The Last “Meh”-Xorcism
Oofa! So let me preface this by saying that I’m a pretty big Eli Roth fan. I think he’s one of the sharpest minds making Horror today. And while he hasn’t really directed anything since the merely “OK” Hostel 2, the man knows what it takes to make not only great but campy horror… so I went into The Last Exorcism, which he produced (his first as a producer), hoping it would be an extension of the witty, blood-soaked and tongue-in-cheek style he not only helped resurrect, but take to the next level.
Roth has been tweeting endlessly about the film and crowd reactions to its numerous festival screenings, reputed gorehound sites were singing its praises, and it had a clever viral campaign a week or so prior to its national debut. So you know, I had a pretty good feeling that this film would deliver a few solid thrills, some chuckles, and gore, gore and more gore. Oofa! Was I ever wrong.
I’ll give the film its due in how it cleverly revamped the tired exorcism model into something that could have been a great premise. Cotton Marcus has been groomed to be a reverend since he was a child, eventually taking over for his father preaching sermons and performing exorcisms. Problem is that Cotton is a great showman, and all of this is just a fun little act. For him, being a reverend is not about faith, but simply telling people what they want to hear to get past their problems. When Cotton reads about an autistic child who dies at the hands of another reverend during an exorcism, he has a crisis of conscious and decides that it’s time to expose exorcisms for the ruse that they really are. He teams up with a film crew who sets out to document every aspect of the preparation and staging of what will hopefully be the last exorcism ever.
Cotton and the crew head down to Louisiana to the Sweetzer farm after receiving a letter from Louis Sweetzer to come help his daughter, Nell, who is supposedly possessed and slaughtering livestock in her sleep. Cotton obviously doesn’t believe in demons and for him, the whole production of an “exorcism” is a sort of shock therapy for people move past some psychological baggage that they’re carrying. So Cotton does his whole exorcism shtick and proclaims young Nell cured. But funny thing is that later that night, Nell shows up in Cotton’s hotel room acting creepy as all fuck. From then on, the film shifts to Cotton trying to figure out what the underlying cause of her “demonic” behavior is, as the audience is left guessing if Nell is actually crazy or possessed all the way until the end.
Before I tear into the film, I would like to single out both Patrick Fabian (Cotton) and Ashley Bell (Nell) for their acting… actually the acting in The Last Exorcism is, overall, pretty damn good. It’s the directing and the plot that leave a lot to be desired. The whole film is shot from the perspective of the film crew’s cameraman, except none of it whatsoever looks like it was shot from one camera by a guy documenting something. It’s over-directed and so strategically shot and paced that you can’t help but wonder why the film couldn’t just have been about a film crew documenting the exorcism rather than the supposed “real” film. This fault is very hard to get past, like speaking with someone with a bad toupee. Try as you might to get past it, you just keep wondering “how do they not know how bad this looks?” instead of actually concentrating on the conversation… or movie in this case.
The guessing game of what’s at the root of Nell’s “possession” is also pretty tedious and predictable — a melodramatic see-saw back and forth centered around family trauma that just makes you want to scream, “Ok, we get it! Show us more blood and creepy contortion shit!”, most of which had already been used for the trailers. After dragging on and on, at the very end you’re gifted with a bungled yet clever twist (right before sputtering into either a poor homage or comically bad rip of The Blair Witch Project) that just leaves you contemplating “why couldn’t this more just have been more of this?”. Those 5 minutes at the end are some of the films most interesting and it’s only suspenseful moment. It’s a shame they weren’t fleshed out more.
Maybe I expected too much from something Eli Roth would put his name and money behind, and that’s probably my fault because horror is horror and even the greats produce their fair share of crap. The Last Exorcism is about on par with the Horror movies that get dumped at 1am on Showtime 2, and that’s probably when and where you should catch it… preferably from the middlepoint on, after stumbling home half-soused.
- My Pal the Crook
August 31st, 2010 at 11:29 am
When questioned about the artful shot structure, the director Daniel Stamm addressed the issue of such an over-produced “real” film. He is chalking it up to the viewer believing in the fact that this team of camera man/ boom woman is just that good. We are assuming that these are better quality than “Blair Witch”, “Cloverfield,” “REC” et al. because they are professionals.
