The Last Exorcism

Daniel Stamm's The Last Exorcism is a curious movie. It tells a story of a minister, Marcus Cotton (played perfectly by Patrick Fabian, who you've seen in almost every TV show ever. Seriously, he's one of those "I know that guy..." actors.), who goes around the US performing fake exorcisms for people who claim to be possessed. For his last exorcism, he's bringing a camera crew with him so he can reveal what a sham exorcism really is.

Ok, from the start, I have to say, don't go expecting a balls-out blood-curdling horror movie. For the first half of the movie we get to know Cotton and the newest possessed girl, Nell (Ashley Bell) and her family. Granted, there's a constant feel of uneasiness on the background as you know things will escalate to something bad, it is a horror movie after all.

When it comes to characters, The Last Exorcism is likely the best horror movie of 2010. Patrick Fabian's Cotton is a charming man who is able to talk to himself into any situation and sells his fake exorcisms very well. Ashley Bell does a brilliant job making the viewer feel sympathy for her and later in the movie scaring the hell out of you.

Moving on to spoiler territory now:

There are a few things that ruin some of the movie for me. The use of music for one. If this supposed to be a found footage film(like Blair Witch Project) how did the music end up on the soundtrack? And who exactly edited all the footage once the film crew is dead? I know the director said "It was the Devil", but that's just a cheat.

Then we get to the ending. I know a lot of people liked the ending, but it just didn't work for me. It is very well set-up during the course of the movie and it does make sense in the movie as well, but it left a sour taste in my mouth.

Spoilers end here.

All in all, a very unsettling drama for the first hour, before turning things over to the horror, followed by a unsatisfying ending. My score 6/10.