User Reviews

Father Jacob(Martin Shaw) is an English priest whose job entails him to investigate claims of miracles worldwide. Using the evidence gained he has an important role to play in saying who gets canonised as a Saint. Its while investigating the claims of a budding novice priest Vimal, who as a boy in India had suffered from Leprosy and then been cured by Mother Teresa of Calcutta after a brief meeting, that he becomes aware of some strange events surrounding the death of Mother Teresa, she was seemingly possessed by a demon before she died, so with Vimal showing the signs of this himself, Jacob believes the demon may have taken up residence inside Vimal too. He seeks out the help of an old friend Monsignor Vincenzo, who happens to be the Vatican's chief Exorcist in Rome, he tells Jacob that demons have already been in touch with him and that they have warned Jacob off being the next Chief Exorcist, slightly sceptical Jacob laughs it off and says he has no intentions of becoming an Exorcist, Vincenzo explains that the demons fear this most of all as it will slow their final push for world domination. However some startling turns of events and some personal tragedy soon hurl Jacob towards his fate.

I stumbled on this recent series completely by accident, so I had no preconceived ideas on its merits other than I liked Martin Shaw and the religious aspects greatly appealed to me. Written and directed by Joe Ahearne, Apparitions was a pet project of Shaw's for some time before the BBC decided to take up the option. Consisting of six 1 hour episodes, it follows Father Jacob's plight as he becomes embroiled in a series of possessions that drags him against his will into being an Exorcist. His immediate superior is Cardinal Bukovak is none too pleased either especially as the cases become very public, Jacob is warned his position may become untellable and he risks excommunication. After some gruesome deaths, Jacob finds a spy in his midst that brings that possibility forward. The episodes have separate stories, but there is an ongoing plot that threads them all together. Plot lines include, a child in danger who pleads for Jacob's help as she believes her father to be possessed, an abortion clinic where the anti Christ is due to be born, a Muslim boy who sees Christian visions, which could cause a religious war and the imminent arrival of a demon army hell-bent on world domination, a busy time for a priest not particularly enamoured by a role forced on him.

Some mighty big ideas for a TV production, you might think, but to my surprise its all superbly done, Ahearne's scripts are taut and crammed with intriguing ideas that cleverly link in recent world events political social and religious, so as to give the whole thing a credibility and also propose the idea that the theories that all we know of these events may not in fact be true. Appartions is a very credible attempt at bringing ideas from such films as The Exorcist, The Omen and Stigmata into one plot and it has to be said it all works incredibly well, there's even time to include more topical issues like sexuality of priests. The special effects of possession are superbly realised, certainly better than most cinematic outings, the acting is also top notch, there's not a bad or hammy performance to be found, in fact if there's one thing that makes this intelligent production stand out, its that it made this Atheist fear the fires of hell and almost want to take up religion again, lest my soul be eternally damned and all this despite the fact it doesn't ram religion down your throat. It really is very well directed and the pacing is spot on, in fact after the first hour I thought I'd watched twice that as there had been that much crammed in. Its also a damn good thriller with more than a air of religious mystery and the ending has the double whammy of being both wrapped up nicely and yet still left quite open ended, I hope...no, pray that there is another series.

Intelligent, mostly well acted, but somewhat frustrating BBC mini-series.

This story of a priest pulled into battle with the devil feels like it owes too much to 'The Exorcist' and 'The Omen' (among others) for the first episode or two, but then in increasingly develops it's own quirky, complex personality. I found myself ever more caught up.

But then, it's let down by an ending less dramatic then what's been promised.

We've told this is literally going to be the birth of the anti-Christ, the unleashing of all the demons of hell, etc.

Spoiler!

So when it turns out to be just a plot on the Pope's life, I felt very confused and disappointed. I felt like there must have been a last episode or two missing.

Martin Shaw has a lot of strong moments as our hero Priest, but there are times the performance becomes more than a bit theatrical. Indeed, you could say that for a lot of the acting. Fun, but a bit 'actory'

Overall I enjoyed it , I had just hoped for even more on both the visceral and thematic sides.

I have seen only two episodes so far, but it looks as if this show is more like "The Godfather" than "Exorcist". It has all the elements of a classic gangster movie. We have two sides, priests and demons, fighting each other (cops and gangsters). There is a new chief exorcist in town (new chief of police), and the demons start attacking people close to him. First victim of "the shootout" is a certain priest who used to be a leper, but the demons cured him (a cop on mafia payroll, I guess he got an offer he couldn't refuse). The demons want him to return the favor, torturing him all the while for being gay (and we all know how gays are treated in mafia).

