The Last Exorcism (2010)
Plot: Ready to expose his miraculous deeds as mere trickery, Rev. Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) invites a documentary crew to film his final exorcism. But when the devil actually possesses a girl’s body, Marcus must regain his faith and engage in the fight of his life.
My Review: I went into this movie with no good or bad expectations. You see, I’m not a fan of possession or exorcism movies because I don’t believe in demons. As I’ve gotten older I’ve been more into movies that could actually happen, and since I don’t believe in demons, then how could a movie like that really happen. Really I didn’t even know what the movie was about when I went into it.
But I was very surprised at how this movie began. Its filmed in documentary style, and basically there is one cameraman and one sound girl and they are following around a minister. A minister who doesn’t believe in god or demons or exorcism. He wants to prove that all possessions and exorcisms are fake, because he’s read about so many where people have ended up dead during a botched exorcism. So he has this film crew following him around for one last exorcism. It just so happens this case is actually real. Of course.
What I really liked about the beginning of the movie is that I could totally relate to it. I don’t believe in demons and I’m very doubtful of possessions and exorcisms and whatnot, and the minister didn‘t believe in any of it either so I thought that was great. Plus the minister was really likable. It was cool to see how he faked so much of the exorcism. He’d set up things to rattle in the house, fake demon sounds, etc etc. Very easy stuff. It really drew me into the movie.
After the fake exorcism the girl is said to be demon free and the minister leaves for a hotel. Of course not too long after that the “possession” starts back up. Is the girl sick, does she have a mental illness, is she faking it or is she really possessed?
The only thing that bothered me about this movie is that the girl who is supposedly possessed doesn’t do too much other then stand around looking creepy. She doesn’t say too much either while “possessed” so. There could have been a lot more creepiness with that. But overall I was entertained by what there was in the movie.
The ending really really reminded me of a scene from The Blair Witch Project, with the running in the dark and jiggly camera. And in the end it really left a lot unsaid. So I was kinda annoyed by the ending, but it also sort of fit the whole movie. And on another level I wasn’t happy with the entire ending. If you catch my drift. Otherwise the rest of the movie was great.
Gore/FX: There was a decent amount of blood. But that was pretty much it. I gotta question if the girl is a contortionist or if it was all some sort of FX they used.
Sexual Content: Nothing really. A little suggestive…caressing. Talk of incest but that’s pretty much it.
Acting: It all felt really natural, it wasn’t “fake” acting, but you could tell it had the documentary feel to it too. The girl who played Nell did an amazing job acting creepy. Whats weird is I know a girl who looks exactly like her and every time I see her now I’ll think of Nell and this movie.
Overall: I’m quite surprised, but I really liked this movie. Other then the ending I found the whole thing very entertaining and I would definitely watch it again and recommend it to people who enjoy these types of movies. I’m giving it 3.5 stars instead of 4 because of the ending.
[rating:3.5/5]
View The Trailer
