The Last Exorcism
| release date | August 27 2010 |
| studio | Lionsgate |
| director | Daniel Stamm |
| writer | Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland |
| starring | Patrick Fabian, Iris Bahr, Louis Herthum, Ashley Bell, Tony Bentley, Caleb Jones, Shanna Forrestall, Allen Boudreaux, Denise Lee, Becky Fly, Logan Craig Reid, Jamie Alyson Caudle |
| rating | PG13 |
| tagline | Believe in Him / If You Believe in God, Then You Believe In The Devil... |
| site | thelastexorcism.com |
| trailer 1 | Trailer #1 |
2 Comments
I just went to a midnight show of the Last Exorcism…
Stay away from this movie. You all know how i love horror and how possession films creep me out. I could never watch Emily Rose or the exorcist alone… never but Last exorcism has 0 scares.. It completely fails at being scary. To make matters worse they blatantly lie in their advertising, There’s no ceiling crawling and No clinging to walls like in posters.
Where i succeeds is mostly in the main character, Cotton is a really
well written person and exceedingly well acted. I really loved his whole
character arc through the film. Everyone’s acting was good.
At the end of the movie the theater erupted in boos and i was with them.it’s such a Blair Witch ending and comes after 0 scares
after being so anxious to see this movie, i was kind of let down. Most of the scary and freaky parts were the ones shown in the commercial. This movie didnt suceed up to the hype. There was no spider crawling on the ceilings, no creepy deep demon voice, just a pastor cracking jokes. I recommend you stick to the original exorcist movies…
This annoyed me to begin with – didn’t like the characters, acting or style – before cleverly wrongfooting me and becoming something unexpectedly entertaining and self-aware. Then it proceeded to become increasingly cliched and frustrating, and ended so abruptly that it honestly felt like the last reel had been left off. A big waste of promise.
Contrary to what cult icon Eli Roth’s name on the production credits might suggest, The Last Exorcism, birthed by director Daniel Stamm, and writers Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland, is a rather mild-mannered demon.
So far, many of the film’s reviewers have described it sort of how I would describe drunk sex: It starts off fun with lots of energy, becomes a bit nonsensical, then ends on a rather disappointing note. (Not that I’ve had drunk sex. I neither drink nor sex.)
The Last Exorcism begins by introducing us to the film’s “hero,” Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian), a likable but somewhat sleazy preacher who seems more interested in selling faith than subscribing to it. Cotton has performed exorcisms before, but he has never seen a demon; in fact, he doesn’t believe in them. Instead, he compares himself with a doctor, who provides a service to people. He heals them by ridding them of a bad thought: the thought that they are possessed.
When he receives a letter from Louis Sweetzer (Louis Herthum) claiming that his daughter, Nell (Ashley Bell), is possessed, Cotton sees this as just another routine service — i.e. NOT a real exorcism. He heads out to the Sweetzer farm with a cameraman and researcher Iris Reisen (Iris Bahr) in tow to document his work. What the group encounters on that farm calls Cotton’s bad-thought theory into question.
What The Last Exorcism presents to us isn’t new, and sadly the way it’s presented isn’t new either. Some of the scenes felt like they were taken right out of The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973), The Exorcism of Emily Rose (Scott Derrickson, 2005), The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, 1999) and Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007), to name a few possible influences. I’m all about giving shout-outs to great movies that influence you, but I think if you’re going to work with someone else’s idea, you should try to improve upon it, and, aside from maaaayyyybe one scene in The Last Exorcism, I didn’t feel like it really improved on anything.
The filmmakers chose to present the story of Nell’s exorcism in the popular documentary style that Hollywood seems to be using more and more. Possibly to boost the realistic sense of the movie, many of the characters share first names with the actors who played them (a call-back to cinema verite?). Despite their efforts to make the film seem realistic, the filmmakers undermined themselves over and over again by using a non-diegetic score (sometimes the sounds weren’t actually part of the narrative — the sounds were clearly added in postproduction for atmosphere) and — and I found this particularly annoying — leaving a black space between scenes when the camera was “turned off.”
*Whiney film nerd tangent* I think it would have been more effective and realistic if the film had employed jump cuts. This would have given viewers the sense that they were actually watching real footage that had been edited together I think. (Not to mention, how jarring would it be if one minute you’re in a well-lit room with the crew and the next minute you’re in a dark room with people screaming?) To be sure, the filmmakers did use jump cuts a couple times, I just think they could have used them more effectively and more often.
A couple of good things I can say about the film is that I thought it created a solid creepy atmosphere, and that all of the actors were good. Nell’s brother, Caleb (played by Caleb Landry Jones), wins the best supporting creepy actor award in my books. And I thought that Ashley Bell was quite good at winning the audience over as Nell. I’m just noting the people who were creepy, but really, I thought everyone was good.
As far as special effects go, I think their use was sparse but good enough. There were a couple decent slashing scenes and some decent body contortions. If I had to pinpoint one thing the film did best, I’d have to say atmosphere. Again with the disappointing drunk sex metaphor — you know sometimes when you’re having sex and you’re close to um… peaking (sadly the thesaurus is severely lacking in synonyms for the word “cum”), but you just can’t seem to get there? (Okay this might be more of a thing girls can relate to than guys…) Anyway, I kind of felt like that’s how The Last Exorcism was for me, except with scares. I kept thinking I was about to be scared, only to be let down.
In short, I left the film with the equivalent of horror movie blue balls.
Sadly, the most exciting thing about The Last Exorcism is its posters.
If you must watch it (and I’m not completely trying to dissuade you from doing so), I’d suggest renting it.
I don’t see how this was his last exorcism becuz he didn’t do anything this movie was a joke. Very disappointed in this it was slow and action didn’t kick in until towards the end. This movie should have went straight to DVD, don’t waste your money on this one trust me what you see in the previews is enough your not missing anything at all.
Great! Scary!
The creepy scenes in The Last Exorcism are just that: creepy. But what I loved the most about this film was the character, Cotton Marcus. As unsettling as the creepy moments were, this was totally Reverend Cotton Marcus’ story and I absolutely LOVE the character resolution.
I had somewhat high hopes for this film, and was not entirely disappointed. The acting was great, and the atmosphere/mood was very effective. I think character development in all but Rev. Cotton was a little weak. I don’t feel that the ending really matched up with the rest of the story. It was a bit over the top compared to the overall mood set by the rest of the film. Also, there wasn’t a good balance between Cotton’s complete lack of belief in and respect for the spiritual world and the confrontation of that lack. (There was alot of build up to support his skepticism, so I was expecting something equally devastating to destroy it.) Overall, better than many horror movies I’ve seen at the theater, but could use some improvement.
I attended the Last Exorcism screening set up by Bloody Disgusting about 2 weeks ago. Thanks, guys! Went in hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst.
The positive: The Reverend Cotton character is fantastic and very very funny. One of my highest praises of this film, actually, is that all of the characters are very well done. The camera crew is less fleshed out, but they still serve a purpose by asking the questions we’re all thinking. Good spooky farmhouse setting and atmosphere. There are occasional jump-scares, but much of the horror is still conveyed through sound and suggestion. Refreshing. I also enjoyed some unexpected turns in the story. I am pleased with the film overall.
The negative: The ending felt unsatisfying. I certainly found the finale to be exciting while I was watching it and still will. Looking back, though, the setup was great and I was hoping for something more. There were parts of the film where the plot twists reminded me of Lake Mungo and it’s possible that establishing that comparison let me down a little. Don’t want to get into it much more than that to avoid spoilers. I also have minor nitpicks about how the film is presented, (found footage or documentary?) but the ending is my main issue.
Would I recommend? Gore hounds hoping for splatter won’t find what they’re looking for here, but I would recommend this to fans of supernatural horror. I enjoyed it. It’s no The Exorcist, but it’s a fun blend of those themes with a REC-style execution. Worth checking out. Not perfect, but I’ll watch it again.
I was severely disappointed with this film. I went in to the theater with high hopes and excitement. I wasn’t into the whole plot of a preacher who didn’t really believe in demons and swindles people. It could have been creepier if the Reverend would have had an extreme change in his belief and they elaborated more on his actually starting to beleive. I guess I didn’t like the humorous parts because I wanted a straightforward, serious flick. There was one cool scene where shes twisting all kinds of ways, but it didnt seem like there were enough scares. And the movie ends really abrupt, and doesn’t wrap anything up.
I just saw the movie and have to recommend it to everyone. It’s been almost an hour and I still can’t get the last scene out of my head. You can tell a movie is good or not by whether or not you leave the theater doing that.
WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY. You would have to be blind to like this movie, I was excited to see this that I brought my horror loving dad with me only to have the old man disappointed (He’s got cancer). You only see demonic activity for at least 2 short ass minutes in the movie and blah blah the rest
Wow, I got duped again by early reviews and all the ads. Seems like after Paranormal Activity I would have learned.
This movie takes a long time to get to nothing new. It rips off so many movies it’s amazing. The ending is weak. It’s M. Night Shammalammadingdong bad. I should have seen Pirahna- at least they admit it’s cheesy.
The takeaway message here is The Exorcist is and always will be the greatest exorcism movie ever.
WTF WAS THIS HORSE SHIT. I am saving you time and money so, Seriously 4 skulls. are you on crack. Like answer me. The first 30 mins was like a discovery channel horse shit about religion and crap. That I think I almost fell a sleep. Then things started to getting to the demons and exorcisms and shit and that was lame. Then the cat got smashed with the camera which was awesome pretty brutal for PG-13 and I was loving it. Then they kept on going back to the stupid house. Is she a demon, is she not, is she crazy, who fuckin cares. Then we fine out it’s a cult who’s just nuts. makes her give birth. Some weird red baby comes out thrown into the fire. Blows up with an expendables shitty fireball. We see a pretty awesome shot of the devil which was number 2 cool. The they all die. The end. I save you 11 dollars and 1:30 mins. Your Welcome.
And to everybody thinking this is scary. YOU ASSHOLES MUST NOT WATCH HORROR MOVIES. Capone on AICN said it was a breath of fresh air. WHAT A MORON. I hate when you fuckin idiots jam horror movies down our throats and hype them up and say it’s so so so so so scary. It’s a must see. DO YOU FUCKING IDIOTS get paid to say that. Seriously IM me an answer I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW. Because this was one the worst horror movies of 2010 thus far. It was boring and beyond cliche. And that ending would of worked if it was R and we saw the limbs and stuff get cut off.
I would of liked and ending in which cotton becomes a demons goes home to his wife and kid all normal. Stabs his wife to death and eat’s her alive as we see cotton begin to stab the kid as we see the demon come out of cotton tearing him apart from the inside and going into the kid. The kids eye’s spin around to white then to red. And open up. Cue credits DONE. BEST MOVIE ever HAPPY FACE.
I left the theater thoroughly pleased.
As I have perused through the various opinions resulting in an average user rating of 2.5, it leaves me confused. Have people become so jaded when it comes to horror that they hate every new idea to come through? Okay, sure, the shaky cam blair witch-esque style has been done before. It’s not completely original. Instead, I refer to the way the film is paced and how the story develops. The director leads you in with a lighthearted introduction to the main character of the story, a reverend named Cotton. Through the introduction, I ended up liking the character, which is vital to any horror flick. You have to be invested in your characters!
After the opening introduction and the humorous informative on how he performs exorcisms (like a magic show), the second act begins. Now we begin to question whether she really is insane or possessed. And I loved every minute of it. The director does an excellent job of creating a tense and unsettling atmosphere through the use of some clever shots of cinematography and the eerie subject matter. Hell, they even throw in some gore for the people who can’t get enough of that (like me). Acting seemed spot on with the actors never trying to overact who they were. We are supposed to believe that these people are just ordinary people and you do.
I won’t try to give away any other plot details because as the BD review suggests, it really is a lot better going in when you have a vague understanding and knowledge of what this movie is about. If you have stumbled on this site and come across reviews and are trying to decide on whether to watch this movie or not, I say do it. If you are a horror fan in the slightest, you can’t possibly hate this film. While it wasn’t perfect, it was definitely better than most horror movies to come out in the last few years (at least here stateside).
Waste of time and money. To think I could have spent my money on seeing Piranha again instead. Pretty awful all round. Where to begin… oh right, the complete lack of any actual possession. It’s just a batshit crazy pregnant girl who is inexplicably impregnated by satanists. Trust me it doesn’t make any sense within the context of the movie itself.
What the ##ck? There is no ending to this “film”. No resolution. The beginning actually sets the film up well and the guy playing Cotton is pretty good in the acting department. The middle drags serious ass, though. I was squirming, waiting for something interesting to happen. “The Exorcist”, this is not. Very, very lame Sci-Fi Channel original type stuff going on here. In fact, I bet this shows up on basic cable before the end of 2010.
I was really looking forward to this, what with Eli Roth as the executive producer. The PG-13 rating should have tipped me off.
I’m really sick of these “faux documentary” things. These documentaries hide the good shit off camera. Come on directors, stick our collective faces in the carnage!!! Show us some sickazz shit! For instance; Reagan sticks a crucifix in her twat in “The Exorcist” and tells the f’n priest to Eat Her!!! How is this dumbass, “The Last Exorcism”, supposed to measure up to that?! Was this thing made by fundamentalist X-tians or what? I want to feel sullied when I leave the theatre after a paranormal fright flick.
This isn’t even as good as that exorcism movie with the chick from “Dexter” in it.
Everyone in the theatre groaned when this one was over.
Yeah, I’ll admit, just like everyone else has on here (spoilers and all), that the ending is pretty lame BUT, the ride there is where it’s at. Full of jolts and creepy atmosphere, not at all cliche or predictable. It’s not at all for gore hounds and I think that’s one thing that’s pissing people off. Why does a horror movie HAVE to be a splatter fest with some people?
My big complaint about this film is that it’s edited. Footage is spliced with other footage through out (i.e. when he’s doing the fake exorcism it occasionally cuts to how he set it up). How can that be if this was one of those situations where someone just found this camera laying the woods? That took a lot of the realism away for me.
It had really good potential untill that demon started talking through her. Blowing jobs? really haha that kind of killed it for me. Less once again is more. The scariest part was just a simple smile into the camera but oh well had some pretty decent laughs from the seventh graders reactions
If you really want to see this badly, avoid going to the theater, cause more than likely, youll be in it with screaming teenagers….As for the movie, just about all the scary/creepy parts were in the trailer(and most of that wasnt even creepy). The poster of her on the wall? false advertising. The end was definetely the best part of the movie.
Horrible movie. The makers of this film should be ashamed of themselves. I recommend staying away from this movie, and if you HAVE to see it get the torrent or something.
THE LAST EXORCISM is one of the most horribly cobbled together pieces of shit since last week when I ate Indian food for breakfast and then went on a 5k run. The following is a list of why this film is embarrassingly god awful. Beware, SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!
1 – So this “lost footage” documentary style film has music over it? REALLY? Who put the music there? Was someone conducting a 90 piece orchestra just out of camera shot? Why the hell would you even play the “discovered real footage” angle if you’re going to break the 4′Th wall?
2 – Along the lines of my first problem, there is all kinds of editing going on. Like, during an exorcism the camera angels are changing to creepy floor level shots and then over the head shots and then……wait, was stretch Armstrong the cameraman? I’m fine with edits and such, I’ll buy that. But there are honest to god setups here. Once again, if there was only one camera man…then how could this be?
3 – The acting in this sucks across the board. The main man is played as a swindler and a false profit from the get go, and they play it up for laughs. So when the “scary” things start to happen, I’m still in comedy mode. Also, whoever played the title girl needs to find another job….QUICK!!! I hear blockbuster is hiring. She was so laughably bad that any moment where the film tries to muster up some suspense, it’s immediately ruined with her over the top imitation of Jennifer carpenter from the exorcism of Emily rose, which was nothing but her imitating Linda Blair from the exorcist. At one point she stars licking someone and looks directly into the camera and smiles all sexual. It’s supposed to be shocking I guess, but it’s now alongside mark Walberg talking to a plant in THE HAPPENING as one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen in my life (and I’ve seen KES”MONEY SIGN”A in concert so……there’s that). Threes a mean spirited (get it, see what I did there?) older brother who once again was played up for laughs, so at the last minute when the film wants me to be scared of him it falls flat on the ground like Lindsay Fresh out of promises.
