The Last Exorcism

Reverend Cotton Marcus agrees to let a documentary crew follow him as he attempts to show that exorcisms are a fraudulent waste of time. But once they arrive at the Sweetzer home where the Reverend is to perform his final exorcism, they confront an omnious situation that none of them is expecting.

The film was able to deliver a few effective jumps, scares and suspensful moments thanks in large part to the performance of Ashley Bell, who played Nell Sweetzer (the girl that was supposedly possessed). But with the exception of those few moments, The Last Exorcism clunked along, trotting the same well-worn path as other "exorcism" themed horror films of recent memory. The character/story of Cotton Marcus had the chance to make the movie something unique in the genre for his character was a priest who had lost his faith in God and thought exorcisms were a joke. But rather than focusing on that and his possible redemption or rediscovery of faith director Daniel Stamm chose to go the same old route and, instead of a welcomed character-driven horror film, The Last Exorcism became a nasty, exploitative junker with an ending that felt like it was borrowed from another film all together.

If you can stomach another brainless exorcism film that fails to do anything but recycle the same plots, characters, and other elements that have been utilized by previous exorcism movies then The Last Exorcism is right up your alley.

Grade: D