You fail to mention the inclusion of an extremely inappropriate soundtrack. In the concept of the “found film” the visual stands alone as the soul source of tension and mood. Its an extremely difficult undertaking that many people have failed at. And although Nathan Barr’s music is stellar and possibly the creepiest part of the movie, its inclusion demonstrates that cinematographer Zoltan Holti couldn’t handle the style.
All this said, it was alright. Not ground breaking but not a waste of matinee priced tickets.
August 31st, 2010 at 11:55 am
Hmmm!
Another exorcist film!. how cute!.
August 31st, 2010 at 1:10 pm
At least Linda Blair is wearing Doc’s in this one!
August 31st, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Okay let me just sa this entire review is wrong. We’ve seen so many mvies do the found footage deal so if you find any faults with the concept of it’s believability while you’re watching a movie about demons, I have to say you’re grabbing at straws for reasons why this movie wasn’t an excellent… Maybe we just disagree, but I’m a little tired of all mainstream horror flicks feeling the need to be so self-aware by going the campy route, it’s generally a cop out to have some mainstream appeal I think. As for not having enough gore, to each his own I guess, but if you go in without all these preconceived notions of what you’re going to see and just allow the movie to draw you in- the ending is just way better cause it’s straight outta left field. Really good movie and great acting as you said.
August 31st, 2010 at 1:56 pm
How does the believability of demons existing have anything to do with failing at making film footage look like it was shot single-camera documentary style?
September 1st, 2010 at 10:43 am
how exactly is eli roth ” one of the sharpest minds making Horror today??”"
huh? he’s directed 4 movies, 2 of which were undeniably awful – cabin fever? hostel 2? gimme a break with hostel 2 was “OK” that shit was terrible. it was billed as having “the most shocking ending in history” – thats one way to sell a movie, advertise the last scene of a film, sweet – then cut someones dick off and feed it to a dog. That dude is a tarrentino dicksucker and thats the only reason anyone knows who he is. one the shapest minds making horror today, get real dude.
September 1st, 2010 at 10:49 am
@Stank
WOAH! Cabin Fever ruled dude. Chill.
@everyone else
Its not a pissing contest, if you disagree with Pal (which I do a lot of the time) there’s no reason to rip him a new asshole, its his fucking website. He’s entitled to his opinion.
September 1st, 2010 at 10:54 am
And can we just agree that Eli Roth may not be reinventing the genre but he knows how to market himself and pedal his “brand” to the masses. His work ISN’T prolific or a game changer, but it is a nice little nod to the Grand Guignol and it is damn fun to watch.
To be “smart” or a “sharp mind” doesn’t mean you need to take yourself super seriously, obviously (Hostel II)
September 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
Well he’s released two of the best Horror Movies of the past decade… and two for any director, let alone a Horror director, is well, pretty high.
But more interesting is how you somehow like Hostel, yet think Cabin Fever is “undeniably awful” I can’t even begin wrap my mind around. As much as I loved Hostel, Cabin Fever is the superior film and as close as anyone’s ever gotten to Evil Dead-era Raimi in style, humor and thrills. So basically you threw the worth of any opinion you may have had right out the window. Sorry.
May I recommend you just watch The Grudge then? Seems like it’d be more up your alley when it comes to Horror.
Yeha dude, people like him cause he was in a Tarantino fim, Keep believing that! He inked up with Tarantino AFTER Hostel 2 came out. He’s had a strong following long before he did a fake trailer for Tarantino and played a supporting role in Inglorious Basterds.
P.S. He’s only directed 3 movies.
September 1st, 2010 at 11:35 am
Did i say I enjoyed Hostel? i did not, because I didnt like that movie either – just didnt want to crowd what I was saying and used the worse of the 2 films, pt 2. 2 of the best horror movies of the decade? honestly, stupid amounts of gore doesnt make a film necessarily good – which is all hostel pt 1 was, or any of Roth’s movies. you guys see a severed head, and immediatley begin writing your positive reviews. come on. Its been a long time since ive seen cabin fever, but im my opinion – Evil Dead style movies simply dont work in this day and age, you cant forcibly make a good “b” style movie, and make it good – you just cant. apparently piranha has done so – but i havent seen it yet, and i probably never will.
and no, i havent seen the grudge, nor will i – im also an enemy of the past decades worth of PG-13 style horror films, along with eli roth.
also, roth has been buddy buddy with tarrentino for a long ass time. im pretty sure Hostel pt 1 was “presented by quentin tarrentino” in its TV spots, and if it wasnt part 1 that did that, it was definatley part 2.
