Hair-raising and shiver-inducing

The Last Exorcism (2010)
Certified: 16
Duration: 87 minutes
Directed by: Daniel Stamm
Starring: Patrick Fabian, Iris Bahr, Louis Herthum, Caleb Jones, Ashley Bell
KRS release

Lately the horror genre has been inundated with more and more sound, blood, gore and pomp and with little real oomph in the scare factor. The Last Exorcism turns the tables on its peers and manages to bring in terrifying and hair-raising moments, coupled with an interesting approach and some intense acting performances. Made out of a budget of about $2 million, the film has grossed nearly $66 million already.

Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) is an evangelical minister whose faith has waned and who agrees to take part in a documentary, the aim of which is to expose exorcism as a fraud. Accompanied by cameraman Daniel (who is our viewpoint) and producer/director Iris (Iris Bahr), he sets on quite a revelatory journey.

Choosing a random call, he goes to Ivanwood, Los Angeles where Louis Sweetzer (Louis Herthum) claims that the animals on his farm are being slaughtered by a demon. On arrival they are given an unwelcome greeting by Louis’s son Caleb (Caleb Jones). They also meet Nell (Ashley Bell), Louis’s daughter who seems to be possessed. Considering that she is a young teenager who is being taught at home, has a religious fanatic for a father and that her mother died from cancer only two years before, Marcus does not believe her to be possessed. But he induces her to believe that she is possessed so that through an exorcism she will come out of the state she is in.

After the ritual, the film crew leave, but Nell mysteriously shows up later in Marcus’s hotel room. Matters take a very strange turn as Marcus is suddenly forced to confront his beliefs and also his nightmares.

The film kicks off with a slow, almost clumsy start. However, when things start rolling, the audience is placed into quite an uncomfortable and scary zone. All those out for a good scare will find just what they were looking for. The Last Exorcism may have benefited from a viral marketing campaign associated with controversial website Chatroulette but it goes beyond that in actually living up to what it promises.

The hand-held camera is not that shaky as in other films. An element of editing is present to make the story flow and yet keep the idea of the audience being in a sort of true life story. At its centre, the film has Ashley Bell who seems to be really scared of everything that is happening around and inside of her and we sympathise with her.

The film may not be reinventing the wheel and the film-makers are sometimes a bit too overconfident in the way they play their hand, however they are really emphasising what the horror genre should be all about. Everything can induce a scare in this film... And it has been quite a while since a simple silhouette could give one the shivers.