Such is the enduring notoriety and classic horror status of The Exorcist (1973) that anything that has come since in the genre arguably has had a mountain of expectation to climb. An original take would seem the only way to scale it. The makers of the The Last Exorcism – including torture porn aficionado Eli Roth (Hostel) who co-produces here – would seem to have found it using the device of documentary realism.
In Deep South Louisiana, where the bible belt sits incongruously with happenings of the occult, a film crew follows the cocky and charismatic Reverend Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian, Big Love). Cotton openly questions his faith and states categorically that exorcisms are a sham but that doesn’t stop him performing them. With an elaborate hoax of smoke and mirrors, he soothes the so called ‘possessed’ with what they want to hear and ‘hey presto’ they’re cured. What’s more, they’ll gladly pay big money for the privilege and Cotton will gladly take it.
But this fraudster is about to reap what he sows, summoned by desperate dad and fundamentalist christian Louis Sweetzer (Louis Herthum, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) whose livestock is being ravaged at night. Louis fears his troubled teenage daughter Nell (Ashley Bell, The United States of Tara) is the culprit and now it seems Cotton finally has a real live demon to extinguish.
Initially, director Daniel Stamm (A Necessary Death) captures a real air of authenticity in his use of faux documentary, effectively setting up the film’s premise and wryly poking fun at the hypocrisies of religion. He’s aided no end by the naturalism and reported improvisation of the cast. Yet, as charming as Fabian’s Reverend Cotton is, he’s too much of a scoundrel to take seriously amidst a premise which equally challenges credulity with a jarring change in tone from tongue-in-cheek quasi mockumentary to the horrific real deal.
That’s not to say the film isn’t scary. There are genuinely chilling moments featuring the talented Bell and Caleb Jones (No Country for Old Men) as Nell’s seriously creepy brother.
There’s ample red herrings too in ‘Exorcism’s’ plot yet few surprises and the film’s device of raw-footage-as-chilling-reality adds little innovation to the genre, instead recalling The Blair Witch Project (1999) and Paranormal Activity (2009), two films it owes a considerable debt to.
What’s most disappointing is that the film is mired in cliché; down home country girl suffers the usual bedeviled tropes – bone crunching contortions, spooky voices, spider walks, and potty mouth. Those content with familiarity will likely be satisfied. Other lovers of cinema of the possessed might prefer to rediscover the superior The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) or the aforementioned seminal classic that set a spine chilling benchmark.
The Last Exorcism opened nationally in Australia on the 25th of November.
Director: Daniel Stamm.
Cast: Patrick Fabian, Louis Herthum, Ashley Bell, Caleb Jones.
