The Last Exorcism review

When was the last time a horror film really got to you? Maybe elements of last years movies like "Paranormal Activity" and Sam Raimi's "Drag Me to Hell", but those work their magic once and then have to work in other ways to still be consistently entertaining. Which they do. In truth I really don't know. Domestically most horror for the last few years has been more torture porn than anything else and foreign wise you had some stuff that worked well with it's ideas, but didn't stick and others that muddled around so much with it's tone that by the end it was hard to really get any feelings out of it what so ever. "The Last Exorcism" isn't one of those movies to keep you up at night. However it is entertaining. Surprisingly fun and effective it in it's own ways.

"The Last Exorcism" is being promoted the only way a movie like this can be and get and audience. As much as I can't stand the rudimentary film the trailers display with quick cuts and money shots, I do understand why they did it. Let's face it guys... viewers are dumb nowadays. Money shots are ALL they want. Why has "The Expendables" done so well? Because it's all money shots and nothing else. This film really isn't all hell fire, speaking in tongues and shouting about Christ. 90% of the movie is basic suspense, humor and it's characters. Patrick Fabian and Ashley Bell SELL the picture. If nothing else worked, they did. Fabian plays Cotton Marcus, a second generation preacher who takes a gig in Georgia to exorcise a demon from a sixteen year old girl (Bell). That's all I'm saying. There's a lot more to both characters and really that's the meat of the film and what makes it tick. Who these people are is what is intriguing and somewhat different from the norm in these sort of horror films.

The documentary style works well enough too by never looking too much like a movie (although the editing can be questioned) and uses a lot of natural lighting; which is most evident in the scenes inside the house in the day. The film is also cheap. Not complaining, but it feels cheap in the way that we're never looking at elaborate set design and the few pieces of staging are pretty low key and crude. Not surprising considering it was independently funded. "The Last Exorcism" is what I'd call a saturday night horror movie. Which is a term that I had as a kid when I was first getting into all this stuff. Basically my aunt would sit me down and show me various horror movies which were mostly in the B-range while growing up and then down the line I was meant to pick it up and run with it solo. This was when we watched stuff like "Audrey Rose", "Critters", "Tremors", "The Fog" etc. There was also A LOT of "Outer Limits" and "Tales of the Crypt". Where most families told stories around the campfire, we told them around the television or on the porch. On a lot of those nights my family would talk about things from the past, strange happenings from around town that they knew about and things of that nature and I found it all really, really interesting.

Now I guess things are different. The interest is still there, but the stories and the people in which to discuss it with are not. The joy of discovering new horror films is still there as well, but alas some of that joy has fleeted. Age and my surrounds has definitely had an effect on that. Silly as it sounds "The Last Exorcism" reminded me of those times as a kid. Not much of what they ever told me was scary, but damned if it didn't have my attention. It allowed my imagination to go into overdrive thinking about people in the woods, satanists, ghost and all that jazz. I'm not trying to find a loophole into liking the film, as it still stands I dug what happens and had a lot of fun viewing it. As it turns out Eli Roth could be part of the .1% of horror directors that moves to producing and actually releases something entertaining (something Wes Craven and Sam Raimi have never done). I dug the fact that it wasn't a straight horror film, that it was made on the cheap and wasn't afraid to use humor from time to time. And I very much enjoyed the qusi-goofiness of the finale moments of the picture. But why it resonates a little more with me is due to my upbringing. Maybe it's the tone or the setting or something else I can't put my finger on yet, but the movie brings back memories and that's worth a lot in my book.

The House of the Devil review

Ti West's "The House of the Devil" is one of those movies that probably once you know what you're walking into it becomes a stronger overall piece, but less frightening. I'm not saying this to knock the movie either, because it's much more of a simple suspense story rather than a full fledged horror movie. The film is heavily mimicked after similar styled films of the 70's and 80's and begins with a similar 'based on true, unexplained events' tag, when it's about as real as the Coen's "Fargo". It could happen, but we don't know if any of this did and as long as it's interesting we really don't care too much. Jocelin Donahue played Samantha, a college girl that's trying to move out of her dorm and into a house off campus. The real estate agent (cameo by horror legend Dee Wallace, always great seeing her) waves the fees so long as Samantha can come up with the first months rent by Monday. Regardless of her waving the other fees, that's still money she doesn't have.

At school she notices a babysitting ad on the board and gives it a ring. There is no answer. However as she walks away the pay phone she called from rings and it's the man who posted the wanted ad. Surely this must be a bizarre sign. Eh, maybe not, but after meeting the man played by Tom Noonan ('Manhunter'), his wife Mary Woronov and generally being in their very secluded house for a little while and THEN something might click that this place and these people are bug nuts. However the plot REALLY thickens when he informs Samantha that there is no baby and instead they have to look after his wife's elderly mother. He even offers her four hundred dollars for the work. She accepts.

What happens then is really tough to play out, but it's something that relays HEAVILY on the viewers patience and willing to wait for it to get into it's real horror elements. I will say that once it does it doesn't last too long which is unfortunate because it works quite well. Stylistically "The House of the Devil" feels quite old and not in a showy sense, but in a low budget and slightly off cliter technically sense with some real talent behind the camera. West is honestly on his way to getting his name really out there and I'd love to see this guy get a real budget and some other talents for a horror picture. I won't say this is something completely new, but it does offer up a lot of well done suspense that's never in a rush to get to the juicy stuff. That restraint is something very admirable in this day in age where there's always a mad rush to get into the violence or macabre.

Paranormal Activity review

Billions of dollars are spent every year to make horror films that's key job is to scare and I find it so funny that here's one that took fifteen thousand to make and it's far more entertaining, thrilling and scary then 98% of those. I tip my hat to writer, director Oren Peli because "Paranormal Activity" is almost has much fun I've had at the movies since "Inglourious Basterds".

The story goes pretty much as the trailer tells it. A couple think they're being haunted, the boyfriend Micah sets up a camera after things start to get worse and as the movie unfolds we learn what is really after them. Both he and his girlfriend Katie are extremely likable and suspect are a lot like the characters created thus their acting seems very natural. Then when things get tense their reactions are the more realistic. Often in haunting flicks we go through the stereotypical motions and such, here some of those motions make perfect sense and make you ask yourself... what would I do. I can't say there's too much difference between what was done and what I'd probably do.

I refuse to spoil any of the movie's reveals because they're too impressive to me. They're slight, the whole movie in fact is slight. There's no lead up music, no gore, just pure suspense and mystery which is most times far scarier than gore or anything like that. On the line of single camera horror pictures I would say this isn't quite as good as "The Blair Witch Project", but it's on it's coattails. It's not a movie filled with jumps, but it'll creep you the hell out numerous times and it's not afraid to make you laugh... mostly due to Micah's often cavalier attitude towards the haunting and the couple's interactions.

"Paranormal Activity" is riding into wide release on a lot of hype, but hype comprised more from viewers then from insiders and critics which makes a difference. I warn heavily that it's not a big scare movie, but one that'll get under your skin while watching it and then even more while you're trying to go to sleep. It's a great time at the movies that reminded me of the first time I saw a lot of the horror pictures I still love today. I'm not calling it an instant classic (although it could warrant that), but I am calling it one of my top favorite films of this year and definitely one of the most effective and entertaining horror films to come out in this decade.

"Paranormal Activity" **** out of ****