Lyzsi SinclairCinema release review - "The Last Exorcism"...
Well, what a disappointed fool I feel. For regular readers on cinemanut you might remember a certain post a few months back of the poster for the soon-to-be-released “The Last Exorcism”. Directed by Daniel Stamm and produced by Eli Roth, the poster left me drooling for more, and really looking forward to being scared out of my wits with some decent horror. Unfortunately, the great poster and viral campaign were the best parts of a film that just excessively falls short…
Starring Patrick Fabian ("Veronica Mars", "Joan of Arcadia"), the film follows his character Reverend Cotton Marcus, who is asked to perform what he thinks is a "normal" exorcism on a disturbed young girl. Taught by his father to be an effective and successful preacher at a young age, Cotton feels that entertainment is the best way to get his message through, and bores of doing exorcisms for demons he feels do not exist. Questioning his belief, he takes on one final case and invites a documentary crew along to record what he aims to make his last "exorcism". Turning up at Louis Sweetzer’s (Louis Herthum – “Murder She Wrote”) already blood-soaked rural Louisiana farm, nothing on Earth could prepare him for the evil that's about to take place - or the hard to-the-core shaking his beliefs are about to come under. Putting on a performance he feels worked to cure the family’s psychological demons; he takes his money and heads off home. However, events take an unexpected turn when the young girl in question turns up at his motel and weird things start happening. Taking the camera crew back and waiving his usual fee, he prepares to take on an exorcism for real. Does he have the time and strength to save the girl Nell (Ashley Bell – “United States of Tara”) - and everyone else - before it's too late...?
Aside from taking a break, the majority of my month has been spent living with the horror genre. Film4 over here in the UK, take this time of year to have their “Frightfest” screening festival - and accompanying television month - of some of the great horror films out there. Between that, and catching up on films I should have seen long ago; it’s been a pretty amazing month which I hoped would be rounded off with nice modern horror “The Last Exorcism”.
I really wish I could think of an intellectual word to explain just exactly what this film is like - however, the only word that springs to mind is 'lame'. As I’ve mentioned in posts before, exorcism films are the weakest for me in terms of scare, or entertainment value. This film has actually made me want to watch the other films I’ve hated before again and re-evaluate their worth. Presented as a ‘found footage’ film like “The Blair Witch Project”, the filmmakers took the unusual step of adding a subtle score to events – so subtle in fact, that I didn’t even completely notice it’s presence until I read about it (although, I did spot bits of music here and there). I do feel though that the fact there was a score, contributed to the array of issues I had with this film.
Putting the events of ‘found footage’ to a score seems to be a bit like placing the cues for people to be scared. It often acts as a safety blanket for the audience, letting them know when they should be scared, sad, happy, etc. I think with a film like this, if there had been no music the whole feel of it would have changed, becoming more claustrophobic and disturbing for the viewer. If a film such as “[Rec]” had been put to music, I doubt the feeling of sheer closing-in terror would have been as prevalent, no matter how beautiful said score might have been. I guess it could be seen as a brave move for this film, but I can’t help to feel intrigued as to what the feel would have been without it.
Don’t get me wrong, the performances seemed believable, and I’d actually go as far as to say that the majority of the film was reasonably well presented and paced. The young girl Nell is introduced much-like Regan in “The Exorcist” as a happy child who loves to draw, and is polite and friendly to everyone she meets; and Reverend Marcus is shown as a family-man with a fair sense of humour, and a willingness to frankly admit his doubts in his own religion. I think the main strength of this film is the character of Cotton Marcus. Along the course of the film – as well as having his doubts – he generally comes across as a genuine person, who cares for people even in extreme situations. His change in his doubts about his religion near the climax, prove to be believable and interesting – but not forced upon him. It is a genuinely interesting character development, but unfortunately this film cannot and does not hang on this one character’s story.
Then there is the story itself to contend with. The film begins with the setting up of main characters, lacing their introductions with light humour as to convince the audience of how genuine and ‘everyday’ they all are. Even at the farm, things are kept light and tongue-in-cheek as Cotton shows the documentary crew some of his ‘tricks’ to produce the best exorcism performance. Over halfway through, and just as things start to turn mysterious and odd, the film begins to slow down, leading events to take a downward turn into confusion; ridiculously feeble attempts to scare; and an unparalleled loss of explanation. For a film that chose to add a score to ‘found footage’, you would think that they would perhaps tidy up the camera-work, and put in some actual big thrills. I can’t deny the film was gripping and I couldn’t stop watching it, but my reward appeared to be an ending that seemed like it was mocking me for my attention.
The end of the film (I’m going to try not to spoil) feels predictable – and weirdly surreal. Things happen that you would never see coming, yet the events that follow have already been laid out beforehand, and therefore seem like a lazy way to end the film. It is an abrupt ending that left many in the screening I attended scratching their heads in doubt, wondering if we had all missed something gigantic - and incredibly important - along the way. Again it is a brave move to end in the way it did, particularly in regards to the footage you see – but it just feels like a cop-out. Perhaps if the craziness hadn’t began unravelling until 5 minutes before the credits, then it might have felt like a more terrifying ending. Also, for a film that is supposedly a 'wet yourself' horror – nothing stood out, made me jump repeatedly or gave me nightmares. That to me is the sign of a horror film failing to hit the mark it sets itself.
So overall, the performances were well acted, and the screen kept your attention – but a ridiculous ending means this is a film you’ll end up wanting your money back from. I say save money and wait to rent it on DVD or watch on the television; “The Last Exorcism” receives a rather poor score of 4/10. Flix Out.
