Movie Review: ‘THE LAST EXORCISM’

Before reading this review I must warn you that in doing so you are doing yourself a great injustice. Much like last years District 9 or House of the Devil, the viewer’s experience will be greatly enhanced by having read as little as possible about the film they are about to see.  If you want to spoil yourself, read on…

The documentary style/first person film (ala the beginning of District 9, minus the narration) follows Cotton Marcus(actor Patrick Fabian) a Louisiana preacher who has made a name for himself performing exorcisms and as we learn, comes from a long line of “exorcists.” The film introduces the viewer to Cotton’s family, including his wife and young son. The latter has a hearing aid and nearly died at birth. From this incident we learn how Cotton lost his faith in Christ and put his faith in medicine.

After reading an article where a young boy was killed during an exorcism, Cotton has chosen to perform final his final one. This “documentary” is to be Cotton’s proof of the fallacy of exorcisms. A chance letter received from a Farmer leads them to the Sweetzer family. This Sweetzer’s are comprised of a son named Caleb, a daughter named Nell, and Father Louis and summon Cotton to their family farm after the daughter has supposedly become possessed by a demon. After visiting with the Family, a skeptical Cotton performs an “exorcism” and leaves(after being well paid), only to have Nell show up in Cotton’s hotel room clearly disturbed. This is where the film turns and begins to take the viewer on a terrifying ride through one families suffering at the hands of Nell and the conflicting opinions within the camera crew as how to handle the situation.

The ending is so unexpected and shocking that it will leave you not only wanting more but asking many questions. Perhaps the best part about The Last Exorcism is that it puts the audience in the perspective of Cotton and a great portion of the film the viewer is never sure if Nell is possessed by a spirit or is merely suffering from a mental illness. Where the first person narrative in Cloverfield left me feeling detached from the characters in the film, here, the narrative serves as a tool to make me feel for the characters and by doing so I had a vested interest in what happened to them. The gore effects were partly done by renowned effects artist Greg Nicoretto and were believable and never took you out of the story. The director, Daniel Stamm, wisely chose to do a minimalist approach for the film by using no special effects/no makeup for the exorcism scenes and it works because it could have easily gone into the pea soup/laughable territory.

I can say without a doubt that this film will divide audiences. The conclusion is rather abrupt and takes the film in a direction that no one will see coming and will leave some people being frustrated. Some will either love it or hate it but I can guarantee all will be thinking about it for weeks to come and that is part of what makes this later Summer movie a must see.