Film Review: THE LAST EXORCISM (2010)

Director: Daniel Stamm
Writers: Huck Botko, Andrew Gurland
Running Time: 87 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Drama/Horror/Thriller
UK Release Date: 3^rd September 2010

Watched on Sky+ Monday 16^th April 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I remember when this came out there was a lot of talk about it… I didn’t particularly listen to it as it was a film that wasn’t particularly high on my ‘to see’ list at the time. Well, time passes and this one eventually came up on TV so I thought I’d give it a look anyway. I have a very open mind when it comes to horror, particularly horror that relies on religious beliefs for its fear-factor. This faux-documentary is a case in point and I’ll tell you what I thought after this very brief summary.

Cotton Marcus is a minister who performs ‘exorcisms’; what I mean is he pretends to perform exorcisms. He sees it as delivering a service to people who are in need of some reassurance that god’s on their side. Having decided to give up this ‘work’ he brings in a documentary team to film his last exorcism and expose the tricks he’s used over the years. They pick a letter at random and they’re off to find the Sweetzer farm in a remote part of the countryside. Marcus is more than convincing and the ‘possessed’ teenage daughter, Nell, is more than willing to have her demon exorcised. Unfortunately that’s not the end of the story; could it be that she’s really possessed… or is she just another teenage girl with problems? Well I’ll leave it there or the Spoiler Police (Scary Movies Division) will be taking away my ‘exorcism’ license.

Pretty well made, although the ‘shakey-cam’ demons are in the works and I happen to know this does put people off this style of film. Despite this, all the performances were pretty good, particularly Patrick Fabian as Cotton Marcus and Ashley Bell as Nell Sweetzer. I must also give honourable mentions to; Iris Bahr as Iris Reisen, Louis Herthum as Louis Sweetzer, Caleb Landry Jones as Caleb Sweetzer and Tony Bentley as Pastor Manley.

Although it’s pretty well made and well acted I did find it hard to be convinced by the whole thing. It does get a little compelling towards the end but then it goes and blows it at the death I’m afraid. It’s a shame because so much work went into giving us well-rounded characters and setting up a potentially decent ending. I guess if you buy into the whole possession and exorcism thing then it might appeal, if you don’t, well, I’d watch it, but turn off five minutes before the end… Trust me, it blows it big time!... NOT Recommended.

My Score: 4.8/10

IMDb Score: 5.7/10 (based on 19,739 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1320244/

MetaScore: 63/100: (Based on 31 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 73/100 (based on 144 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 32/100 (based on 68,124 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/last_exorcism/

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http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Shanna Marcus: Cotton is quite a character. He's what you would call a performer, a showman... He's a natural creative. For example, we have a local theater here, and Cotton writes plays, and he's making these little mini movies now. He's built props for them, special effects. Oh my goodness. I mean, he entertains like nobody's business. And, you know, it starts here with us, but of course it carries on into his professional life.

Cotton Marcus: I do not believe in actual demons, no. No. But when I was doing exorcisms, you know, I acted like I did. It's not like I saw any demons come out of anybody.
Iris Reisen: So for the last something-odd years, you've just been a fraud?
Cotton Marcus: That's your word, not mine. I wouldn't say that. I would say that for the last couple of years, what I've been doing is doing what I've always been doing, which is delivering a service for a person who needs it in a way that they need it. I'm not saying I'm a doctor, but I am saying that I helped people from what ailed them. And what ailed them sometimes was the thought in their brain that they were possessed by a devil, and if I helped make that thought go away and they felt better, so be it.

Cotton Marcus: The Sweetzer farm, please.
Caleb Sweetzer: Right. Well, you're going the wrong direction. You want to make a U-turn, actually.
Cotton Marcus: Okay.
Caleb Sweetzer: You want to take this road and go straight. You'll see things you've already seen before. Keep on going. You're gonna hit the highway. Okay? And then I want you to go back where you came from.

Nell Sweetzer: Reverend, how about a blowing job?

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.thelastexorcism.com/index.html
Trailer: