Jason KingThe Last Exorcism (7/10)
December 5th 2010 00:00
:
Don't mess with demons kids
Category: Reviews
I am having so many issues juggling two jobs, screenings, xmas time and writing at the moment - I can't wait for everything to settle down after Xmas so I can get back into writing ridiculously. I really miss it 
I saw this one a couple of weeks ago and it is number one on the list of four films to write so here goes
The Last Exorcism (7/10)
When he arrives on the rural Louisiana farm of Louis Sweetzer, the Reverend Cotton Marcus expects to perform just another routine "exorcism" on a disturbed religious fanatic. An earnest fundamentalist, Sweetzer has contacted the charismatic preacher as a last resort, certain his teenage daughter Nell is possessed by a demon who must be exorcised before their terrifying ordeal ends in unimaginable tragedy.
Buckling under the weight of his conscience after years of parting desperate believers with their money, Cotton and his crew plan to film a confessional documentary of this, his last exorcism. But upon arriving at the already blood drenched family farm, it is soon clear that nothing could have prepared him for the true evil he encounters there. Now, too late to turn back, Reverend Marcus' own beliefs are shaken to the core when he and his crew must find a way to save Nell - and themselves - before it is too late.
I am getting quite annoyed and really over the mocumentary style of film making to make a cheaper onscreen story. It started with The Blair Witch Project and this was very effective, it has since been used many times, Paranormal Activities, Cloverfield and so on. Don't get me wrong, these films work and so does this one but with Blair Witch it was so new and believable it had an effect and you actually thought "could it have really happened?". By now you know it is all set up and not real at all and this lets these films down and most people just get annoyed at the handheld styling and fake docco format. The Last Exorcism embraces the format to show the tale of filming the exorcism and has a lot of talking to camera, hand held movement and jumpy shots during running and action scenes.
The film's marketing is also very misleading. Most people would expect a major horror film more like a feature film in the style of The Exorcist but this is not the case at all. The Reverend himself does not believe in Exorcism and thinks it and the Catholic church's belief in exorcism is based more on financial gain as opposed to battling evil. It was actually a quote from Anthony Hopkins in a trailer for another exorcism film prior to the film, THE RITE, that kept popping into my head "You can't defeat it unless you believe in it". A lot of the film you see the Reverend battling with his years of belief denial. He even contradicts himself in his beliefs. He says something along the lines of "if you believe in god then you have to believe in the devil". If you believe in angels then you have to believe in demons. But he does not - so he himself is not a very good Reverend and has set himself up for a very rude awakening. And this is one of the things I love about this film. You see this man with so much confidence in his own beliefs and comfortable world and then you see that world turned upside down.
The film has quite a slow pace for the first three quarters of the film but is made enjoyable by some great acting. Patrick Fabian, TV character actor prostitute has been in so many TV shows it is nearly unbelievable. Starting in things like 90210, Melrose, Voyager, Millennium, Summerland and so on and so on - I counted over 80 character roles on TV shows. I knew I had seen his face somewhere but I could not work out where - it is because I have probably seen a little bit of him in nearly every TV show I have watched. He should have moved into film quite a while ago as he is a very strong performer that has a great presence as the Reverend Cotton Marcus. He suits the over the top, slightly loopy Reverend and ever so slightly reminded me of the journey of Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley) in District 9. I also really enjoyed Caleb Landry Jones (Caleb Sweetzer) as the brother of Nell, he is just damn scary and menacing. He had a very small role in No Country for Old Men and also in The Social Network and will soon be seen as Banshee/ Sean Cassidy in X-Men: First Class. he will go far this one.
But the person who steals the show is Ashley Bell as Nell. I found she owned the film and the fact that she has hypermobility made the film. She does all her own contortions and can pretty much tie herself into a knot. It added so much visual impact to the film. I also loved how she could go from innocent little sheltered victim to psycho bitch. Loved her.
The film had made profits prior to it's release. Producers Eli Roth, StudioCanal, and Strike Entertainment sold off a few key territories to finance the film based on the script and the producers' names and Roth's commitments to do publicity, raising $2 million and making the film for $1.8 million. Nice move and considering it made more than all it's costs for marketing in it's opening weekend does mean the possibility of a follow up. From the ending it is remotely possible for this story to continue.
To add authenticity they actually had a real exorcist on set for the film. A crew member's brother was a real exorcist, and was on set advising director Daniel Stamm. He makes an unbilled cameo in the film and can be seen to the left of Reverend Cotton Marcus when he delivers his sermon about the Prince of Lies.
I think Daniel Stamm did a pretty decent job in the film's direction and the film builds on its suspense and ends with an explosive finale of pure evil and without this particular ending this film would have been rubbish. The film is out now and will not be for everyone but if you like the devil battle films then this one could be for you. Worth 7 out of 10.
I saw this one a couple of weeks ago and it is number one on the list of four films to write so here goes
The Last Exorcism (7/10)
When he arrives on the rural Louisiana farm of Louis Sweetzer, the Reverend Cotton Marcus expects to perform just another routine "exorcism" on a disturbed religious fanatic. An earnest fundamentalist, Sweetzer has contacted the charismatic preacher as a last resort, certain his teenage daughter Nell is possessed by a demon who must be exorcised before their terrifying ordeal ends in unimaginable tragedy.
Buckling under the weight of his conscience after years of parting desperate believers with their money, Cotton and his crew plan to film a confessional documentary of this, his last exorcism. But upon arriving at the already blood drenched family farm, it is soon clear that nothing could have prepared him for the true evil he encounters there. Now, too late to turn back, Reverend Marcus' own beliefs are shaken to the core when he and his crew must find a way to save Nell - and themselves - before it is too late.
I am getting quite annoyed and really over the mocumentary style of film making to make a cheaper onscreen story. It started with The Blair Witch Project and this was very effective, it has since been used many times, Paranormal Activities, Cloverfield and so on. Don't get me wrong, these films work and so does this one but with Blair Witch it was so new and believable it had an effect and you actually thought "could it have really happened?". By now you know it is all set up and not real at all and this lets these films down and most people just get annoyed at the handheld styling and fake docco format. The Last Exorcism embraces the format to show the tale of filming the exorcism and has a lot of talking to camera, hand held movement and jumpy shots during running and action scenes.
The film's marketing is also very misleading. Most people would expect a major horror film more like a feature film in the style of The Exorcist but this is not the case at all. The Reverend himself does not believe in Exorcism and thinks it and the Catholic church's belief in exorcism is based more on financial gain as opposed to battling evil. It was actually a quote from Anthony Hopkins in a trailer for another exorcism film prior to the film, THE RITE, that kept popping into my head "You can't defeat it unless you believe in it". A lot of the film you see the Reverend battling with his years of belief denial. He even contradicts himself in his beliefs. He says something along the lines of "if you believe in god then you have to believe in the devil". If you believe in angels then you have to believe in demons. But he does not - so he himself is not a very good Reverend and has set himself up for a very rude awakening. And this is one of the things I love about this film. You see this man with so much confidence in his own beliefs and comfortable world and then you see that world turned upside down.
The film has quite a slow pace for the first three quarters of the film but is made enjoyable by some great acting. Patrick Fabian, TV character actor prostitute has been in so many TV shows it is nearly unbelievable. Starting in things like 90210, Melrose, Voyager, Millennium, Summerland and so on and so on - I counted over 80 character roles on TV shows. I knew I had seen his face somewhere but I could not work out where - it is because I have probably seen a little bit of him in nearly every TV show I have watched. He should have moved into film quite a while ago as he is a very strong performer that has a great presence as the Reverend Cotton Marcus. He suits the over the top, slightly loopy Reverend and ever so slightly reminded me of the journey of Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley) in District 9. I also really enjoyed Caleb Landry Jones (Caleb Sweetzer) as the brother of Nell, he is just damn scary and menacing. He had a very small role in No Country for Old Men and also in The Social Network and will soon be seen as Banshee/ Sean Cassidy in X-Men: First Class. he will go far this one.
But the person who steals the show is Ashley Bell as Nell. I found she owned the film and the fact that she has hypermobility made the film. She does all her own contortions and can pretty much tie herself into a knot. It added so much visual impact to the film. I also loved how she could go from innocent little sheltered victim to psycho bitch. Loved her.
The film had made profits prior to it's release. Producers Eli Roth, StudioCanal, and Strike Entertainment sold off a few key territories to finance the film based on the script and the producers' names and Roth's commitments to do publicity, raising $2 million and making the film for $1.8 million. Nice move and considering it made more than all it's costs for marketing in it's opening weekend does mean the possibility of a follow up. From the ending it is remotely possible for this story to continue.
To add authenticity they actually had a real exorcist on set for the film. A crew member's brother was a real exorcist, and was on set advising director Daniel Stamm. He makes an unbilled cameo in the film and can be seen to the left of Reverend Cotton Marcus when he delivers his sermon about the Prince of Lies.
I think Daniel Stamm did a pretty decent job in the film's direction and the film builds on its suspense and ends with an explosive finale of pure evil and without this particular ending this film would have been rubbish. The film is out now and will not be for everyone but if you like the devil battle films then this one could be for you. Worth 7 out of 10.
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