*** "The Last Exorcism" comes out in cinemas in the UK nationwide on Friday September 3rd. ***
Starring Patrick Fabian ("Veronica Mars", "Joan of Arcadia"), the film follows his character Reverend Cotton Marcus, who is asked to perform what he thinks is a "normal" exorcism on a disturbed young girl. Taught by his father to be an effective and successful preacher at a young age, Cotton feels that entertainment is the best way to get his message through, and bores of doing exorcisms for demons he feels do not exist. Questioning his belief, he takes on one final case and invites a documentary crew along to record what he aims to make his last "exorcism". Turning up at Louis Sweetzer’s (Louis Herthum – “Murder She Wrote”) already blood-soaked rural Louisiana farm, nothing on Earth could prepare him for the evil that's about to take place - or the hard to-the-core shaking his beliefs are about to come under. Putting on a performance he feels worked to cure the family’s psychological demons; he takes his money and heads off home. However, events take an unexpected turn when the young girl in question turns up at his motel and weird things start happening. Taking the camera crew back and waiving his usual fee, he prepares to take on an exorcism for real. Does he have the time and strength to save the girl Nell (Ashley Bell – “United States of Tara”) - and everyone else - before it's too late...?
Can Nell's soul be saved, before everyone around her pay the price...?
Aside from taking a break, the majority of my month has been spent living with the horror genre. Film4 over here in the UK, take this time of year to have their “Frightfest” screening festival - and accompanying television month - of some of the great horror films out there. Between that, and catching up on films I should have seen long ago; it’s been a pretty amazing month which I hoped would be rounded off with nice modern horror “The Last Exorcism”.
I really wish I could think of an intellectual word to explain just exactly what this film is like - however, the only word that springs to mind is 'lame'. As I’ve mentioned in posts before, exorcism films are the weakest for me in terms of scare, or entertainment value. This film has actually made me want to watch the other films I’ve hated before again and re-evaluate their worth. Presented as a ‘found footage’ film like “The Blair Witch Project”, the filmmakers took the unusual step of adding a subtle score to events – so subtle in fact, that I didn’t even completely notice it’s presence until I read about it (although, I did spot bits of music here and there). I do feel though that the fact there was a score, contributed to the array of issues I had with this film.
Putting the events of ‘found footage’ to a score seems to be a bit like placing the cues for people to be scared. It often acts as a safety blanket for the audience, letting them know when they should be scared, sad, happy, etc. I think with a film like this, if there had been no music the whole feel of it would have changed, becoming more claustrophobic and disturbing for the viewer. If a film such as “[Rec]” had been put to music, I doubt the feeling of sheer closing-in terror would have been as prevalent, no matter how beautiful said score might have been. I guess it could be seen as a brave move for this film, but I can’t help to feel intrigued as to what the feel would have been without it.
Nell and Louis Sweetzer, and Cotton Marcus prepare for the exorcism...
Don’t get me wrong, the performances seemed believable, and I’d actually go as far as to say that the majority of the film was reasonably well presented and paced. The young girl Nell is introduced much-like Regan in “The Exorcist” as a happy child who loves to draw, and is polite and friendly to everyone she meets; and Reverend Marcus is shown as a family-man with a fair sense of humour, and a willingness to frankly admit his doubts in his own religion. I think the main strength of this film is the character of Cotton Marcus. Along the course of the film – as well as having his doubts – he generally comes across as a genuine person, who cares for people even in extreme situations. His change in his doubts about his religion near the climax, prove to be believable and interesting – but not forced upon him. It is a genuinely interesting character development, but unfortunately this film cannot and does not hang on this one character’s story.
Then there is the story itself to contend with. The film begins with the setting up of main characters, lacing their introductions with light humour as to convince the audience of how genuine and ‘everyday’ they all are. Even at the farm, things are kept light and tongue-in-cheek as Cotton shows the documentary crew some of his ‘tricks’ to produce the best exorcism performance. Over halfway through, and just as things start to turn mysterious and odd, the film begins to slow down, leading events to take a downward turn into confusion; ridiculously feeble attempts to scare; and an unparalleled loss of explanation. For a film that chose to add a score to ‘found footage’, you would think that they would perhaps tidy up the camera-work, and put in some actual big thrills. I can’t deny the film was gripping and I couldn’t stop watching it, but my reward appeared to be an ending that seemed like it was mocking me for my attention.
Reverend Marcus pulls out his best exorcism performance...
The end of the film (I’m going to try not to spoil) feels predictable – and weirdly surreal. Things happen that you would never see coming, yet the events that follow have already been laid out beforehand, and therefore seem like a lazy way to end the film. It is an abrupt ending that left many in the screening I attended scratching their heads in doubt, wondering if we had all missed something gigantic - and incredibly important - along the way. Again it is a brave move to end in the way it did, particularly in regards to the footage you see – but it just feels like a cop-out. Perhaps if the craziness hadn’t began unravelling until 5 minutes before the credits, then it might have felt like a more terrifying ending. Also, for a film that is supposedly a 'wet yourself' horror – nothing stood out, made me jump repeatedly or gave me nightmares. That to me is the sign of a horror film failing to hit the mark it sets itself.
So overall, the performances were well acted, and the screen kept your attention – but a ridiculous ending means this is a film you’ll end up wanting your money back from. I say save money and wait to rent it on DVD or watch on the television; “The Last Exorcism” receives a rather poor score of 4/10. Flix Out.
*** "The Last Exorcism" comes out in cinemas in the UK nationwide on Friday September 3rd. ***
Horrorphile
Did you see The Haunting in Connecticut?
I envy you Northern Hemisphere folk ... you get all the cool horror film festivals and conventions. We've got one decent one here in Sydney (A Night of Horror), but it's very small.
I'd kill to go to Rue Morgue's Festival of Fear this year, they've got David Cronenberg headlining!
So what have you seen at Fright-Fest that's any good?