The Last Exorcism – Review

The Exorcist is the motherf*cker of all horror films. A movie that changed the face of horror and broke the rules with pea soup, a 360 degree head turn, and a crucifix being thrust viciously into the baby maker. Out of the shadow of William Friedkin’s kickstarter came a few contenders to the throne [The Omen, The Sentinel] and a slew of pretenders [Exorcist II: The Heretic, The Devil's Rain].

‘Old Scratch’ came back in a big way in 1999 because the new millenium was nearing and what better time for Satan to make a return than the year leading up to that doomsday number of 2000. Studios were all over it releasing money wasters like End of Days, Lost Souls, The Ninth Gate, and Stigmata. They were all instantly forgotten by the general public and made me yearn for the days off mediocre imitators like Antichrist, Race with the Devil, and Rain of Fire.

That same year brought the box-office monster The Blair Witch Project. You know about the viral campaign, the heaps of dough it made, and how eleven years later it still sends tremors through the film world with its cinéma vérité roots. I have genuinely enjoyed some of the offspring that came afterwards, but I don’t find much rewatch value in the shaky camera that gets my motion sickness brewing to the point I need a dose of Dramamine. Lately, that little annoyance has subsided because the skill and craftmanship of The Poughkeepsies Tapes, Cloverfield, and [Rec] 2 has me singing a new tune. Shake it, shake it, shake it, shake it like a Polaroid picture.

Cotton Marcus [Patrick Fabian] is ready to blow the lid off of all of the false exorcisms he has done over the years, and in the process, expose the charlatan ways of himself and anyone who has ever performed one. He is a super charming fella who is part Jim Bakker, part Jimmy Swaggart, and all of the quackery of Benny Hinn rolled into one. Along with a camera crew, he visits a young teen named Nell Sweetzer [Ashley Bell], who shows signs of demonic possession. Cotton performs an ‘exorcism’ to get rid of the fowl beast, but it is all show as you get a first hand look at the tricks of his trade.

Nell is dealing with a real unclean spirit inside her and Cotton and his crew are hauled back in to do the job right. She draws morbid pictures on her wall that foretell the future of things to come. There is a drawing of a cat beaten and bloodied, and sure enough, the family feline ends up mincemeat. To make matters even worse, Nell is pregnant, and Cotton points the finger at her father and is sure it’s a case of incest.

Just when you think you know where this film is going, it takes you down an even darker path than you already thought you were on. Is this a case of a girl who is overtaken by Lucifer, or are there individuals at hand with a larger plan for the ‘Prince of Darkness’?

Critics always moan that acting is the weakest element of any horror flick. Mostly true, but here it is the strongest, with powerhouse performances from Ashley Bell and Patrick Fabian. Bell gives it all she has and made a believer out of me. Like Jennifer Carpenter in The Exorcism of Emily Rose, her demonic possession is grounded in reality and it’s a physical tour de force watching her contort her face and body.

What works heavily against the movie is the been there, done that beats that it hits across the board. The template for the film is no doubt The Blair Witch Project, with the witch being replaced by a certain fallen angel. To be fair though, this is scarier than that overhyped floater that so many naive people thought was the real deal.

If promoted confidently from Lionsgate, they will have a late summer sleeper on their hands come August 27.

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