4 – False advertising. Home girl never crawls up walls or gets all scary in the face. All the effects are done practical and in camera as far as she’s concerned (more on the “special effects” latter on). She just writhes around on the ground for a couple parts then goes running around for more. That it. No breaking bones. No heads spinning. No ceiling walks as promised in the trailers and posters. Not even a bloody fucking nose.
5 – The special effects are just that: special. As is Sarah Plains retard baby special. Whereas the baby gets a pass seeing as how it didn’t really have a choice in the matter and all, here there’s just no excuse. There are CGI flames at the end of this film that I shit you not look worse than when Kevin Sorbo fought off the three headed dragon in the premiere episode of HERCULESE: LEGENDARY JOURNEYS. So this is supposed to be “real footage found” but there’s obvious cgi? Ug, the list could go on and on….
6 – The ending. I actually liked where the “twist” was headed. It’s dark, bleak, and not what you’d expect. Too bad THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL did the exact same thing. I mean THE EXACT SAME THING! I’m not saying it’s similar in tone. I mean they crib the ENTIRE PLOT POINT verbatim. And did I mention that THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL is one of the most well made films I’ve seen this year?
7 – I was originally going to put up 13 things that I hated about this film. I wrote out 13 problems I had with this, a fitting number I felt with the subject matter. But guess what, I’d rather not spend one more minute writing about this garbage.
The Last Exorcism has its flaws, no doubt about it, But it actually had me thoroughly entertained. I was never bored watching it, even though some parts were really slow. The acting was good, it was suspenseful, and extremely creepy. All In All, The Last Exorcism was one of the best horror movies out this year.
meh….thats all i can say about this
Saw this at the midnight showing and I have to say I was expecting more from it. It was shot and acted through very well. The small problems that plagued the film were that of the story and where they wanted to take it.. The ending was also a major disappointment..
I would suggest waiting for the movie to come out on DVD before going to the movies to see it.
The first few lines of BD’s initial review of this movie said to go in with an open mind with very little knowledge of this movie. For most horror movies, that’s the way it has to be these days. Watch the trailer once, decide if you want to see it, and hopefully you’ll come out surprised. That’s exactly what I did for this movie, and that’s exactly how I came out. I think (and I could be wrong) many of the overly negative reviews came into this film with way too much knowledge of the final product.
So let’s start out with the bad:
These days in horror it seems like movie makers go one of two ways: 3-D or documentary. This was a movie that could have been made with a classical approach and it wouldn’t have lost one bit of prowess. The documentary gimmick is just a ploy to get you to develop a deeper connection with the characters. But as well as Patrick Fabian played Cotton Marcus, I think we still would’ve cared for his character.
The ending seemed to go out on a reach a little bit. Without giving away major spoilers, let’s just say a little more expansion wouldn’t have been a bad thing. I left the theater feeling like the film-makers were “this close” to hitting the coveted middle ground between too much information and too little.
Another problem is that it does take a little while to actually get into the movie. Not as long as Paranormal Activity, but still there’s a good chunk of exposition that kinda leaves the audience bored.
Lastly (on the bad side of things), let’s face it this has been done before. We’re not seeing anything overly original here, but in a modern movie era filled with remakes, reboots, and mindless sequels, it’s nice to see something that at least tries to tell the story in a different way.
All right, onto the good:
Let’s start with Patrick Fabian. Between the scripting of a well-rounded, interesting protagonist and Mr. Fabian’s acting, we really get a great character. Cotton Marcus is a character an audience can really get behind. Yes, there’s some of the good ol’ possession movie cliches, but they also broke some new ground on an old character.
As for the pacing, it really seemed like Eli Roth had a little bit of a hand in this area of the movie. It really does have an “Eli Roth” type feel to it. You have an initial “good-humored” phase that builds momentum to a tension-filled climax. As with most horror movies, you have to suspend your sense of the real (and your expectations of perfection in film-making) to let this movie take you. But, if you let it grab you; you’ll find yourself transported from a darkened movie theater to rural Louisiana; and once you get there, the tense pacing of this movie will hold you right up until the credits roll.
I also want to commend Daniel Stamm on not falling into the trap of throwing buckets of useless blood onto the audience in lieu of actual scares. There’s gore, don’t get me wrong, but it’s more necessary to build tone (which is dark and foreboding) rather than to make the audience uncomfortable.
I think the best thing this film has to offer is a semi-original story told from a different perspective. It gives us most of what we want (and would expect in a possession movie), and still manages to throw us a curve ball (or two) along the way. I really do wish we’d get more attempts at horror like this, rather than the remakes, reboots, sequels, prequels, and torture porn that have become the norm in “Hollywood” horror.
I also liked how the “filler” characters weren’t expanded upon. Mr. Stamm kept them in the background, where they belong. It’s nice not to spend fifteen minutes watching a director attempt to build empathy for a character whose sole purpose is to die.
One more note, I like that this is a movie that can be taken seriously. Lately, when we get something somewhat original in horror, it’s usually a tongue-in-cheek film (i.e. Piranha). I thought it was refreshing to see a film (that’s not utter crap) come out and make an attempt to stand on its own two legs.
All-in-all, this is good ol’ fashioned possession fun. Unfortunately, it’s just a few steps short of being a classic. Don’t watch the previews, don’t read the reviews, just go into this movie with an open-mind and as little expectations as possible; I think you’ll go out with a more than a little bit of satisfaction.
I have never seen BD push for people to review a film so much before so heres mine. Spoiler free. For a PG-13 flick it was alright, had a few scares but was watered down and the last 20 minutes leaves the viewer confused but it was decent.
I just finished seeing the Last Exorcism today. I think that the screenwriter should be shot. It is one of the lousiest endings that anyone could come up with. It is a sad attempt at Blair Witch Project at best in terms of documentary like directing but it strays away from that. It was going well until that stupid surprise at the end.
This movie, first of all is one of the reasons I usually REFUSE to see PG-13 horror, it takes away from the potential, and content of what COULD have been in the movie. However, The Last Exorcism did pretty well for the first 2/3 of the movie. Rev. Cotton, was easily one of the best characters I’ve seen in a (horror) movie in quite sometime. He’s really what made the film. The acting as well was great, the scares however were not. There were subtle things here and there leading up to the “climax” in the barn, which was truly a great and frightening scene. However, besides that scene, the movie was quite boring. What ruined this movie was the ending, not only was the twist poorly thought out but the special effects and acting were so bad that you forget what you just saw for the last 2/3 of the movie. It’s quite laughable. The end was somewhat reminiscent of The Sopranos, it’s builds up to what should be the climax and then just ends. Not only does it just end abruptly, but it ends terribly.
The Last Exorcism is one of those movies that most critics are gonna really like and audiences are gonna hate for the most part. It also falls into being one of those movies that just get under your skin when you watch it if your in the right state of mind while viewing it. When I watch a movie I open myself completely and treat it more as an experience. I fully engage myself in the events that happen within the film. Of course this only works in films that are competently made, with strong performances and a somewhat simplistic story line. This film is just that type of movie it’s cleverly made, solidly executed with strong performances and a unique sensibility towards its cliched material. Bringing fresh life to it and a realism that will leave you thinking for hours after its over. The film tells the story of an exorcist of sorts Rev. Cotton Marcus. After a life altering incident the reverand begins to question the existence of God and the Devil. He does however still provide an exorcism service. The film accounts his last exorcism as he is followed by a film crew so that he may expose the ridiculousness and archaic nature of the event for personal reasons. The subtly sexy and very talented Patrick Fabian plays Cotton as a jokester and a showman for most of the films running time. In fact the first third of the film is really very funny and entertaining. But as we move into the guts of the film it increasingly becomes disturbing and mysterious. I’m not sure that I can say that the Last Exorcism is a good film it’s certainly not an entertaining one for most of its running time. But it is a solid piece of horror cinema. It falls into this small sub category of films that really just gets under my skin and makes me feel so uncomfortable and disturbed. I’m 31 y/o and I had a hard time sleeping after I saw this. These films are smart enough and believable enough in their execution that they have me questioning myself and the world that surrounds me this could be a good thing in many cases but in this type of film it’s not. Some of the other films in this category that have actually left me in tears I was so disturbed are Paranormal Activity, Blair Witch Project, Wolf Creek, Session 9 and the fourth Kind amongst others. Some are more effective and less watchable than others because they have little to reccommend them for than the fact that they make this horror just feel all too real. So with that I would say that if your going to see this film and you have the same type of mindset as me go in very cautiously. It’s not as good as any of the films on that list it has moments of sheer brilliance and than moments of utter absurdity which include it’s rip off last shot but it has something that is for a lack of better term just fucked up and thats how it leaves you.
I have to say i am not surprised at the outcome of this film , The Last Exorcism , is a horrible mess; i mean look at the facts here , they need to stop making these movies , We get it Exorcisms are here and alive , whoo!. But you do not need to go and make 100movies about it. This just shows us again , that every other exorcism movie (with the mere exception of Emily Rose). Just feels wasted and you (audience member is cheated) Last Exorcism is the latest horror film from scare master Eli Roth (Who Most recently is being seen as the guy getting his head ripped off in Piranha , o he also brought us the very deadly , grusome , Hostel) The film stars are unknown in little ways. Patrick Fabian , Iris Bahr , and also another newcomer who does show us what she is made of , Ashley Bell who is portraying the little 16 year old “Psychopath”. The film really has nothing to leads us into other , than a drap of a second half. I enjoyed the 1st half , but then it slowly started to die.
The story is Preacher Cotton Marcus (Fabian) is a loving father and husband. Who has been performing Exorcisms his whole life (or making people believe he has been doing exorcisms) he is a fraud , he figures that giving people the “idea” that he is helping people giving them the thought , that he is actually doing something. Well he plans now to make a doc*mentary in order to prove that exorcism is fake , (so he can help prevent people for dieing of it). Well he receives a letter from a small farm out in Louisiana , That a farmer’s daughter has been possessed by a demon. Upon arrival they have a close encounter with a local boy. After reaching the farm , the father begins showing them , animals that have been recently slaughtered. And is now being asked to perform an exorcism. But what they don’t know is , he is setting it up for fake , but actually this little girl Nelle (Ashley Bell) maybe really possessed by a something.
The acting chops in this film , were well suitable for what the movies intentions were. The actors did have some catchy one-liners in the film that can always make a movie more fun. But i really did not feel any emotion or any sudden realization until after the start of the mere 2nd half. The film literally fails apart piece by piece. The cliche moments keep piling high as they can be , the sudden jumps that are supposed to be coming at you!. They don’t work either , with every movie in cinema today , Most people can tell when something is gonna pop out at you , i heard people when leaving the screening “That was the scariest movie ever!” , see in this day and age kids , are being deprived of actual true , authentic , horror masterpieces. And i think it needs to be dealt with , they need to see the true , “Original” Exorcist.
The direction here (another newcomer) Daniel Stamm , Who well i can not say much about , other then he does still most of his styles and techniques from other major and successful films i.e (Blair Witch Project) He did also do the editing for the movie also. Which i can only describe in one word “Tack and rushed” i swear most people by the time of leaving this movie , are not only gonna be disappointed with what they just saw but also leaving with a migraine the size of Texas. The camera’s angle just after awhile does get to you. I mean we have seen Cloverfield , and Witch Project , and Paranormal Activity. Quarantine. They have decent storyline and manage to thrill you a little bit as oppose to this. This also steals thunder for its completely mis-leading ending, which you will see coming at you a mile away. Its just i had hopes that the ending would maybe save the movie from itself but no it did not.
Overall this is a pretty high skip , if you have seen other previous exorcism movies , then mix that with Cloverfield and Paranormal Activity , you are not missing anything , its the same thing we can see everyday on Ghost Hunters , the film is unoriginal fails to succeed at what it is suppose to be doing , which is scaring the audience. Some people may find this movie to be an all out , horror fun film , but to me?. No it is not. Like i said after the 1st half the movie slowly kills itself , bit by bit. You may have your opinion about the movie everyone does. But what im saying is really?. I am extremely disappointed. But this another addition where you just need to say , please stop making these films after about the original they all start dieing off , and become easily forgettable which is what this movie is. And a way that got me through the movie (if you get dragged) just keep making up jokes its sure to help ease the pain of watching a horrible Drag.
D-
ReviewdByNate
RatedPG13
RunTime91mins
Thanks For Stoppin Buy….
After seeing Last Exorcism, I felt the same way as I felt after Cloverfield. ‘This could have been so good and in the right hands, it would have been.’ The faux documentary has touched about every type of genre film now: ghosts (Paranormal Activity), zombies ([REC], Diary of the Dead), alien invasion (District 9), giant monster (Cloverfield), slasher (Leslie Vernon), and demonic possession (Blair Witch, Last Exorcism). Only a few of these feel like lost footage: [REC], Blair Witch, and Paranormal Activity. The rest completely break the illusion thanks to elaborate camera work, soundtracks, obvious line-reading, Hollywood-style editing, etc. From the first scene, Last Exorcism looks like actors delivering lines with a huge camera crew choosing shots for dramatic effect. Okay, so let’s put that aside…the movie fails as a fake documentary. What about the story? It’s not bad. I have a built-in bias toward exorcism movies. I love the concept of demonic possession. I think it’s a great horror device. So, some of the early scenes with Nell are creepy, granted. I also like the resolution. *SPOILER NEXT TWO SENTENCES* I love when a movie throws realism aside in its final moments (See: ‘Maniac,’ and countless others). So, I think aspects of the plot, inlcuding the end, are clever. I worry that much of the negativity directed toward the last scene is coming from folks who don’t understand it. It’s a dark scene and it’s not obvious what everyone’s role is in the proceedings. I only fully understood it after my friends and I hashed it out in a post-movie chat. In any case, there is some fun to be had here. Is it worth the price of a movie ticket? No. Is it in the ranks of [REC], Leslie Vernon, Blair Witch, etc? No way. Wait for blu-ray. Netflix it some evening you’re bored. Lower your expectations and there may be something to appreciate here.
I for one thought that The Last Exorcism was a nice creepy end of the summer movie. I dont think that it deserves the criticsm it is getting from movie goers and I actually agree with the critics. Sure the ending was a let down but everything leading up to it was fresh and suspenseful. I think that they were trying to go for something different with the ending and did succeed. Sure there are some flaws but that is something thats going to happen with these kinds of movies. I think that the people who went to see this for the most part were very young audiences, “the PG-13″ crowd, and that they were expecting another Grudge or Unborn. This is movie is much smarter and it does make you think. I admire the open ended closing of the movie. I also think that Cotton was a great character and I admired him throughout the film. I do hope we get a sequel with the same director. He can definitely improve greatly on this one and make kick ass sequel.
This movie was garbage. I used to trust bloodydisgusting’s reviews, but after being misled by a faulty review, I no longer trust their judgement when it comes to horror movies. I had not seen any trailers, nor read any reviews for this film because the first line of BD’s review promptly said it was best to know nothing of the film when going to see it, and I was sorely disappointed. The plot was ridiculous. The twist at the end was phenomenal, it’s just a true shame I had to sit thru an hour and 15 min of pure amateur trash before it picked up, and bam – suddenly the film ends, leaving you with questions as to what happens to several major characters in the film, and it was purely just unsatisfying. None of the scares phased me in the film, and the main character was highly unbelievable as a possessed young girl. This movie was just pure garbage. What a fucking shame. Waste of time and money. Watch something else instead.
Eli Roth, you’ve so sold out so hard and it makes me sick! I can’t believe you produced this boring lame ass movie! I didn’t care for Piranha much but this lazy, boring movie makes Piranah look like well, the first and a million times better Piranah! I am getting so sick of this great advertising and then a shitty movie. Is it even legal to advertise parts of a movie that aren’t actually in the movie?? Talk about saying F**K you to the audience. I don’t understand how Eli Roth could make Cabin Fever and the Hostels and this… This as bad as Paranormal Activity and I am tired of good reviews of crappy movies. I feel like “asolarinsanity” below my post that the most frequent bloodydisgusting reviews seem to be very up beat and happy about CRAP!
Now I really wasn’t that hyped to see this but I decided to see it anyways because some people loved it and BloodyDisgusting said it was good. It really wasn’t that good but it wasn’t horrible either. It could have been so good but fell flat most of the time. Just way to drawn out and not enough happening. The ending I will say was effin badass but other than that it wasn’t worth the money. Wait for the DVD.
Short and Sweet- This is a movie where ambiguity and the unknown is key to making the audience interested. Unfortunately the ending takes all that away and makes the final conclusion for you. But the first 90% is a very good faux documentary with several chilling scenes. Kudos to Patrick Fabian for playing his role as the pastor PERFECT, really making himself a likable character. It’s just unfortunate that the writers had to include such a disappointing ending.
Not since The Village have I been extremely pissed off by an ending! This was pretty much an marketing scam making people think that this was going to be something bigger and scarier than it ended up being and I’m shocked to see that it still has a 71% on rotten tomatoes. The person that played Cotton is the only believable person in this movie and maybe the girl who played Nell but she is no Linda Blair or even Jennifer Carpenter who played in The Exorcism Of Emily Rose which was much better than this phony crud. Do not believe anyone claiming that this was scary as hell and original because it’s far from it and people need to stop making exorcism movies because lets be honest nothing can really top the original The Exorcist or maybe they don’t even try anymore and as far as hand held camera movies go Cloverfield, Rec. and Paranormal Activity set the bar to the sky so unless anyone knows they for sure can top them don’t bother making movies like them and focus on making some original and scary horror movies for once! I really think that this should of went straight to dvd because this was just generic to me and nothing special and it was just an all over the place mess and not really focusing and fully explaining anything and I looked at one of the posters for it and it fools you to think that Nell crawls on the ceiling during her so called possession but it never happens nothing happens really for that matter and that’s the huge disappointment of it all, it had no good direction. I do admit though that it has a good creepy atmosphere throughout and maybe 2 scenes that made me look away but nothing really scary and to me it had no balls when it came down to terrifying you and it just gave up and became silly and confusing towards the end and it should be called The Last Horror Movie You Should Make because this is not what a horror movie should be! Overall The Last Exorcism started off very slow like The Blair Witch Project, tried to be like The Exorcism Of Emily Rose, The Exorcist and REC. but failed and once you think it’s going to build up to something terrifying and big it gives up and closes shop abruptly and ends like The Blair Witch Project, why cant directors get it through their minds that most people do not like endings like that at all and it’s becoming an really old formula that should of not been started in the first place. Avoid!!!!
I had really high expectations going into this film as there was such hype going with it. Unfortuneatly, I have to say that I was a little dissapointed. I was really into the Cotton charachter because he was actually believeable and I thought he was excellent in this film. What made me NOT like this was 2 things. First, some of the dialogue was so hokey and dumb, I just found it funny and laughable. Second, the ending was just too “unteal”. I wanted to like it but, it was just not what I wanted to see. And it made me say, WTF???? That’s the end??? And I just DIDN’T like the ending of this film!! But other people that saw it liked the ending!? So it is up to the viewer on how they see this. I much would of rather of waited until it came on DVD and saved my money.
Freaked me right out. Ashley Bell deserves an Oscar nomination for her performance as Nell. The way she was able to change from a sweet, cute, naive girl into a crazy possessed psycho, as well as the ways she could contortion her body, were just astounding. The ending was a little frustrating, but it still gave the audience chills. Great movie to end the summer with.
At first I felt disappointed by this movie. The ending was unclear and I thought they showed most of the creepy scenes in the previews. But after explaining it to some friends and thinking it over I realized I liked it a little more than I thought. Patrick Fabian was the perfect choice as he made what might have been a jackass character completely enjoyable, and Ashley Bell had a perfect balance of creepy, disturbed child and innocent country daughter. As for the scares, if they had used over the top exoricist freak outs I think people would have complained about its lack of originality. The simplicity and unique story line of this movie is what impresses me and it reminds me a lot of Session 9 (one of my all time faves). So even though I gave it a fat thumbs down for a few days after watching it, I think i’ll be love with it by the 2nd or 3rd time I see it.
“The Last Exorcism” – what can I say? I was very favorably impressed by my Sunday afternoon matinee viewing of this movie with an attentive crowd. Obviously post-”Blair Witch” and “Cloverfield” but using the technique to great advantage. So surprised at how savvy the film was in achieving new thrills from the formula, even for someone who’s seen them all. Really good performances by the two leads also, giving the story an essential credibility. An early incident in a van is as disturbing as the famous deranged hitchhiker sequence in “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and by the time we get to the principal set, the tension is palpable. There follow a number of creepy scenes done in fine style and with originality. Internal logic too. Good job by all. I’ll want to add this one to my horror library someday.
The Last Exorcism was a great movie. One of the best I have seen this year. Some reviewers are stating the ending was left open, no it wasn’t, watch the movie carefully and it will be clear. The acting was great. The plot was original and humorous at times. There was a scene at the end that I didn’t care for, but I still loved the movie. This is why I love Eli Roth. I will be buying this when it is released on dvd.
I was highly disappointed with this film. I thought that it not only didn’t live up to its hype, but that it was also very slow and boring at times. I thought the idea and plot behind it all was interesting, but besides that, nothing really stood out to me.
Just seen this close Frightfest at its European premire- and i really really enjoyed it: lets be clear from the begining this is another example of a small film running away from inderpendent theatres and going main stream- much like Blair Witch or Paranormal Activity and with that you get some good and some bad AND your never going to impress the whole audience. i think this film is most comparable to Paranormal Activity in (cant say why ,its not that style but gives the same creepy feeling).
The acting here is very good- especially Patrick Fabian as the Reverand Cotton Marcus who i generlly think is oscar nommination material (the banana bread line is great).
this film is very funny especially in the first half, the gore is minimal but used correctly for this film- its not meant to be a gore film so dont pan it for that, i’ve seen too many shit films lately that use gore as a way of pretending to be a horror film (and iv seen too many horror fans be cheated out of there money to see the same shit with different gore- lets avoid them for a while so they get back to using it right).
The pace of the film for the most part is very good really getting us to know and care for the characters- this is a character driven film, pace dropped in the middle a little for me.
The ‘fake’ expocism near the beginning is genius- the director did say to the crowd that as a German he knew Europeans would get this film, even if the American audeinence didnt and i think he referred more to the humour, the crowd laught out loud a lot.
I didnt like the use of music as they return to the house near the end of the film to get a cheap jump- did not like this at all and took something away from the tension for me.
The ending made perfect sense to me- really liked it, can see why its devisive but only to people that dont really get the genre.
If your a proper Horror fan (or thriller, Comedy or Character driven film fan) you will really like it, seriously you will like it- breath of fresh air for the genre… dont read anything else about it, dont check spolers and go in with an open mind expecting nothing…. enjoy
epic ending, some well played shock and suspense scares, loved the scene with cotton at the end. a very very memorable scene i wont forget very soon <3
The Last Exorcism
Smart, scary and I would compare it to The Exorcist.
It’s a combination of The Blair Witch Project, Rosemary’s baby, and of course The Exorcist.
Eli Roth has done an amazing job.
I can’t agree with BD or most of the viewers. It was never scary!!! It was only thrilling at the very end right after they find out the boy was gay. And honestly, possession movies usually scare the shit out of me.I guess its the growing up catholic,idk but this just didnt do it for me ESPECIALLY THE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE ENDING! What the hell where they thinking? idk it was just an ok movie but the ending really ruined it!
I really liked it… There were some moments that made me think of Blair witch, but I though overall it was an interesting story. I tried to follow BC’s advice about not watching any previews, but its kinda hard when this movies trailer is on right before every video on this site haha
Brilliant, smart and I loved it!
Loved it! And just was on IGN where Eli Roth was talking about his love of horror, really funny…
Ingredients for the Last Exorcism:
Take half a cup of The Exorcist, a quarter cup of Rosemary’s Baby, a quarter cup of The Wicker Man, add a splash of The Exorcism of Emily Rose, sit back and enjoy for 90 minutes.
Highly entertaining film, brought to you and created by obvious fans of supernatural horror. People complaining about too much “hype”? Try avoiding hype and forming your own opinion. People upset by the ending? I forgot that things need to be resolved in every film, how dare they scare the shit out of you with something coming out of left field, that in restrospect makes complete sense. More details here:
http://thewolfmancometh.com/2010/09/02/the-last-exorcism-2010/
This film would have easily been a 9/10 to me if it weren’t for three things:
1. Movies shot from a point of view camera shouldn’t randomly include dramatic theatrical music.
2. Movies shot from a point of view camera should not randomly switch to cinematic camera changes towards the end of the movie and still expect to keep consistency.
