13 Days of Halloween
The Last Exorcism (2010)
Directed by: Daniel Stamm
Written by: Huck Botko, Andrew Gurland
Starring: Patrick Fabian, Ashley Bell and Iris Bahr
I was rooting for THE LAST EXORCISM. And up until the last 10 minutes it had me by the balls.
When a movie scares me I have to give it props. I’m a 33 year old de-sensitized movie geek. It takes a lot to freak me out. But 2 things scare me the most: Religion and Haunting/Possession Stories. With THE LAST EXORCISM we have both that are explored surprisingly well in this fake documentary format.
For the uninitiated, THE LAST EXORCISM follows Reverend/Exorcist Cotton Marcus. Burnt out and cynical of his profession as more stories of “Exorcisms Gone Wrong” resulting in death of the “possessed” are reported frequently. In an attempt to shed light on what an Exorcism actually is, Cotton hires a documentary crew to follow him and learn the tricks of the trade of Exorcism. Unfortunately he’s stumbled into a seemingly real life possession and his faith and resolve are challenged.
THE LAST EXORCISM hooked me in. I was engaged by Rev. Cotton’s antics and the willingness to show what the “job” of an actual Exorcist is. Once he meets Nell Sweetzer and the film starts ratcheting up the tension, I was right with it. Squirming at the right moments and genuinely afraid of what might happen next. Unfortunately, the film goes on 10 minutes too long. For over an hour, THE LAST EXORCISM seemed real. I bought into it. The last 10 minutes take all that set up realism and genuine tension and totally shit on it.
Some people loved the ending. Most people, I’m told, hated it. To it’s credit I haven’t stopped thinking about it. However, I’m not sure that’s a compliment.
THE LAST EXORCISM is worth a watch. Strong acting, genuine scares through the middle of the film and the bat-shit ending add up to a pretty enjoyable flick. It’s a frustrating one though. I feel like this could have been this generations “THE EXORCIST” but all the power of the film is deflated by it’s wacky ending.
Plot 
|| Scares || Entertainment
Overall Rating Overall Rating:
