‘The Last Exorcism’

Director: Daniel Stamm

Starring: Patrick Fabian, Ashley Bell, Louis Herthum

3.5/5 popcorns

While most faux-documentary horror films are littered with uninspired scares that build to a climax, ‘The Last Exorcism’ is a true oddity in that case. Commencing with a surprisingly long opening act, mistakable for a television documentary, director Daniel Stamm encourages his audience to view the film from different perspectives, defined through several mediums.

Stamm wisely takes his time in detailing the persona of the charismatic Reverend Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian), a highly sought-after exorcist who understands that demons do not truly exist. Anyone who thinks he or she is possessed just needs to be convinced that the demon has never entered his or her body for the exorcism to be completed. A fatally botched exorcism has led Cotton to view the practice as dangerous and immoral, and he has become increasingly eager to share those feelings. Stamm takes special care in developing his protagonist, ensuring that characters — not barrages of senseless carnage — define his film.

In order to expose the ridiculousness of exorcising demons, Cotton lets a documentary crew tag along with him as he ventures to save the soul of Nell Sweetzer (Ashley Bell), a cheery teenager whose soul is at the mercy of a demon called Abalam.

Cotton impresses the crew with his fraudulent practices as he plants recordings of demon sounds around the Sweetzers’ house and uses wires to make Nell’s bed shake, but realizes he is in for more than he bargained for when Nell’s personal traumas are illuminated. Nell’s backbreaking and voice-altering stunts do not terrify Cotton nearly as much as the notions of incest and the volatility of Nell’s alcoholic father. This could, indeed, prove to be more dangerous than the demon. That is, if the demon inside her exists at all.

The movie will not provoke many heated debates concerning religion and belief, though its depth is hard to ignore. Stamm magnifies from a simple case study and numerous intriguing themes, the most prominent being the relationship between belief and psychological vulnerability. Stamm presents a fascinating family dynamic that might have made for interesting drama on its own, while the father’s dangerous insecurities and Nell’s brother’s untapped anger augment the tension concerning Nell’s well-being.

In keeping with the likes of ‘The Blair Witch Project’ (1999) and ‘Paranormal Activity’ (2009), the existence of a tantalizing villain remains unclear until the closing moments. Unlike those two superb chillers, however, ‘The Last Exorcism’ bears meaningful themes the audience can latch onto and consider.

In his first substantial screen role, television actor Patrick Fabian (‘Veronica Mars,’ ‘Ugly Betty’) is surprisingly good, blending infectious charm with a natural effect that accentuates the documentary feel of the picture. He is still overshadowed by Ashley Bell, whose performance is significantly more haunting than it is terrifying. Bell’s pleasant demeanor is entirely disarming, her gentle smile proving to be one of the film’s most endearing images.

The picture can pride itself on elevating the thematic potential of the horror mockumentary, though it falters where the likes of ‘The Blair Witch Project’ and ‘Paranormal Activity’ made their fortunes. The ending is creepy, but very contrived, and threatens to dilute the film’s power. Any slow-burning horror film essentially requires a satisfactorily chilling ending, and where one might expect ‘The Last Exorcism’ to shock, it is shockingly unoriginal.

The sting of the picture persists, though, and exists as a better companion piece to the more intelligent horror films of the late 60s and early 70s than the cheap creepers with which it is most often aligned. ‘The Last Exorcism’ might not be in the same league as those classics, but it is certainly a superior exercise in horror.

smlittma@syr.edu

 

 

Published on September 1, 2010 at 12:00 pm