The Last Exorcism is far from being a great movie. Yet, it's very far from being a flop. I can say this film was good for me and yet it was disappointment. There was just a little something that didn't work out for me. I won't go blaming it on the budget....at 1.8 million $ budget, the filmmakers do what they can, and on the visual side, they actually did a pretty good job. The actors themselves are actually great in their roles, particularly Patrick Fabian and Louis Herthum, while Ashley Bell is also believable in her role. The story revolves on Cotton Marcus, who wants to prove that the ritual of exorcism is fake, decides to do a ritual on a family who believes their daughter is possessed by the devil. But things don't go as planned...
The beginning, I could tell everyone in the theatre was bored, but while others seemed frustrated about the movie, I had a big smile on my face. I was thinking that these fools have watched so many hostel and Saw movies (As much as I love these franchises, I believe whoever thinks of Saw as a horror film is an idiot) that they forgot what real horror was about, about making people grow in an atmosphere of terror little by little in order to show images later on that will scare them. The Last Exorcism started well, and in fact, the first few minutes were actually quite amusing. But it quickly became clear that, after 15 or 20 minutes, that the documentary aspect wasn't going to end soon.
For those who heard about Last Exorcism as being one of the scariest horror films of the year, I guess you shouldn't believe it. This film didn't make me jump once, although it did send chills down my spine once or twice. I think I jumped a lot more during Piranha 3D. The ending was a bit vague, but the more I think about it, the more I like it. I guess my expectations were a bit too high. District 9, the documentary asset, was about half an hour long but this film is almost a 99 minute long documentary. The horror doesn't come out as scary as it could because it feels like they bore you enough after 30 to 40 minutes, that when the film does become scary, you just don't care.
But I am happy with one thing: Having a horror film with a good script is rare nowadays, and this film succeeds in making itself different by offering a somewhat good story. Daniel Stamm deserves credit for trying something a bit more...different, I would say, but the film itself isn't just all that great. With Eli Roth as a producer, I was actually hoping for something better. Maybe when it comes out on DVD I will rent it, and knowing what it is, I will probably watch it from a different perspective, but for now, I don't feel like spending 11 bucks twice on a film I didn't really enjoy. All in all, if you walk in with no expectations, you will probably enjoy, because most people who enjoyed it seemed to have no expectations, but if you expect this film to be the all-time scariest movie, then you will be disappointed. If you're not sure, rent it on DVD when it comes out. It was a nice try...but sadly, on today, September 6th, 2010, this film ranks a 5/10. It's not that bad....but it could have been better.
The beginning, I could tell everyone in the theatre was bored, but while others seemed frustrated about the movie, I had a big smile on my face. I was thinking that these fools have watched so many hostel and Saw movies (As much as I love these franchises, I believe whoever thinks of Saw as a horror film is an idiot) that they forgot what real horror was about, about making people grow in an atmosphere of terror little by little in order to show images later on that will scare them. The Last Exorcism started well, and in fact, the first few minutes were actually quite amusing. But it quickly became clear that, after 15 or 20 minutes, that the documentary aspect wasn't going to end soon.
For those who heard about Last Exorcism as being one of the scariest horror films of the year, I guess you shouldn't believe it. This film didn't make me jump once, although it did send chills down my spine once or twice. I think I jumped a lot more during Piranha 3D. The ending was a bit vague, but the more I think about it, the more I like it. I guess my expectations were a bit too high. District 9, the documentary asset, was about half an hour long but this film is almost a 99 minute long documentary. The horror doesn't come out as scary as it could because it feels like they bore you enough after 30 to 40 minutes, that when the film does become scary, you just don't care.
But I am happy with one thing: Having a horror film with a good script is rare nowadays, and this film succeeds in making itself different by offering a somewhat good story. Daniel Stamm deserves credit for trying something a bit more...different, I would say, but the film itself isn't just all that great. With Eli Roth as a producer, I was actually hoping for something better. Maybe when it comes out on DVD I will rent it, and knowing what it is, I will probably watch it from a different perspective, but for now, I don't feel like spending 11 bucks twice on a film I didn't really enjoy. All in all, if you walk in with no expectations, you will probably enjoy, because most people who enjoyed it seemed to have no expectations, but if you expect this film to be the all-time scariest movie, then you will be disappointed. If you're not sure, rent it on DVD when it comes out. It was a nice try...but sadly, on today, September 6th, 2010, this film ranks a 5/10. It's not that bad....but it could have been better.