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The Last Exorcism

Posted by Buddy Acker on October 17, 2010 at 5:16 AM

The Last Exorcism

It most certainly will not be, I can assure you


 

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Oh gosh, how disappointed am I with the conclusion of "The Last Exorcism"? Pretty damn disappointed, I tell you.


 

But let's get to the rest of the review first.


 

The Last Exorcism is shot in that fake documentary style that I like so much that has been incorporated into enjoyable movies like Cloverfield, The Blair Witch Project, and Paranormal Activity and even shit like Quarantine. It focuses on a preacher named Cotton Marcus (I laughed at the name) and his complete and utter disbelief in the existence of demons. He's even started to lose his faith in God. He tells us from the start that sometimes he thinks that the only reason he is still preaching is because it is what he was brought up doing.


 

He receives a letter from a farmer named Louis Sweetzer who lives in Louisiana. In the letter, Louis explains that his livestock is being killed and he suspects that his daughter, Nell, may be the one doing it because she is possessed by a demon. Marcus finds this to be laughable but still decides to go check it out in order to turn a profit.


 

When he arrives, he is warned by Nell's brother, Caleb, to "turn around and head back from where he came". This is not because of the fact that he's scared of what Nell may do but instead because he's frightened of what he may do to Marcus if he finds out that he is bullshitting (which he is). Marcus ignores him and continues to the farm. He meets Louis and then Nell and then fakes an exorcism that Caleb instantly recognizes as a farce and then Nell is supposedly "healed" even though she's not really because some strange things start happening afterwards. Anyway, I'm not going to ruin the entire plot for potential viewers.


 

I will, however, say that some of this movie genuinely scared me. The actress playing Nell, Ashley Bell, is extremely talented and when she goes into full-on demon mode, it is creepy as hell. I jumped several times during the movie. It's not as frantic as you would expect it to be with the fake documentary stuff going on. In fact, there are some beautiful shots in the film. Running around still causes the shaky effect, but fortunately, this is a rarity. Calmness is all that is needed for a good scare sometimes.


 

Now, onto the problems. While I appreciate any film that exercises the scenario of regaining lost faith, The Last Exorcism really milks it for all it's worth and is sadly predictable in that area. When the big moment of realization comes, it's like a candle in the midst of a blazing inferno (no idea how I made that sound so relevant to the actual events of the film). Which leads me to one of the absolute worst endings to any movie in history. It is such a letdown. It leaves a million questions unanswered and left me just gaping at the screen, in awe of its idiocy. I almost cursed out loud until I realized that someone behind me just had. I simply hung my head and walked out of the screening room.


 

But I perked up as I thought about the rest of what I had just seen. It is not a bad movie at all. It is scary, as it is meant to be, and it is troubling. It made me think, which I expect certain movies to do. True, comparisons to The Exorcist could be made. If this is the "last" exorcism, that could certainly be considered the "first". It also steals tidbits from a movie I mentioned earlier, The Blair Witch Project. But on the whole, The Last Exorcism is a good horror experience, somewhat original and without question a step up from a lot of the other crap being put out nowadays.


Score: :):):)1/2

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