There is also a pious little girl, who comes to the chief exorcist asking him to help her father. Her father is a second victim of the demons. She noticed that he talks to himself, threatens to molest her, and reads atheist books by Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens (atheist books, an OBVIOUS sign of demonic possession). The exorcist decides to have a look into the matter, but doesn't want to go to the police or social services (the Feds always ruin the fun, plus there would be a HUGE jurisdiction problem – are we dealing with a regular atheist molester or a possessed person??), so he visits the girl's father personally. He discovers that the man really is possessed (works for the mafia), and with a little bit of praying and a lot of shouting and some persuasion finally banishes the demon. So now that the girl and her father are safe, they need to be hidden someplace safe, away from the demons (a witness protection program?). Quote from the show: Little girl's mother (worried and angry): "Is that what this is? God and Satan in some kind of pissing contest, with us in the middle??" Priest (deeply troubled and concerned): "The police can not protect you...wherever you go, Satan will find you. There is only one place demons can not enter." (zoom in on the church)

The actors are very good, no doubt about it, but the story is quite silly and a total cliché. I give the show 3 stars, only because of the fine acting.

This is a more serious version of America's Supernatural. It took 15 seasons, to tell pretty much the same in one 6 episodes TV show. This is not a comparison, cause it would be an apple and an orange. The end game of these two shows are errily the same: the war between demons and angles. Perhaps they are prophecy we didn't know that are coming soon??! O maybe just what they are - entertainment.

When I saw that the six episodes of "Apparitions" were available for streaming on Netflix, I browsed the user reviews on two sites, and found them to be overwhelmingly glowing. And so, even before I had an opportunity to view the episodes myself, I drew them to the attention of a friend who is a fan, as am I, of Martin Shaw's work. I was surprised to learn from him, a few days later, that he had abandoned "Apparitions" after viewing the first episode. I understood why when I finally got around to viewing the series: I, too, wanted to quit after the first episode, but I stuck with it through three, after which I cut my losses and gave up.

Afterwards, I looked again at the glowing user reviews and tried to reconcile them to what I had seen. I could not. Especially puzzling is the opinion that the stories are "thought-provoking." Really? Consider the following exchange, taken verbatim (my comments in brackets), from Episode 3.

Father Jacob (Martin Shaw), exorcist extraordinary, is called to a prison to interview a convicted rapist named Cory who appears to be possessed by a woman. During the interview, Cory begins to sweat blood, a sure sign that demonic, or divine, powers are at work. (There's a fair amount of sweating and crying blood in the series–both by humans and by statues. But, hey, who among us hasn't encountered it?) Later, Cory is assaulted in the shower by a group of inmates. Afterwards, Father Jacob, the warden, and the prison priest discuss the possibly that Cory is possessed by a saint, and they speculate by which saint. WARDEN: "What about suspects? How many saints are there?" FATHER JACOB: "Ten thousand plus." WARDEN: "Possession then. Any of them got form {a police record} on that?" FATHER JACOB: "We're on our own there. There are no documented cases of saintly possession." WARDEN: "What about saints and rapists?" FATHER JACOB: "Maria Goretti is the patron saint of rape victims. She was murdered resisting a rape just over a hundred years ago." WARDEN: "Was she a virgin?" FATHER JACOB: {Nods} "She was eleven." WARDEN: "Should we dig up some background on her and Cory, and see if there are any other connections?" FATHER JACOB: "Cory was 20 when he was put behind bars. Maria Goretti's assailant, Alessandro Serenelli was also 20. Both gave their victims the same choice: lose your virginity or die. But Serenelli repented in prison. He attended Holy Communion with the victim's mother, and he went to her canonization. But Cory has never even admitted his guilt." WARDEN: "Right. Well, that's what I'm saying. She takes over a guy who raped virgins; gets him raped {in prison} till he owns up." PRISON PRIEST: "Does that sound like God? That is Satan making a mockery of everything we stand for!" FATHER JACOB: "But if it is Maria Goretti, perhaps she's trying to get him to reconcile with his victims."

This scene cries out for Rod Serling, to step from the shadows, look into the camera, and address the audience. "Three seemingly intelligent adults discuss the possibility that an 11- year-old rape victim, 100 years dead, has taken possession of a convicted rapist, to provoke his rape in prison, forcing him to reconcile with his victims. These three men do not yet realize that they're no longer in Kansas, or anywhere else on Planet Earth. They're in… The Twilight Zone."

On the positive side, production values are high; the settings are appropriately atmospheric; and the cast performs heroically in the face of some really bad dialog. But none of this succeeds in elevating "Apparitions" above silliness.

There is a point when Cardinal Bukovak, who is trying to rein in Father Jacob, says of him: "I'm not denying his charisma. Exorcists are full of it." With his last point, the Cardinal has taken the words out of my mouth.