Review of The Last Exorcism (2010) by Nathan C — 11 Jul 2011

It's another one of those faux-snuff movies involving demons and stuff. But unlike Paranormal Activity and Blair Witch, it's genuinely eerie.

An exorcist is called in to a country home because the patriarch believes his daughter is possessed. He tries all he can, but the girl keeps acting strange. The demon within her won't go away, and the exorcist will have to get all the help he needs.

The jerky first-person camerawork that usually breaks this type of movie with its bag of cliches ("Turn that off!", the HUD, and its indestructability) manages to work here. Probably because the person filming is a professional, and not some dumbass wobbling it around. The actors do a good job acting as real people. After all, Patrick Fabian is essentially the whole show. Some moments are freaky indeed. What causes it to be better than most fare, in my opinion, is that it tackles its subject head-on and offers all perspectives on it, whether the possession is psychological or truly spiritual. It chooses not to go under all the standard conventions... for the most part.

Yes, the twist is messed-up, but doesn't quite do the movie any justice. The ending was telegraphed very easily (save the twist), which diminishes the effect that was being gone for. The first 45 minutes is rather uneventful, and has some corny material in it. People are absent for long stretches and sometimes show up out of the blue. Gets a little tedious, don't you think? It's fake, of course, so the "inspired by a true story" tagline is obvious bull. It can't beat "The Exorcist", its grandfather, in sheer terms of terror. But it's not as dumb as its sister, "Emily Rose".

Overall, it's an ok but weird movie. Sort of an exercise in scaring the people who still believe what goes about in these movies. Won't fool anyone else, but not without creeping them out.