The Last Exorcism

Year: 2010
Genre: Horror
Director: Daniel Stamm

Plot: A former preacher turned exorcist turned possession debunker takes a film crew with him to perform a fake exorcism on a girl who thinks she is possessed, but they get more than they bargained for.


The gist: This is yet another horror flick that utilises the found footage method, and for the most part it does decent enough.

Director Daniel Stamm introduces our exorcist Reverend Cotton Marcus in a documentary like manner, featuring his background in the church, his family and his work etc. and this presentation works quite convincingly. Marcus then tells us about this girl named Nell which he's going to visit and perform an exorcism on, and show that with a little sleight of hand, he can convince supposedly possessed people that they are free from demons.

Naturally, things go wrong and it's fun to watch Marcus and the film crew find themselves in trouble, and the camera never quite stops rolling. As with most films of this ilk, we are left wondering why that is. But the thing is, the film pretty much sustains its momentum until the final five minutes, when it makes a left turn and becomes something different, and that really hurt the overall result.


The good: Performances are solid all around. Patrick Fabian and Ashley Bell are great in their roles as Marcus and Nell respectively. The presented footage is also well edited, it never feels boring.

The bad: The last five minutes which kinda ruined the momentum it had built up to then. Also the aforementioned camera that just keep rolling no matter what.


Verdict: If not for that ending, The Last Exorcism would have been a great and scary horror film. Right now it's just an average scary horror film. (3/5)