In the name of the father, the son and the HOLY SMOKES!
“The Last Exorcism,” directed by Daniel Stamm, is a horror film that questions the state of faith and has been crafted to look and feel like a documentary film, following the roots of past documentary horror films, such as “The Blair Witch Project” and “Paranormal Activity.” Like these two, the movie is capable of delivering unapologetic thrills that may or may not be as bone chilling as expected, but is a pretty enjoyable movie for the most part.
The setting takes place in Ivanwood, La., which is a rundown old place that looks forgotten. Strolling into town is Rev. Cotton Marcus (played by Patrick Fabian) with a documentary crew tagging along. Cotton is hired by two members of a highly religious family, Nell Sweetzer(played by Ashley Bell) and Louis Sweetzer(played by Louis Herthum), to perform an exorcism on Nell because they believe there is a demon inside of her.
Rev. Cotton states early in the film that he doesn’t truly believe in ghosts, leading to the fact that he is a hoax just trying to make money to support his family. But after entering the home of the Sweetzer family, Cotton doesn’t realize what kind of trouble he is going to face.
As said, the movie is shot in a documentary style, which makes the movie a little more convincing with its characters and believability. What also made the movie enjoyable is that the characters’ dialogue seemed unscripted, which I really enjoyed because it was like watching real people and not just actors reciting lines – not to mention Ashley Bell’s performance as the sweet and possessed Nell, which creeped me out a lot.
One of the few cons I found in the film is that there is music in the background. I don’t mean to be a stickler, but the movie’s thrills would’ve been much more thrilling if there was silence in the background, enhancing the tension of the scene.
The main flaw with the film is around the last 10 or 15 minutes of the movie. The story structure towards the end of it all is creative but falls apart completely by throwing in a ridiculous twist.
What I really liked about this movie is that it tries to actually scare the audience by not being an ultra-violent gore fest with nude teenagers running around acting dumb as rocks and getting their heads chopped off.
Despite the unnecessary ending of the movie, “The Last Exorcism” is one of the few better horror movies I’ve seen since “Drag Me to Hell.” I wouldn’t call this a great movie, but it provides enough fun and scares to bake a loaf of banana bread at home and make it a WORTHY RENTAL.