THE LAST EXORCISM (2010) Movie Review

THE LAST EXORCISM (2010)

Review by Gunter Jameson

Whatever THE LAST EXORCISM is, it is not predictable. Director Daniel Stamm and writers Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland came up with a great twist on a mostly dead horror sub-genre, exorcism movies, and made the tired material somewhat new again.

In THE LAST EXORCISM, which is due on DVD January 4th, a former child preacher turned agnostic, Reverend Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian), receives a letter requesting his help with the exorcism of a teenage girl named Nell (Ashley Bell). Since Marcus no longer believes in the reality of demonic possession, he sets out to show that exorcisms are nothing but hoaxes by performing a fake exorcism as a film crew follows him, documenting his tricks and slight of hand. However, once he’s pulled off his fake exorcism, Nell begins to act in erratic and unexplainable ways, leading Marcus and the film crew to believe that she is in fact possessed by a demon.

The film is shot in the shaky-cam, documentary style of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and CLOVERFIELD, which adds to the overall sense of claustrophobia and terror. And as the Reverend and the film crew dig deeper into each unexplained event, more and more questions arise. Each time the reverend feels that his job is done and that the possession was simply some sort of mental illness, his theories are obliterated, leaving more questions than answers.

Although the exorcism genre has had doubting evangelists before, Marcus’s doubt is not melodramatic or overplayed, thanks to the superb acting by Patrick Fabian. And Ashley Bell is able to bring real creepiness to her character by deftly maneuvering between a sweet and innocent teenage girl and the demonically possessed in a way that draws the audience in and leaves them questioning, as well as Marcus, the true impetus behind her increasingly horrifying acts.

However, although both Fabian and Bell do a fine job and the initial setup is original, the balance of the film falls flat, especially the hugely disappointing ending which is par for the course for this type of fake documentary-style film. Although, at some points, the documentary style adds to the feeling of anxiety in the audience, at other times it is simply confusing, leaving the audience to sort out exactly what is happening rather than cringing in terror. The end result is a movie that is innovative in its approach to the genre and has great potential to transcend the usual teen horror fare at the box office, but ultimately doesn’t deliver on its promise due to its necessarily limited documentary-style point of view. All-in-all it’s not a horrible film, but it is disappointing, knowing that it could have been so much better.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 (2010) Movie Review

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 (2010)

Review by Joe Johnson

For me, the original PARANORMAL ACTIVITY was one of the best horror films of all time. Fright fanatics may refute this, but I’m happy stand my ground and argue that the first offering stood amongst horror greats such as THE SHINING and ALIEN. Although many likened it to THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT owing to it’s handheld camera shooting style, I found it to be an entirely more visceral involving experience, simply because the framing was not influenced by seemingly artificial human intervention, rather we were seeing the events unfold raw and unedited.

When the sequel was announced I felt a mix of excitement and in trepidation, the latter because part of what made the first film such a unique experience was the method of storytelling. Having become accustomed to this style, and assuming the second offering stayed true to its roots I convinced myself that it would lack the same edge that its predecessor orchestrated so expertly.





While PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 does indeed retain the format of its big brother, the content is just as, if not more, mortifying second time round. The film charts the events that lead to Katie’s demonic possession in the original, beginning two months before in her parent’s home. Rather than just two main characters, this time Katie’s whole family is subject to the supernatural goings on, the addition of a dog and baby to the fold certainly offer ample opportunities for the demon to wreck havoc.

And wreck havoc it did, most notably on my constitution! As before, the film is a harrowing experience with expertly timed segments of high tension. The genuinely heart stopping moments are few and far between but when they come, they will rock you to the core, those of a nervous disposition need not apply, unless you have a sadistic tendency to test your thrill-threshold to the max, something which I’m guilty of!

