thefinalcredits
'You know, I used to want to have a TV ministry. I thought that'd be cool. And now, frankly, all I really want is health insurance'This mockumentary low-budget horror film sustains interest for the first two-thirds. This style suited German-born director, Daniel Stamm, who had landed the project after creating a resounding hit around the festival circuit with another faux documentary. The feature's originality within the genre of 'found footage' horror lies in the fact that, for most of the film - and therein lies one flaw in the production's finale - the recording is not accidentally and improbably shot, as the pursued tries to escape, but done so with a clear purpose. This centres on Reverend Marcus Cotton's use of a documentary team to reveal to the wider world the unqualified duplicity of exorcisms, after his own faith has been shaken to the core. A rare venture into celluloid for this journeyman TV regular, Patrick Fabian was a worthy recipient of the Best Actor award at the Sitges Festival. His portrayal of the disillusioned and gregarious pastor, at odds with his upbringing as the miracle faith-healing son of an evangelist preacher, is captivating. Fabian has the charm and charisma to evince the showmanship of his character in carrying his flock where he wants to take them - accordingly the 'banana bread' scene resulted from the director's own evaluation of the actor's ability to weave in any text to his sermonising, after witnessing Fabian's audition. Having turned his back on God in favour of science when his own son's life was at risk, the news that an autistic boy has been murdered during an exorcism provokes Cotton into exposing the truth. As such his last exorcism, via a random choice of letter amongst those appealing for the pastor's help, brings Cotton and his camera crew to the Sweetzer farmstead in remote rural Louisiana. The cleverness of this part of the screenplay is in juxtaposing the entertaining disclosure of the tricks of the trade of this 'Elmer Gantry' with a conscience, with the sudden unnerving realisation for Cotton and his crew that something sinister is afoot in the Sweetzer household. The writers and director firstly benefited from the fact that a member of the crew was a practising exorcist, and then, the surprise discovery that their lead actress was double-jointed. The latter, Ashley Bell, aside from her skills as a contortionist, delivers a debut performance worthy of greater recognition. As the naive Nell, the teenage girl Cotton endeavours to free of her demonic possession, Bell arouses both fear for her character's vulnerability in such a fractured household, and of her potential psychotic or demonic savagery. The film also marks the career breakthrough for Caleb Landry Jones as Nell's unhinged protective brother. Further steadfast support is given by former 'Murder She Wrote' regular, Louis Herthum as the bereaved father whose religious fervour Cotton starts to suspect hides possible domestic abuse. The original title for this feature was accordingly 'Cotton', and it is a shame that the movie loses its way, rather than maintain focus on this individual's inner struggle to reignite his faith, when confronted by events and scenes which defy any rational explanation. The audience shares the tension of whether they are witnessing an actual possession or the shattered mind of a disturbed teenager, especially as the CGI is intelligently kept to a minimum. Moreover, in interview Eli Roth, aficionado of horror and this feature's producer, stated that the aim was to fashion a psychological thriller built up on believable character development. So less understandable then why the film's finale employs so many clichés of the genre in its escalation towards a lacklustre and farcical 'back woods' pastiche of 'Rosemary's Baby'
Python Hyena
The Last Exorcism (2010): Daniel Stamm / Cast: Patrick Fabian, Ashley Bell, Iris Bahr, Louis Herthum, Caleb Landry Jones: Independent horror film in the tradition of The Blair Witch Project. This one regards a form of spirituality that was heavily present in the Bible but since then science and doctrine has connected other reasons for such behaviour. Patrick Fabian plays Cotton, a preacher after his father whose sermons are enthusiastic showcase. Accompanied by his producer and cameraman he ventures to a remote farm to answer a call regarding a teenage girl and several unexplained slaughtered animals. Convinced that his faith is for show, Cotton displays props for an exorcism that convinces everyone accept for an aggressive teenage male named Caleb whose hatred for preachers stemmed from his mother's death. Director Daniel Stamm is backed with a convincing low budget production that adds to the film's eerie affect. Fabian is hilarious in his bemusement with his subject's beliefs in supernatural elements but he soon is unable to explain what is not a prop from his kit. Iris Bahr is the voice of reason as his producer. Ashley Bell plays the victim who starts out bright eyed and happy but eventually becomes a menacing possessed creature twisted out of proportion. Louis Herthum plays her father under speculation due to past tragedies and his willingness to use a shotgun if needed. Caleb Landry Jones plays a good sadistic young brat with a devious grin. The ending is wayward and foolish but until that point it is an intriguing view of a spirituality that was thought long past. Score: 8 / 10
GL84
With a film crew following his last days in the church, a skeptical preacher is called out to perform an exorcism on a remote farm and finds a far greater evil than he ever imagined and must summon all his faith and courage to combat the evil.This was an enjoyable if still somewhat problematic entry. One of it's biggest attributes is the fact that the shaking-camera footage is kept to a minimum throughout here despite the fact that this one is based around the found-footage concept which here is allowed to really showcase the action on-screen. Granted, it might not be a lot but there's still the point of this one keeping us really centered on the action and how enjoyable it is to be able to see what's going on without the blurring images and out-of-focus shots that typically render a lot of these types of films moot. Here, we get to see these all pretty much cleanly which enables the few action scenes to come off rather nicely in the second half where the race to get her out of the house before the father shows up and the finale's Satanic ceremony which is quite a bit of fun throughout the devilish incarnations and action throughout. That is certainly helped along by the different exorcism attempts earlier on where the inhuman actions and responses given to her condition really cement the idea of something out-of-the-ordinary going on and his obliviousness to it all in the face of his documentary attempt makes for some chilling times by exploiting the concept rather nicely. Still, these here don't really allow this one to truly overcome it's few flaws, mainly in the criminal lack of activity that this one undergoes in the middle portions of the film. It really has such little action that it throws in several outside characters merely to try to have some semblance of characters because it doesn't have much of a plot to string that kind of action off of, and leaving these scenes to consist of either endless wandering around the house doing nothing or spouting off inane backstories to keep up with the hoax of what he's accomplishing and neither of these are all that effective at making this one enjoyable. Likewise, the other big flaw here is the criminally underwhelming exorcism scenes that take place here, most notably the second one which is supposedly the true exorcism. The first one is for show and generally supposed to be weak, yet the main one here is really weak and not all that exciting, generally taking up space in the film with it's lack of seriousness and overall underwhelming results. These issues here do hold this one back though it is quite enjoyable nonetheless.Rated PG-13: Violence and Language.