3. The fire at the end, (I won’t go in to more detail to avoid spoilers,) was way too fake and could have easily been done without it.
other than that it was awesome and had a good change from other exorcism movies. also funny in a good way that was intentional in the film
utter utter fucking shit, worst horror film i have seen in a long long time.
Ill jst leave it at this…Dont see it. :
I don’t understand people’s problems with this film?! It was creepy, original, the acting was good and was just an all around good movie!! I think everyone is just too desensitized these days and demand tons of gore, action and nudity for a movie to be good. Don’t listen to the negative reviews, see it for your self…I’m glad I did!
Despite some flaws, The Last Exorcism is a good movie. The movie could have benefited from NOT being filmed in the ‘mokumentary’ style, and the ending feels a little tacked on, but there are a few very small hints throughout the movie that predict the ending (the most obvious being the drawings). Besides those complaints, the acting is good, its suspenseful, the soundtrack is great, and its just a fun movie to watch. The beginning is actually pretty funny and one of the strongest parts of the film. It starts a little a slow and is a little too short, but, despite the flaws listed above, The Last Exorcism is still a good movie, and I recommend it.
The Last Exorcism really wasn’t interesting me when I first heard about it. The premise and title “Cotton” turned me off a bit. Once I found out about the name change and saw the trailer I became more interested (Although I liked Cotton better). I thought it could be one of the better movies of 2010.
I’ll start off with the cons, as there are fewer of them. The soundtrack in the movie really takes out the realism of the found footage. (Although this movie isn’t very realistic it’s still nice to have the little things be taken into account). The movie feels like it could have ended in several different places at once and that isn’t a good thing to do. But, I kept up. The shaky camera in this movie was the first to bother me, but that was probably due to the fact I was sitting near the front and I hadn’t eaten that day; still it wasn’t a major problem, even if I was sick halfway through the movie.
The pros. The Last Exorcism boasts several intense and frightening exorcism and demonic scenes. The whole movie has a very dark and creepy tone. It lingers throughout the movie and intensifies the experience. The actors looked like real people, something that is always a plus in these “more realistic” films. The actors were also very good. I thought they were all believable and played there parts well. Even the actors that were there for limited screen time (Logan, The Pastor, The Pastor’s Wife, The Nurse). The plot progressed in a way that kept me interested and guessing. I was genuinely surprised at the ending, and if you pay attention you’ll understand it, it’s warranted.
Overall The Last Exorcism does not deserve the bad reviews and the blind hate it’s been getting here (Imdb). It’s an indie film that got picked up for distribution (Much like Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity). It’s got a few good scares and has genuine suspense to keep you interested and involved in the story.
Since this site won’t let me give it a 7.5/10 (Becuase it’s better than a 7 and not better than an 8), I’ll round up. 8/10.
I loved it! One of the best horror films I’ve seen this year. It had a great story, it was creepy, and all the performances were really good too! The build up and tension was great, it took it’s time, which was awesome to see, it actually let you get to know the characters. This is a really hard film to review without spoiling it, so I’m not going give anything away, but I freakin loved the ending, it totally took me by surprise. Highley recommended, this delivered, in my opinion! Excellent film!
I tell you what I wouldn’t give for my 10.50 back! My daughter dragged me to Going the Distance and that was 1000 times better then this. I hate when I want to be scared and it just falls flat! They could of gone so far with this.
This was fun! It keeps you off balance the whole time, not allowing any evidence of possession or mental illness to seal the deal. Ties neatly and disturbingly together at the end. The cast does a great job of creating believable but sympathetic characters.
If you enjoy movies like The Exorcist and Exorcism of Emily Rose, this is a movie for you. It was an enjoyable movie and i had fun with it, but it didn’t really wow me or even scare me.
I liked “The Last Exorcism”. The cons for me were that it kinda dragged in the beginning for me and the ending kinda leaves you wondering what happens with a few of the characters including the main one being Nell. I loved the edge of your seat scary moments. And overall I liked the story. I personally think, “Emily Rose” was scarier, but like I said, still a pretty good movie.
The Last Exorcism is scary, creepy, intense, and sometimes humoruous. The acting was very sharp and clean. Ashley Bell and Patrick Fabian stand out the most. These are characters that you will care about. The last Exorcism knows how to pull out some creepy moments and when it does its pure thrilling. If you like The Exorcist with a little Blair Witch Project then you are sure to love this. Plan to be dissapointed cause the ending kills what was realist and turns it into a standard horror film with a few questions unanswered. Dispite the bad and out of place ending The Last Exorcism is worth seeing for a couple of good creepy scares.
Okay, my favorite part of the movie was the corn bread joke. That being said, this movie SUCKED. It was like they took The Exorcist (doubting priest, puking, etc.) and Exorcism of Emily Rose (overly religious family, weird convulsions, “words” speech, etc.) and added SUCK. I will list my reasons below.
1. it was supposed to be home filmed, and yet it had a soundtrack. WTF?
2. The book of demons was just cheesy and unbelievable. Why the heck would a Southern minister have an ancient Latin textbook that supposedly listed Satan’s demons AND had illustrations? Please.
3. The ONLY special thing they did to she she might be possessed was a back bend that I can do, and the splits. Neither were jaw dropping or even uncommon. There were many places where I was expecting to see much more than I got, like when she was banging around in her room I totally was expecting her to be like, on the ceiling, but no.
4. The ending was odd. Like, they ran out of time so they threw together this ending that had nothing to do with the rest of the movie except one tiny comment in the beginning.
5. Was she really possessed? I was still confused at the ending of this girl’s state. How did she get pregnant? The timing of the mentioned “party” did not match up with 9 months, and she didn’t LOOK pregnant, so it would have had to have been very recent. It wasn’t the gay boy (That part was way funny.) Too many questions weren’t answered.
6. They never explained the note that the brother left. He concern doesn’t seem to match up with the ending at all.
7. Why didn’t they call the cops???
8. Why did they use some unknown demon Abalam that no one knows? The mention of Abalam does not strike fear in my heart because I don’t know who the Hell he is. (No pun intended.) No, “We are the ones who Dwell within” is much more terrifying. I know what it means when someone says “Satan”.
All in all this movie was a waste of my $6 and my 2 hours. It was not the least bit scary and there were many places that made me laugh that really I don’t think were meant to do that.
Shocked me to the very core!!! When I realised I wasn’t gonna get a refund on my ticket!!!. Love the whole Exorcism theme, find it very interesting but this was just shocking…and not in a good way. Started off quite interesting then nosedived at a rapid pace. I hate comparing movies but take a really shit version of the Exorcism of Emily Rose and the remake of the Wicker Man and there you have it….An utter celluloid car crash!! The poster is the scariest thing about it, avoid like the plague!!
This movie let me down big time. After all the hype for it I was hoping for a great movie and I was disapointed. I think it had potential but it went flat and was kind of boring. I hate when I fall for all the hype and leave the theater wanting my money back.
This movie was a piece of crap. What sucks is it could have been really really good. But it is not. It is a tiresome piece of shit that drags until the last 30 minutes or so and then during the last ten takes a twist that will leave a bad taste in your mouth and not in a good way (if that is even possible to happen in a good way). The possessed girl does nothing really scary or creepy. EXorcism of Emily Rose is a hundred times better than this and The Exorcist puts it to shame. I would advise only watching this movie if you are going to watch it for free and even then, you will be wasting your time.
I loved this movie…until the last 10 minutes. Some of the best suspense I’ve seen in a long time. Great chills. But the last 10 minutes really ruin it. So sad.
I’ve never been a huge fan of exorcism-movies and I think it will stay that way. With the exception of “Exorcist III”, I find them all quite unimpressive – and “The Last Exorcism” makes no exception. It’s not bad but it definitely cuts no ice with me.
There are many things I really like about it:
~ the shaky-cam/mockumentary-style
~ the acting which is very entertaining and believable (great performances from Patrick Fabian, Ashley Bell & Louis Herthum)
~ a couple of really scary scenes
~ an amusing first half hour (the parodying of exorcisms… brilliant!)
