Trailer Tuesday: The Last Exorcism

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Two sub-categories of the horror genre meet in enticingly named The Last Exorcism. Presented as a real-life documentary/found video footage just like The Blair Witch Project, REC, Quarantine, Paranormal Activity and, most recently, The Fourth Kind, The Last Exorcism follows in the tradition of The Exorcist and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and many other, much weaker flicks, which mix Christianity and demon possession into the horror-thrill mix.


Produced by Hostel and Cabin Fever's Eli Roth, The Last Exorcism centres on a evangelical minister (Patrick Fabian) who has knowingly preyed on the superstitious and blindly religious for years. Disillusioned and guilty, he decides to perform one last exorcism and have it filmed, in effect making a confessional documentary that will reveal himself as a fraud. Unfortunately for Reverend Cotton Marcus, his last exorcism - of a farmer's teenage daughter in rural Louisiana - seems to be the real deal, pitting the preacher and his camera crew in a life-and-death struggle against true evil.

I'm a little wary of the "shocking" digit-snapping and body contortions that dominate the trailer for The Last Exorcism - as well as its excitement-deflating PG-13 age restriction - but I'm a sucker for religion in my horror films, and I'm also a huge fan of the hand-held camera approach to making scarefests. When used correctly, the unedited amateur footage technique is very immersive for the audience - a vital quality for a horror film if it's to crawl under your skin and set your hair standing. And unlike 3D, I personally don't think the novelty of shaky-cam "found" footage has completely worn off yet.


Indie horror film The Last Exorcism has been touring film festivals overseas for a while now, garnering solid praise for a horror film (read the Variety and Hollywood Reporter reviews). Although not perfect, the film apparently is smart, mostly subtle and very well acted by its cast of unknowns.

The Last Exorcism opens in the United States this Friday, on 27 August. There has yet to be an indication when the film will debut in South Africa, but given how long it typically takes horror films to reach our shores, we'll be lucky to see it on local screens before the end of 2010.

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