Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here.
THE LAST EXORCISM it is a story of a preacher who has gotten into the exorcism game to bilk the faithful out of their hard-earned cash. He has taken advantage of the uncertainty of the times and the stress that society is under, and has turned that into a business for his unique brand of knowledge and skills as an orator. There's a moment in the beginning of the film where the Rev. Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) tells the film crew following him that he can insert anything into a sermon, and his followers will eat it up. He proves his point by literally working in the recipe for banana bread into his fire-and-brimstone speech. He's also considered one of the South's greatest performers of exorcisms. But we soon realize that Marcus hasn't invited a camera crew to document what a fine preacher he is; he's brought them in so he can show them that he's a fraud. This is his version of confession, and his plan is to pick a letter at random from the hundreds he gets requesting his exorcism services and walking us through his tricks of the trade on what is meant to be his final performance as an extractor of Satan.
Marcus is disturbed by such developments as the Vatican opening up an exorcism academy (this is true) and the recent death of a young boy believed to have been possessed by those who were trying to remove a demon from his soul. As much as it may seem like writers Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland (who also wrote the upcoming mockumentary THE VIRGINITY HIT) and director Daniel Stamm have put together a work that simply plays on the methods and fears drummed up by William Friedkin's 1973 classic THE EXORCIST or even the quite-good THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE from five years ago, this is more the story of Marcus' loss of faith than anything else. It's also not 100 percent clear whether the young girl at the center of these activities is possessed or simply insane; but of course the king of lies would make us wonder. If Marcus denies his belief in God, the girl may not be saved; if he re-embraces his faith, then suddenly an exorcism academy doesn't look so ridiculous.
The letter than Rev. Marcus selects is from a Louisiana farmer named Louis Sweetzer (Louis Herthum), whose teen daughter Nell (Ashley Bell) has been apparently killing livestock and wandering the property at night with no memory of doing so. The Sweetzers (including son Caleb, played as a defiant non-believer by Caleb Landry Jones) seem like the perfect targets. The kids are home schooled because dad thinks the outside world has too many corrupting influences; he's even taking them out of Sunday school because it was too permissive. It doesn't take long for Marcus to convince Louis that his daughter has a demon in her that will only leave her upon her death...or with a little faith-based assistance from the good reverend.
At this point, Ashley Bell's remarkable performance steels the show for a spell. With no help from special effects or makeup of any kind, Bell contorts, creates voices, and just generally looks demonic. And although I'd seen her fleetingly on Showtime's "United States of Tara," I didn't recognize her. And hers is a slow-burn performance that builds up to her lunging for the camera and shredding her vocal chords from screaming. But then to watch her snap back to sweet, innocent Nell is just as much a shocker as her "possessed" self.
Without giving away too much about the back half of THE LAST EXORCISM, things begin taking turns and further evidence comes forward that suggests strongly that Nell's behavior is the result of deep inner turmoil and anxiety over factors in her life that she's either repressed or simply refuses to speak about. And then there' are those final few minutes of the film that have been so divisive. I know one foolish critic (and there are probably more) who simply dismissed the final sequence as "falling apart." If you think the ending of this movie falls apart, you truly have missed the point. I'm not saying you have to like the ending or agree that it was the best place for this story to go, but nothing about it falls apart. The filmmakers have simply decided to throw us the ultimate curve ball and completely switch the tone and style of the movie, and the resulting scenes are among the film's most terrifying.
THE LAST EXORCISM is a smart film that sneaks up and scares the hell out of you. It does a tremendous job of misdirection, while still very much telling the story it promises to deliver. I'm not sure what else you could ask for out of a horror film. And if I read one more person bent out of shape about it being PG-13, I'll kill. If ever there was a horror film that understandably needed this rating, it's this one. These are religious people, so it would stand to reason that bad language, nudity, and sex wouldn't be a part of their story. That in no way takes away from the fear factor, which is quite prevalent. Trust me, this movie will scare your brain.
-- Capone
capone@aintitcool.com
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