Ever since “The Exorcist,” the genre as a whole has really been nothing but a series of diminishing returns and lesser imitations. In his now classic film, William Friedkin perfected in his first time out all the touchstones that continue to mark the genre, including the test of faith it presents to men of the cloth and the eye-opening symptoms of demon possession — vomiting, cursing, head spinning, body contortions, over the top sexuality — that really haven’t been topped since Linda Blair’s head-spinning performance. Undoubtedly, the filmmakers of “The Last Exorcism” had quite the task ahead of them if they hoped to make even a noticeable dent in the genre that is littered with also-cames and has-beens. Full credit due then to screenwriters Huck Buckland and Andrew Gurland for finding a different spin on the exorcism film.
Filmed as a documentary, the story follows Reverend Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian), a young preacher in Baton Rouge who is unapologetically without faith. He was trained by his father at the age of 10 to become a child preacher who was touched by the hand of God, in an effort to bring in more people to their parish. The gambit worked, and ever since, Marcus has been giving theatrical sermons of which he doesn’t believe a single word. That said, Marcus doesn’t believe he’s being deceptive as he feels his words do offer healing and consolation to those who come to church each week needing to hear them. So in his own weird way, he’s doing God’s work.
When it comes to exorcism Marcus reveals that, down South, a history of culture and superstition has made it prime breeding ground for the practice. He admits that exorcism is very healthy business, and he has done them since he was ordained, however, following the death of a local child at the hands of another preacher, he has stopped doing them. Marcus has agreed to the documentary so that he can expose the dangerous practice of exorcism and hopefully put a stop to practitioners who put their subjects in danger. In order to document what a preacher generally encounters when hired to perform an exorcism, Marcus agrees to do one last job (hence the title, duh). But as you might guess, his usual bag of tricks come up against something he never expected.
The subject for his final performance is one he chooses at random from the stack of requests he usually gets: a girl named Nell (Ashley Bell), who, according to her father Louis (Louis Herthum), is possessed. It appears Nell has been killing livestock during nightly demonic spells, but when she wakes up, she can’t remember doing it. The only evidence is her blood stained clothes and bedsheets. Moreover, she can no longer wear the cross around her neck as the crucifix burns her skin. Marcus, who has arrived with his documentary team in tow, goes through the motions with the family and agrees to perform an exorcism, but speaking privately to the camera, he has rationalizations for the dead animals (an alligator) and the cross (an allergy to nickel).
Regardless, Marcus goes ahead with his “exorcism.” He gets the standard, freaked out result from Nell, collects his pay and thinks his job is done. Marcus and the crew stop at a motel for the night before continuing on the drive home the next morning. But things take an intriguing turn when Nell suddenly, frighteningly shows up at the motel in the middle of night.
From here the film essentially turns into a mystery: is Nell really possessed or is it simply a psychological manifestation against her strict upbringing? The story continues to twist and turn as it moves headlong into the second and third acts with revelations that play to both sides of the mystery. There are some very clever turns in the story, and the narrative continues to build relentlessly. Director Daniel Stamm gets the most of the fake documentary format, with some on-the-run footage that, while not particularly inventive, is still rather breathlessly handled. It’s just too bad the script from Buckland and Gurland pretty much runs out of steam.
Simply put: the ending sucks. The conclusion rips wholesale from one of the most iconic horror films of all time, while at the same time, offers absolutely no surprises. Since it is revealed halfway through the film exactly what will happen to Marcus and his crew via drawings from Nell, the ending is completely deflated. Not to mention one character, who disappears for a good part of the third act, is given a last reel reveal that’s a total yawn because you expect him to return at any moment.
The screening we attended had cameras filming audience reactions throughout the movie for marketing purposes, which we feel is frankly, a little odd. “The Last Exorcism” is just not that kind of movie. While there are a couple of jump scares, Stamm’s film is more atmosphere than terror, more mystery than horror. Moreover, thanks to the PG-13 rating and fake-documentary format, most potential gross out scenes are delivered off camera. We only see the aftermath.
If “The Last Exorcism” doesn’t deliver the scares it should, and pretty much wastes an interesting take on the genre, it does boast some memorable performance. Longtime character actor Patrick Fabian absolutely shines here in what should be a breakout role. He’s very charming and funny in his role as the soapbox preacher Marcus, and he’s got charisma to spare, which is important, considering he’s on camera for pretty much the entire film. “Exorcism” also gives us our first real look at Caleb Jones, recently cast as Sean Cassidy/Banshee in “X-Men: First Class.” He plays Nell’s protective brother Caleb, who is protective of his sister and distrusts Marcus. He’s very strong in the role of the angst-filled teen, and really makes himself felt in some early scenes where he squares off against Marcus.
As we get closer to the film’s release on August 27th, expect ads for the movie to be misleading (yes, even the pictured poster paints a much grimmer, different movie than what’s actually there). The film was originally entitled “Cotton” and with good reason; the film is mostly about the preacher and secondarily about Nell. Trying to fall between a character study and a horror film, “The Last Exorcism” ultimately finds its frights dulled and its central focus muddled. “The Last Exorcism” certainly won’t be the final entry in the genre, but we do hope it’s the last one of its kind that we see for a while. [C+]
