were certainly little strange coincidental things happening but you’ve got to keep your balance with that.
“I arrived home once and there was a dead bird in the centre of the doorway of the house I was staying in and birds are quite symbolic within the movie.”
He added with a laugh: “But I rationalised that a different way in my head – that there must be some creature in the woods around where I was living that had realised I had gone away for a few days and was leaving me a welcome home gift…”
The actor also revealed that he himself isn’t a fan of scary movies.
“I’m not a horror fan at all,” he confessed. “I don’t like scary movies. I like movies like The Princess Bride and things like that. So, I’m not a horror fan.”
However, Crowe just couldn’t resist telling the tale of Amorth.
Born in Modena, Italy in 1925, he turned to religion at a young age, but when he was seventeen a senior priest turned him away from becoming one himself, telling him he was too young.
Amorth then went on to join the Italian Army during World War 2, before he switched sides to fight fascism. By the end of the war, he tried joining law school, but soon realised it wasn’t for him. So, in 1954, he finally became ordained as a priest, where he was assigned to the Vatican’s chief exorcist, Father Candido Amantini. When Amantini died, Amorth took over as chief exorcist.
“What drew me to this though is the life story of this man,” Crowe revealed. “He had a very interesting life and I was hoping if we could get at least some of that on screen it would be a good piece of entertainment for people.”
The film sees Crowe having to perform an exorcism on a child, but following this the story delves deeper as everything isn’t quite what it seems.
Viewers of the flick have come out and declared that the movie is as scary as it sounds, with one warning: “Watched The Pope’s Exorcist and mate let me tell you, it will f*** your head and give you the horror feels and not the jump scare kind which is worse. I suggest watching it during the daylight.”
A second praised the movie’s scare levels: “The Pope’s Exorcist looking like the best exorcist horror I’ve ever watched since the Paranormal Activity franchise.”
A third wrote: “The Pope’s Exorcist was so so good. I’ve never been a fan of horror but I enjoyed it from start to finish. Easily one of my favourite movies all time.”
