Review: The Last Exorcism

‘She was roaring and shouting like a woman possessed!’

Possession has made it’s way into our expressions and our imagination. The idea that a demon or the devil can inhabit the moral body has brought both fear to our hearts and films to our screens. The first and probably most famous Exorcist film was released in 1973, it was promptly banned due to misappropriation of religious devices and shouting pea soup all over a room. And where you get possession you’ll get a priest with a bible, roaring like a heart attack about the compelling power of Christ.

This is what I expected when I went to see ‘The Last Exorcism’, this isn’t what I got.

The film itself is shot in the style of a documentary, if you’re looking for a reference point think ‘Blair Witch Project’. The plot of which is a charismatic evangelical minister Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) brings a documentary crew with him to shoot what will be his last Exorcism. That sounds quite ominous but Rev. Marcus doesn’t actually believe in God or Exorcism, he is just a really good showman and wants to tell his story that Exorcisms are dangerous. For example the Exorcism of Emily Rose, that didn’t end all sunshine and lolly pops.

This sceptical approach from one of the main characters sets the tone and turns the film into something interesting. The crew go to the rural farm of a small family who believe that their daughter maybe subletting her body to a demon. Nell Sweetzer (Ashley Bell) is a charming teenage girl, home schooled and kept at home by her quite religious father. She’s been getting up to cutlery shenanigans with the livestock hence the reverend has been called in. The reverend believes what’s happening is psychological and the debate between modern medicine and mystical intervention is set up. This is a slow burning story where your doubts mirror his and you end up believing even when he doesn’t. This was the aspect that I found most interesting it encourages you to be sceptical. From a horror movie perspective it has it’s scare moments always threading a fine line between the questions of psychosis and possession. Though to be honest it ticks some horror cliche boxes, freaky drawings? Check. Strange noises? Check. Shaky camera and more heavy panting than a porno? Check. Though parts of it still sting of an originality that make you think ‘Oh that was clever’.

For me the film dropped the ball at the end, it could have ended 20 minutes sooner and I would have been happy to have my questions unanswered. What it does is answers your questions via the medium of ‘This looks a lot like the Blair Witch Project’ with a smidgen of WTF? thrown in.

So, is it a good film? It’s entertaining sure, it’s not a hard core slasher flick, it’s the type of film you could bring a girl to if you wanted to have her hiding up against you and then asking you after ‘What the hell happened at the end?’. Overall it will hold your attention, it does make you think and it has a few decent scares and the acting is pretty great quality, no crying close ups in tents, I promise.

Overall I’d if I was rating this out of 5 I’d give it 3 or for a deeper math thrill, I’d give it 6 out of 10.