The autumn/fall release schedule is perhaps my favorite of the year. Summer and Christmas bring the blockbusters, and that's the most exciting time, but the most rewarding season starts in the last couple of weeks of August all the way through to the end of November. The distributors have picked up their interesting, quirky films at the Film Festivals and, being afraid to have them competing with mega budget special effect movies, release them at a time where the competition is less intense. Same for the major studios too, who may have high quality material on their hands, but have been wrought with indecision up until late summer as to the release dates for these projects.
One such gem is The Last Exorcism, a low budget supernatural drama championed by executive producer Eli Roth. It's basically the premise of The Frighteners; bloke cons people into thinking he can perform exorcisms for cash, until he comes across a particularly troubled client that may actually have a demon inside her. But it's vastly different from Peter Jackson's special effects heavy comedy in virtually every other way.
The direction is suburb, using a mockumentary style, like Blair Witch or District 9, to add an air of authenticity and immediacy to the drama as it unfolds. The script is even better. It slowly builds a profile of our con man; a preacher's son who inherited the family faith and exorcism business who is has undergone a crisis of faith. However, despite his moral 'difficulties' in continuing his priestly ways, he persists...partly for financial gain, partly to give his clients a placebo and partly to expose the practice of exorcism at large of being false. Then he meets innocent 14 year old Nell Sweetzer and her kind, ultra-protective, mega-Christian father who's isolated his family from the non-religious practices of the outside world.
It works for several reasons:-
1/ It's an intelligent examination of how religion can be used to exact control over individuals or communities, with the father's treatment of his daughter being a focus for this.
2/ Character is brought to the fore (unusual in far too many horror films) with the story focusing on Preacher Cotton Marcus and his wrestling with his own beliefs and faith.
3/ It's damned atmospheric, with set-pieces designed to create tension and suspense (as well as a couple of well staged jump scares).
After a brilliantly paced set up the film switches gear; is Nell deluded into thinking she's possessed, perhaps by some trauma brought about by her family, or does she really have a demon inside her? This ambiguity is maintained right up until it's twist, controversial finale where, depending on your view point, an answer of sorts is provided....kind of...
A great addition to the exorcism sub-genre, Eli Roth has managed to produce a movie that's actually far better than any of his own directing efforts.
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