The Last Exorcism

Making a horror movie in a pseudo-documentary style is not really a revolutionary idea anymore, at least since the great success of "Blair Witch Project". But even if with films like "Behind the Mask", "[rec]" or most recently "Paranormal Activity" the appeal of this very special stylistic device seems to be exhausted, the small production "The Last Exorcism" now proves that there can still be effective and surprising things offered in this subgenre.

The film centers on preacher Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian), who has spent the past several years traveling the country performing exorcisms. The Bible-believing customers, whom Cotton relieves not only of the alleged evil spirit but also of quite a few dollars, firmly believe in what Cotton presents to them as an exorcism. But it's all a hoax. And his conscience drives the preacher to finally expose himself now. He takes another job as an exorcist and has a camera crew accompany him. He wants to document exactly how he has fooled people for many years. But his last assignment holds a nasty surprise that will lead Cotton to the edge of his faith...

"The Last Exorcism" can actually hardly surprise in the first half of the film, but with some self-mockery and dry sarcasm quite entertain. Then, however, the suspense screw is tightened up considerably until the surprising finale. German director Daniel Stamm largely eschews gross-out effects, opting instead for more subtle, but thus much more effective horror. While there are hardly any scenes that really push the viewer into the seat, the dark atmosphere and especially the disturbing ending have a long lasting effect.

The horror film produced by Eli Roth ("Hostel") comes with a very low budget, but still has some very successful special effects, which seem surprisingly real due to the documentary style. Add to that the good actors and you have a nasty little film that works well both as a horror film with some nods to great genre classics like "The Exorcist", and as a biting satire on religious delusion. Worth Seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp