THE LAST EXORCISM

Ever since The Blair Witch Project the mockumentary has been the go to format for injecting realism into a movie. This can often have the subsequent effect of increasing the tension and the spooks that it has to offer and has proven to be rather effective. Thus, we have been given the Spanish horror master-class .REC, the tepid American remake Quarantine and the overrated Paranormal Activity, all in the space of the last few years. Into this saturated market comes The Last Exorcism, one further attempt to milk the mockumentary cow for all its thrills. I have to question, however, whether the mockumentary format has run its course. The Blair Witch Project worked so well because it was so fresh and new. Yes, we had seen the mockumentary format before, but this was the first time it was utilised to scare us. It brought us closer to the characters; it made their fear real and in turn transferred their fear onto us.

One of the problems with the format is as follows: to further the film the camera must sometimes be in a position a documentary crew just would not be able to reach or which would be too emotionally manipulative to want to film. We are drawn out of the experience when we have to ask, “what the hell is the camera doing there?” or “how is the cameraman still holding the camera steady despite being scared out of his wits?” Why for instance is there still a documentary crew in Dundler-Mifflin after six series of action in the American version of The Office – surely they have outstayed their welcome? Another problem is that the mockumentary often draws attention to its purported realism in a way that documentaries simply do not. Perhaps this is done by having the actors intentionally fumble their lines, or act clumsily. Usually however, the documentary feel is established through a “shakey-cam”, where the camera jitters and shudders constantly creating in the viewer the distinct feeling of being lost at sea in the middle of a terrific storm. I’ve never seen as bad camerawork on a documentary as the “camerawork” on The Last Exorcism, which gives Bourne a run for its money on the shakey-cam stakes.

This camera follows Reverend Cotton Marcus, (Patrick Fabian – who looked to me a rather distracting cross between Thomas Jane and Robert Duvall) a down-to-earth priest who has lost his faith. After years of going through the motions and ‘performing’ exorcisms for people in need in order to give them a degree of psychological closure, the Reverend has called in a camera-crew so that they can witness his last exorcism and see it for the sham it is. They head to the farmhouse of Louis Sweetzer (Louis Herthum) where amongst other mysterious goings-on the livestock has been slaughtered and his daughter Nell (Ashley Bell) has been exhibiting signs of possession.

The film works so long as it has us question whether Nell is really possessed, or if these acts of slaughter are the work of a psychologically damaged, scared little girl. The ambiguity works well but soon Nell starts to exhibit more and more signs of demonic control – knowing Latin, snapping her fingers off like twigs, climbing up the wall like a spider (which seems to be a staple for any movie revolving around exorcism) and the movie begins to fall apart. There’s the inevitable scene where Reverend Marcus, overwhelmed by the suffering and pain of this girl turns back to God to ask for help, reaffirming his faith. I recalled that disingenuous moment in M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs where Mel Gibson’s ex-Priest regains his faith after having survived an alien attack.

As previously hinted, there are problems with the film’s mockumentary format, not the least of which is the layering of a score over what is supposed to be ‘found-footage’. The build-ups to suspenseful moments are supported by a few ghostly yet gratuitous musical notes that serve only to pull the viewer out of the film. The performances are all good, particularly those offered by the leads Patrick Fabian and Ashley Bell, but I feel as though they belong to a different movie. Some lines feel scripted and forced and lack the improvisational feel of something like .REC - perhaps the actors would have benefitted from rehearsing less, giving the film a more verité feel. There are also a couple of issues with the editing of the film, which can often give the impression that at least two cameras where present for some scenes, yet the storyline presents us with only one cameraman. To pull off a mockumentary you have to get everything spot on, otherwise we as audience members are pulled out of the experience and begin to ask deeper and more searching questions of where the film went wrong.

These criticisms are perhaps beside the point since the final fifteen minutes of this film are enough to remove any warm-feelings one may have had towards the film up until that point. It goes off the rails in a big way abandoning any notions of psychologically evaluating Nell, unnecessarily invokes Rosemary’s Baby and incongruously forces rather obvious CGI into what is supposed to be a documentary. One is left wishing that they had brought the film to a close a little earlier, preserving the sense of ambiguity which made the story an interesting one to follow, rather than ending things on a distinctly supernatural note. Perhaps it’s time to put the mockumentary format to bed and shift focus once more to creating a story which is consistent, believable and compelling. The Last Exorcism fails on all these accounts.