~ a stunning Blair-Witch-esque ending
What I don’t like about it:
~ too many tedious and lengthy scenes
~ bad pacing that makes the film often quite boring
~ as brilliant as the ending is: the conclusion of the story is confusing, disappointing and even a bit frustrating
~ large parts of the score are annoyingly out of place
Overall an interesting take on the exorcism theme, but sadly way too flawed and pretty underwhelming.
This was a solid slow-burner of a horror film until the final 5 minutes. From the beginning we are lulled into a false sense of security by the main character (Rev. Cotton) who is charismatic, amusing and initially somewhat shallow. As others have noted, the documentary format mostly works well, but at times the angle or focus feels staged and thus the realism is momentarily broken. The acting is mostly very good and the story had wonderful potential as a tale of faith vs. science. There are some solid scares and the usual cliches, but overall the film plays everything low key which is unsettling in a good way. There are moments of respectable intensity but overall I walked away disappointed the way one days when listening to what promises to be a good joke but falls flat on the punchline.
Probably the best documentary style ever made. Acting was solid and characters were truly interesting but this is the least important part. I love slow, tension building House of the Devil style slow burn and the Last Exorcism just had it right. Scares were fucking genuine and extremely original. I know a lot of people thought the ending wasn’t rewarding what so ever but I thought it was simply apotheosis.
I enjoyed this. I liked that it managed to incorporate the handy-cam technique that is oh-so-popular these days without making me nauseous. I agree with the BD review that the camera people were kind of daft for ignoring certain things while filming others but I suppose had it been filmed ‘regularly’ they would have touched on responses as well, so I’m not too bothered by it.
The character of Cotton was excellent, I think. Likable and skeptical for a good reason. His heart was in the right place even if he did come off as a bit condescending at times. Solid acting, from him as well as the other characters. Nell certainly played creepy well, at times.
I didn’t really know what to make of the ending. Possibly I didn’t understand it 100% but I guess that’s a good thing, it’s probably what they were going for.
I feel it had the potential to be better but I don’t exactly know what I’d improve, so I’ll leave it there. Good film, if you like the genre. Might bore people who expect dozens of jumpy or gory scenes. I enjoyed it, though.
I saw this with a friend, and we laughed the entire time because of how weird and crazy the plot line was. For the first half, it was just the preacher preaching. I felt like I was in Church. The girl didn’t even seem possessed. She acted schizophrenic more than anything. The ending was a little twisted, but I promise not to ruin that. A Reverend from Baton Rouge, Louisiana named Cotton Marcus has been filming documentaries on how exorcisms are fake. He soon gets a letter from Louis Sweetzer who claims that his daughter, Nell is possessed by a demon. Will Reverend Cotton be able to save her? I probably wouldn’t recommend THE LAST EXORCISM!!!
i was expecting this to be like ‘the exorcist’, and it was sort of ! low budget, gritty grainy film good idea, liked the way it was realistic kind of edgy and unnerving. i ate a medium popcorn pretty damn quick but i did’nt find it that scary. the girl was good intense and frightning. when i left the cinema i thought it was shit really. the way it ends is kind of corny. original though, a nice twist some what similiar to the wicker man but in deep south US of A. did not like the film straight away but looking back at it i suppose its worth watching. amazing the idea of a ‘blowing job’ from a contorsionist. show us your cock !
The most shocking thing about it is how any horror fan could ever like this piece of shit…I just can’t understand it…no chills, no thrills, nothing…as bad if not worse than Paranormal Activity…AWFUL AWFUL AVOID AVOID !!!
Original premise. Fantastic acting. And an ending that falls a little short. If the Blair Witch Project didn’t exist, this movie would rock. I like the twist, I just wish it didn’t end abruptly after it started to get interesting… a little too much build up for not enough pay of…
I wanted to be more frightening.
Scary and Spooky
I heard this movie wasn’t really that good but I wanted to see it anyway. I actually did enjoy the story. It wasn’t really scary but the parts of the movie were creepy and worked well for a pg-13 horror movie. This movie was more character driven if anything due to how cotton’s beliefs at the start of the film start to change through out the film up to the climax. I did feel the ending was a bit abrupt and kind of out there. It was surprising because I definitely didn’t think that would be the way it would turn out. This movie was okay but its the kind of movie you see it once and thats about it and you’ll either like or not I don’t think theres much middle ground.
Just watched this last night. this move was really good. Some genuinely creepy scenes. the banana bread sermon cracked me up.
It could be good but it’s not…
This had the potential to be a really good film but only ended up being a decent film. That little poster above certainly gave the misleading impression that it would be much scarier than it was. With that said, there’s some good acting and the film does build. My problem is what it built to. The ending to me was so damn hokey and as the camera hit the ground in the final scene I looked at my wife and simply said “Blaire Witch Project.” I think the film’s makers would have been much better off going for a simpler ending because the one they chose came out of nowhere and just seemed silly. Nice try, but not quite there.
at first you will be scared,but then you realized you seen the scary parts,mainly every thing scary in the trailers will be in the movie not the end.it was a good film
What I liked:
-great acting
-original storyline
-scenes that will genuinely scare you a bit
-great production work
-awesome camera work (documentary style)
What I didn’t like:
-plot takes forever to unravel
-when it does, it’s original but cheesy
-too much background story on the pastor and not on the subject getting the exorcism (i wanted a little more information)
-some parts made NO sense, such as the ending
All in all, the movie wasn’t THAT bad, it’s compelling throughout from start to finish, but the ending was pretty lame.
Gotta say, this movie was really interesting up until the end. They kind of lose focus with a thrown together conclusion. I was definitely a fan of the documentary style approach. I found it pretty ballsy to take shots at the church, with this somewhat non-believing Reverend (which I think is very common). Obviously his own beliefs are brought into question as he finds out the Devil really does exist. Pretty Creepy.
I really liked this movie,,,but the ending was kind of stupid. I think the film deserved a better one.
Its good and the ending makes perfect sense, I dont know why these people dont understand it. Maybe they didnt pay atteniton.
very disapointing movie! Exorcism movies usually scare me. this on the other hand had zero scary parts, the ending was too rushed and didn’t explain enough. I’ll just chuck it up to a yet very over-rated movie by the fellows of BD. it would be nice to have REAL reviews on here. not ones powered by the almighty dollar. Geez i wonder how much they paid you to promote this piece of shit movie?????? the scariest part was that the girl had a ginger as her sibling. yikes now that’s scary!
i thought this was actually a really cool exorcism flick very fun
this movie wasn’t terrible… but it wasn’t that great either. amazing ideas throughout the movie, but i feel as though the envelope could’ve been pushed more. also, i feel as though i waited a long time for the movie to build, and then the climax started, but it was rushed and way to short. just when the movie started to get really intense, it just abruptly ended, which kinda pissed me off. the girl gets axed, awesome, i didn’t expect it. but then the camera man gets sliced, and the credits role and nothing gets resolved. where is the closure? where is the rest of what could’ve been a very exciting climax? very disappointing.
Very pleasantly surprised by this. Wasn’t expecting much from what I thought was a Paranormal Activity cash in… but damn it wasn’t bad. My only complaint would be that the Exorcisms themselves were not that scary. It had a couple of creepy moments (complimented by Nathan Barr’s great and subtle score), but overall I was never scared. However, the ending is truly great. Very nice twist. Pleasantly pleased.
Single camera, Documentary-style horror films gave been increasingly popular the last decade or so, thanks to the success of the Blair Witch Project. In some respects, this movie and the Blair Witch Project, Welcome to the Jungle, etc all seem to follow a similar format. Introduction to the characters, a few strange things caught on camera and then finally a third act in which the last 5-7 minutes of the movie reveal what you have waited 90 minutes to see.
Patrick Fabian, who portrays Reverend Cotton keeps this movie at least entertaining throughout as we wait for something to actually happen. Cotton is a Reverend who has grown tired of performing Exorcisms, a fact made even more amusing as he reveals that he doesn’t even believe in demons. In fact, there were times in the movie were I got the impression that Cotton didn’t even believe in God. Deciding to film a documentary around his last exorcism, in order to expose the practice for the fraud he thinks it is, becomes the central core of this film.
