NEW Fabian/bell/herthum - Last Exorcism (Blu-ray)

The main thing that makes this film come together so superbly is the well-developed characters that seem genuinely real and sympathetic. The director really makes you care about them, and therefore everything that happens to them in the film is more affecting. This is particularly true for charismatic Reverend Cotton Marcus whose loss of faith has driven him to expose his own fraudulence in the hopes of stopping anymore exorcism related tragedies. Patrick Fabian has plenty of charm and does well with the complexities of his character. And playing an innocent, wide-eyed girl wrought by terrifying (possibly) supernatural forces, Ashley Bell is also a pleasure to watch. This is a slow-burning, suspenseful story that actually features few of the scares that were featured so predominately in its advertising campaign, which I think led to a general sense of disappointment in audience members who were expecting heavy doses of body contorting, screaming, and other antics but got more of a psychological story instead. It is more interested in creeping under your skin and sending a chill up your spine than shocking you with graphic possession scenes. The ending has been widely criticized, but I really don't think it is so difficult to be left thinking, to be left with a sense of mystery. But if the concept of ambiguity, or the thought of interpretation makes you shudder, steer clear of this one.

The main thing that makes this film come together so superbly is the well-developed characters that seem genuinely real and sympathetic. The director really makes you care about them, and therefore everything that happens to them in the film is more affecting. This is particularly true for charismatic Reverend Cotton Marcus whose loss of faith has driven him to expose his own fraudulence in the hopes of stopping anymore exorcism related tragedies. Patrick Fabian has plenty of charm and does well with the complexities of his character. And playing an innocent, wide-eyed girl wrought by terrifying (possibly) supernatural forces, Ashley Bell is also a pleasure to watch. This is a slow-burning, suspenseful story that actually features few of the scares that were featured so predominately in its advertising campaign, which I think led to a general sense of disappointment in audience members who were expecting heavy doses of body contorting, screaming, and other antics but got more of a psychological story instead. It is more interested in creeping under your skin and sending a chill up your spine than shocking you with graphic possession scenes. The ending has been widely criticized, but I really don't think it is so difficult to be left thinking, to be left with a sense of mystery. But if the concept of ambiguity, or the thought of interpretation makes you shudder, steer clear of this one.

The Last Exorcism is one of the latest faux-documentary movies, a la Blair Witch Project style and more recently Paranormal Activity. Those false documentaries of horrible events sometimes make for great viewing entertainment, plus it gives a creepy realistic feeling. The movie starts off slowly but steadily and we get to know the characters and the important aspects that set the tone for The Last Exorcism. Reverend Cotton Marcus receives a letter from Louis Sweetzer urges the reverend to come to his farm and perform an exorcism on his daughter whom he believes is possessed by the devil. The reverend doesn't believe in exorcism as far as we know, and even though he performed some himself he says that often those who claim to be possessed really aren't, it's all in their heads. Cotton has some issues with his beliefs which make it all more interesting. As you can expect Cotton and his crew are in for a surprise when they arrive the Sweetzer's farm. The reverend meets Louis `daughter Nell, at first she's a very normal and charming girl and doesn't show aspects that would make you believe she's possessed.

Patrick Fabian does a good acting job as the reverend and for the most part the acting in the movie was good, no problems there. The movie itself is nothing that's really new but the topic is interesting enough to warrant making a new movie on it. There isn't anything that's really terrifying about The Last Exorcism; I wasn't scared like I expected to be so if you're expecting to be scared you probably shouldn't. The big problem with film however, is the ending. Whatever decency the movie actually had was thrown out the window in the last few minutes of the movie. I read comments prior to watching The Last Exorcism that criticized the ending; I must now agree with them say they're right. Anyone who says else is lying. The ending totally ruins TLE, almost to the point where it's simply not worth watching anymore. I wanted to see the movie despite what I read of it and I don't regret watching it because after all, it's what I wanted but its near impossible to explain how the final minutes ruined the movie without giving important stuff away. I don't understand why they ended the film like this, what were they thinking? Besides the ending the movie was ok, it wasn't amazing neither was it awful, at least it was interesting. I wanted to like The Last Exorcism a lot more but it's a mediocre exorcism film. I'm not sure I would believe the "Last Exorcism" thing, last or final is a relative word in the world of entertainment and many countless horror series has used such titles only to later return. I'm sure there will be more movies on Exorcism in the future but for now the original 1976 movie remains the best of its kind. 2/5 stars for this one.