The few criticisms I heard of the picture were that it was slow to start. This may test the patience of those with borderline ADD, but fans of the first will know that good things come to those who wait. It’s difficult to talk about the film without giving too much away but I can say with hand on heart that this is no shoddy, badly made sequel. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 builds on the success of the first film, toying with audience’s composure until it is frayed beyond all recognition. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 is recommended to any horror fan and is a worthy successor to one of the most nail-biting, edge-of-the seat examples of the genre.

Exclusive Interview with REC 2 Co-Writer/Director Paco Plaza

Movies at Midnight was recently given an opportunity to interview Paco Plaza, co-director and writer on REC and REC 2. This is that interview.

Movies at Midnight: REC 2 picks up right after the events in the original REC. Did you have this sequel in mind when you first began working on REC?

Paco Plaza: It was only after the release and success of the first one that we began to think that it was worth developing the cosmology we had created. When we thought about it, we came back to the original to rescue some ideas already planted there, like the demonic possession, that left a lot to explore.

How difficult was it to recreate the exterior shots and the interior of the building to match up to everything that had transpired in REC? Did any of the original cast return to play possessed versions of their characters?

We shot almost everything in the same location, except the penthouse, that we had to rebuild on set because we needed it for FX and so. And yes, all the actors of the original had their zombie cameo, and they had a lot of fun doing it; it was a bizarre reunion of old friends.

The film jumps right into the action, with little character development given to the main protagonists aside from the priest, which is a sharp shift from the development given Angela Vidal’s character and the tenants in the first film. Was this a conscious choice, or a victim of the cutting room floor?

We wanted the film to have the spirit of the Ramones; really fast, strong, a punch… we didn’t want people talking for too long, but something needed to be explained, so we tried to work out the most dynamic way of doing it. That was the biggest challenge. Our model on this was James Cameron’s ALIENS and its turn into action.

REC 2 introduces two groups of people, each with their own camera recording the events unfold. Pablo Rosso returns from the original REC as cinematographer, with Rosso playing a camera-wielding member of the police force entering the building. You also introduce a group of teenagers with a camera. Did Rosso record these scenes as well, or did the teens act as the camera operators for their scenes?

Some of them were shot by the teens; what we did always was ask them to do it in the rehearsals so Pablo could afterward reproduce the way [the teens were] carrying the camera, which was very peculiar and very different from what a pro would do.

THE EXORCIST is arguably one of the greatest American horror films, which of course deals with demonic possession. Did this influence your decision at all to make demonic possession the official root of the outbreak of evil in the film? Did your own religious beliefs affect the direction of the plot?

We both are big fans of THE EXORCIST, I agree it’s one of the best films ever made; we loved the idea of showing our creatures were not zombies, and in the end of REC we had [planted] the idea of a demonic possession happening in Portugal. I’m a practicing Catholic, but Jaume Balaguero is not, and I think the approach to the subject of possession for us was more aesthetic than religious.

REC 2 takes a bold step by exploring the idea of things that truly go bump in the dark. What scares you when the lights go out?

I’m afraid of losing my teeth during my sleep; that I wake up in the morning and have bitten them in dreams and my mouth is full of bone dust from them.

Your REC series has put a spotlight on Spain’s horror film industry. Do you see Spain continuing this trend and possibly becoming the next go-to source for horror cinema, much like Southeast Asia was in the late 1990s through the early 2000s?

That would be great! We have a lot of friends (Juan Antonio Bayona [THE ORPHANAGE], Gonzalo López-Gallego …) shooting great genre films, and I hope this continues for a long time.

Finally, REC 2 leaves the doorway open for another sequel, and according to the IMDB there are not one, but two sequels being worked on: REC Genesis, currently slated for 2011 and REC Apocalypse slated for 2012. Can you give us any hints as to what we might expect?

It’s true. We’re working in 2 more REC films. The first will begin production next November. I will direct Genesis and Jaume will handle Apocalypse; the first is a prequel and the second a sequel, and with them we’ll close the circle.

REC 2 opens with a limited theatrical run in the United States July 9th, and is currently available on Video on Demand.