Review of Exorcismus (2010) by Martyn M — 22 Apr 2015

When it comes to horror movies The Exorcist ranks as one of the best in most film buffs lists. This is The Excorcist updated to the 21st centuary. Where it mirrors The Exorcist is in the idea of the child being possessed and the exorcising priest existing on the edge of social respectability in a world that has turned profoundly secular.

So when our heroine Emma becomes possessed by Satan himself, and she is judged by her elders to be suffering from psychosis of a scientific kind, she is met by inverterate disbelief by her parents.

Our girl is not a sweet child as was the case in the original Exorcist, she is a strong-minded, independant, death metal goth. She is also sexually active, despite being only 15 (although this is only implied at during the film). With her dark ideas comes a risk when she dabbles in the dark magic arts, setting a course for a terrifying ordeal for herself and her family. And in places this, being a horror film, is extremely graphic. But it is not a hack and slash gore-fest. It is a vey well written and well acted story that, when it diverges in plot away from it's more illustrious predecessor, is certainly it's equal. In many places it excels, despite a constraint on budget feel to it. Sophie Vavasseur certainly gives a commendable performance of the emotionally dysfunctional Emma.

I like it.