While the acting is solid and the film feels real enough, it still suffers a little. The scenes which promise to lend horror to the movie are few and far between. The young girl who is allegedly possessed delivered a chilling enough portrayal, but the directors kept shifting the focus of the story. By the end of the film, it is not even clear if the girl is possessed at all or if all of this was part of something less supernatural and more gross.
I feel like many of the pieces of an excellent film exist here, but they were not assembled correctly and just a few more pieces may have made this a truly memorable film. Your mileage may vary, but this one will be worth a rental. Sadly I don’t think repeated viewings will make this one much better than average.
Likable/sympathetic characters. Several genuinely creepy scenes. My only gripe is why it had to be a “documentary” style film. It wouldn’ve been just fine as a standard film. But hey…that’s the subgenre that’s cool now, so not much I can do. Solid story, some suprisingly funny humor and a great ending, in my opinion. Definately not for everyone–especially if you’re a whiney, pretentious genre-buff. 8/10
Really cool movie. It had a good pace and I never found myself bored, this film is very entertaining. This is one of the better exorcism films in a while. There is some controversy over the ending, but I thought it was awesome.
Fucking surprised me! Stayed away from this one for awhile, because I thought it seemed unoriginal, and boring. It’s a good little film that blends a little Rosemary’s Baby with a little Blair Witch Project, and weaves its own unique path in the possession game. Loved the ending!
very good
This movie was very good and scary I wish there were more movies like this!
The only thing that carried this was the charismatic exorcist/preacher played by Patrick Fabian and his documented working style and “tricks” of the trade. Everything having to do with the actual possessed girl is nothing of note with only a single barn scene being anything memorable. If something was working previously for this story, it was surely decimated by a cheap and lackluster ending. Take Fabian’s well casted performance out of this and it fails miserably. Borderline rental.
Perhaps it is growing up being taught that if you are bad that God will punish you that draws me to these types of movies.
Either way, if I put aside how a documentary turns into a normal film and how would the footage be released, etc – the movie is actually pretty good with some crazy homages from The Exorcist, of course to Rosemary’s Baby. So…I say it wasn’t the worst 1 1/2 hours I’ve spent alone in the dark.
This movie was pretty boring not to mention the lame ending. Waste of time.
Too bad this wasnt “The Last Exorcism” movie ever because they all blow goats and cant touch “The exorcist” in any aspect.
Much better than I was expecting; the plot leaves you guessing and the ending is a real shocker!
The movie was really well put together, except the ending. By the end I was just saying, what? So was she really possessed or what. The ending, in my opinion, left a lot of questions unanswered and left a very confusing feeling to it. For the rest of the movie though, I thought that, that is what The Exorcism of Emily Rose should have been like. So in conclusion, a very good movie with just an odd twist at the very end.
Before seeing this movie I had a feeling of uncertainty, but when I finally saw all of these were cleared and left me with a feeling of great satisfaction. Filmed with camera in hand, is a documentary-style film, well told, good story with good performances.
I thought that in the movies of exorcisms already there was nothing new to tell, but I was wrong, this movie presents a new perspective where we doubt all the way to an incredible and very good ending. Recommended.
Brings some originality to the possession franchise!
I loved this movie. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time and the ending was a complete surprise. Very well done filme.
I loved this movie. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time and the ending was a complete surprise. Very well done film.
Creative and interesting. Little creepy but not overly scary. The ending is a big “huh?” but still entertaining. Still worth the time investment.
It isn’t a bad movie, but it is more of the some thing. The idea of “real camera”, it’s good.
“Reverend would you like a blowing job?!” HAHAHAHHA
@flesheater123 The cat scene was “awesome” and you “loved” it? Something’s seriously wrong with you, mate.
Awesome movie, hella creepy just the way I like it. Not terribly scary, could really have done without the cat scene but otherwise it was messed up just the way this sort of thing should be.
I am sooooo over the whole shaky-cam, “you are there”, Blair Witch wannabe genre. In this case, I’m shocked by BD’s relatively high rating, as well as some of the users here. This one isn’t even a good example of film within the sub-genre. While I don’t share flesheater123′s vitriol, I agree with his overall opinion of this flick.
The acting ranges from acceptable to heinous. The cinematography is, well, you’re supposed to believe it’s shot by a very god-awful documentary camera operator, so they’re supposed to get a free pass in that area, right? Aggghhh. Nothing is particularly scary here. You have an annoying little girl who only gets creepy while she’s mashing cats and doing a few contortions. The plot might have carried this thing if it actually was a 1 hour documentary on the ScyFy channel, but for a feature length movie it’s thinner than a fly’s pubic hair. I knew approximately how it would end by the half-way point.
Ok…maybe I AM waxing vitriolic here. Let me just wrap this up by saying that, in my opinion, we need to send a strong message to film-makers everywhere that the “mockumentary” style can’t be used as a way to avoid having real cinematographic and script writing talent anymore. Please!
I was expecting this movie to be a big pile, but it was actually pretty good. Worth a watch.
well made, interesting, seen it a few times already
Finally watched this, and all I can say is that this was a mock-u-mentary of exorcism. The “exorcist”, the supposed ‘protagonist’ was a sarcastic SOB with a dark aura about him, while the rest of the cast (except for Nell and her father) was equally unsympathetic. There was no real good versus evil, but adhering to typical Eli Roth style and ideology, the forces of evil reign supreme while the innocent never have a chance even before the opening credits role. And of course the ending provided the viewer with no hope. It was a movie by, of, and for demon worshippers. They chose the actress Ashley Bell, of course, for her obvious innocense, and respected it none. The film is an insult to real spiritual warfare….and I suspect is meant to be just that.
Right, I’ve awarded this film 3 stars, that’s a 6/10 rating but thanks to this new website it’s saying that I’ve given it “0 out of 5 skulls”. I’ve also had to write this review out twice now because it keeps disappearing so I’m not going to bother again.
Basically, I found it to be a compelling film with well-drawn out characters who you can careabout, but the tension and scares were too few and far between and weren’t used to its advantage like “[REC]” for example. However it’s still worth a watcha nd I thought that the ambiguous ending worked well.
“The Last Exorcism” won’t define horror as a genre, countless movies prove to be better examples, but “Exorcism” is fine as it is. The lead is convincing, the story shows potential, but that ending. THAT. ENDING. It’s an okay film aside from that ending.
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The exorcism movie has been a staple of the horror genre ever since “The Exorcist” debuted in 1973. It has experienced a resurgence in recent years with several such films hitting theatres and DVD, mostly boring and tired retreads but a few have really moved the genre forward. “The Last Exorcism” is one such movie. It takes on a faux documentary style with handheld camera work, a small budget and unknown actors to really drive home an authentic feel. Produced in part by horror icon Eli Roth, this film has a great pedigree and hope for greatness. While costing only a few million dollars it brought in more than $40 million at the box office. With results like that it’s no surprise that a sequel in on the way.
Growing up with a southern pastor as a father Cotton Marcus (played by Patrick Fabian) has followed in his footsteps ever since he was little and now after years of being a pastor himself, he is ready to get out of the business. He has a documentary film crew follow him as he “performs” a typical exorcism. He wants to give away all of his secrets and how everything is staged and nothing but a big sham to bring in some extra cash. He answers one of the many letters he gets asking for help. Upon driving to the Sweetzer farm he meets a very sweet and innocent teen girl named Nell. He does some “tests” and agrees to do an exorcism on her. This goes like planned and he has another happy customer; until. Nell mysteriously appears in Cotton’s motel room in a trance like state. Cotton doesn’t believe in demonic possession and thinks that Nell is suffering from some sort of mental illness and takes her to a hospital.
The story is very effective in establishing Cotton’s character and his motivations. He has lost his faith and wants to show us how fake his job can be. Obviously exorcism movies rely heavily on the possessed victim and the performance by Ashley Bell, who plays Nell, is spot on. She gives a fantastic performance showing fragility and vulnerability while also showing a devilish side that is quite shocking.
Cotton goes back to the farm and finds himself confronted with a potentially real possession case. Nell has some obvious problems but are they demonic in nature? The third act of the film really kicks it in to high gear and introduces another bizarre element to the story. The ending is loved by some and loathed by others, but this is one horror film that needs to be seen. “The Last Exorcism” is currently available on Netflix watch instantly.