[So, I started this review the weekend The Last Exorcism came out, but I was never motivated to finish... which should tell you how good this movie truly was. However, tonight William Friedkin's 1973 classic The Exorcist is playing on big screens across the nation, so I decided to finally finish this piece and also to take this moment to say: go see The Exorcist tonight! It's an excellent day for an exorcism.]
Director Daniel Stamm and writing team Huck Botko & Andrew Gurland take a different approach to the exorcism genre with The Last Exorcism, employing the increasingly popular mockumentary style ( a la The Blair Witch Project, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, REC, Paranormal Activity, The Poughkeepsie Tapes, et al.) to interesting effect. Ultimately, however, the film is a disappointment, completely abandoning its intelligent examination of science versus faith in favor of mere spectacle. (And yes, I know I just said I’m ok with mere spectacle, and I am, but if you try to switch from drama to spectacle you run the risk of me calling “shenanigans.”) Continue reading