IDK how long your list of “best horror movies of the past decade” is, but it must be pretty long to say such a thing. what about martyrs? REC? 28 days later? there’s 3 right there, again idk how long your list is, but is SAW V on it too? how about “Prom Date?”
September 1st, 2010 at 11:59 am
Wow! If the reason you think I or most people enjoy Hostel or Cabin Fever is because of the gore you my friend know jack shit about Horror!
Also this is the silliest thing I’ve ever read in the comments on here in a good long while:
Evil Dead style movies simply dont work in this day and age, you cant forcibly make a good “b” style movie, and make it good – you just cant. apparently piranha has done so – but i havent seen it yet, and i probably never will.
To that I say…
September 1st, 2010 at 12:08 pm
i am a huge fan of horror. apparently we disagree. id like hear a legit list of real reasons as to why hostel was so wonderful, outside of tits and gore derf derf derf. and i just dont think those kinds of style-remake attempts work so well, so go to hell.
September 1st, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Hostel is one of the most humorous and best executed pieces of social commentary in the last decade.
September 1st, 2010 at 12:17 pm
honestly, the hostel series is no god damn better than the SAW series. they are the same shit – whats the most extreme thing we can think of, lets film it. im sure you’ll disagree
September 1st, 2010 at 12:19 pm
this is the point at which even the film professor chimes in and cuts you off with “you’re reading too far into things” if you’re looking to ELI ROTH for social commentary you should check yourself.
September 1st, 2010 at 12:31 pm
No this where i check in and inform you that everything’s gone over your head. Have you ever bothered to read or watch an Interview with Roth? Hostel isn’t some mind blowing revelation to the ills of society, but it is an incredibly well done film with a great attention to detail.
Have you ever seen a Saw movie? Saw’s are generally built around a few well done kill scenes. They generally feature poor acting (unintentionally so) and a clumsy plot with weak direction. They epitomize of a brainless adrenilne rush.
Hostel? The over-the-top kill scenes are merely a cherry on top not the star of the show. SO the fact that you’re still drawing the pedestrian association between these two movies solely on their level of gore further supports my opinion that well.. “shit gone done went over ya head.”
September 1st, 2010 at 1:09 pm
well im sorry to have upset you. but no, i havent seen/heard a Roth interview about the movie – because why would i further look into a film that i didnt enjoy in the first place? and if youre trying to imply that the acting in Hostel was anything more than average you’re really kidding yourself. go watch a real film so we can at least waste our time arguing about something that mattered instead of building shit up that has no merritt. to say that hostel even has the capability to go over anyones head is totally fucking stupid.
September 1st, 2010 at 1:13 pm
also dude, pedestrian association? are you telling me that people DIDNT see Hostel for its gore factor? GIVE ME A BREAK – They are the exact same genre of “torture porn”cinema that gained popularity in the last 10 years.
were you the rabbai at Eli Roth’s bris or something? get off his dick man!
September 1st, 2010 at 1:40 pm
It clearly went over your head and still does. So I rest my case.
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:24 am
I dug the movie. I’d compare it to house of the devil, lots of tension and creepyness with a boom at the end. I think using the camera mans perspective was used so that cotton whole history could be presented in a streamlined way. I’m mean, how exactly was Thea film ever “discovered?” It cut fat and shortened the run time. I get bored with long explanations of characters motives so I was a fan of it.
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:09 pm
@Rabbit troop
I like the idea of comparing it to House Of the Devil, it also has a Rosemary’s Baby vibe. although the ending of both of those films hit a bit harder than this film.
I thought this ending was a bit hokey, because they avoid digital special effects all film and then toss them all in at the end… weak.
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:16 pm
outside of some Satanists this film is nothing like House of the Devil, which was an incredibly well made film.