'Last Exorcism' Review: Beyond Disturbing (In a Good Way)

From the time they’re young children, most people are taught that there’s good and evil in the world, along with angels and demons, God as well as the devil. But while many continue to believe in this cosmic supernatural battle throughout their lives, many others also cease to believe.

But what would happen if you stopped believing in the devil – and even felt you had the means and a mission to prove he doesn’t exist – only to find out that you might be wrong and it might be too late to ever regain a strong enough belief to save yourself from his attack?

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That’s the creepy question underlying the new horror film “The Last Exorcism,” in which a former child preacher named Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian), who became famous for casting out demons, has grown up to be a sarcastic con artist scamming people out of their hard-earned dollars with fake ceremonies and false promises.

But after years of deception, Marcus has become wracked with guilt after hearing of a young girl who died after undergoing an exorcism, and as a result he’s hired a film crew to follow him on one last job in an attempt to reveal on-camera just how fake exorcisms are and teach people that the devil is just a figment of our collective imaginations. He picks a request by the Sweetzer family, who live down a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, and heads out to “free” their teenage daughter Nell (Ashley Bell) and prove that her bizarre behavior has nothing to do with possession.

Well, anyone who has seen the film’s creepy posters and bus ads knows that Nell ain’t going to go quietly. Soon, she’s veering between her normal sweet disposition and a vicious rage that leads her to slice Cotton’s hand, climb the walls and talk like an ogre – and we haven’t even gotten to the fact she shows up with a catatonic stare in the hotel room of a crew member despite the fact they’re miles away and never told her where they were staying.

Cotton suddenly realizes he might be having to tangle with Satan after all, but his lack of faith may very well have rendered him powerless. With one twisted moment after another spinning out of control, viewers are left to wonder if he can pull salvation back from the brink.

“The Last Exorcism” follows in the footsteps of other famous horror mockumentaries like “The Blair Witch Project” and “Paranormal Activity,” but it scores on several levels above and beyond those prior efforts. “Blair” was almost entirely raw-looking and drew its fear-mongering from its normal-young-adult protagonists slowly losing their minds and cool while hopelessly trapped in some desolate woods, while “Paranormal” relied on dispassionate security-style footage to convey its dance with the dark side.

But “Exorcism” has a vibrant and charismatic lead to follow while still maintaining the feel and appearance of being utterly real. It’s the slicker-looking, professional feel of the footage that makes the gambit work so well, because it makes it easy for the viewer to think as long as pros are involved in the film’s story, nothing can get too crazy. They’ll know how to handle anything, right? Right?

“Exorcism” also has an inherent wit that was utterly lacking in its forebears, as Cotton tries to keep his wisecracking cool throughout when the Sweetzer family’s not looking. Director Daniel Stamm and writers Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland wisely chose total unknowns for the leads, which is key to the effectiveness of the genre, and dole out the scares in a tasteful enough fashion that amazingly keeps the film at a PG13 rating while being utterly terrifying as it spins ever further into darkness.

For secular horror-movie fans, “Exorcism” is a terrific work of terror. But for Christians, the movie harbors a worldview that is disconcerting in much deeper ways.

SPOILER ALERT (not of plot details as much as broad ideas): While Cotton Marcus offers a fresh twist on the timeworn character of a hypocritical minister, his depiction in the film will probably only serve to further secular-minded viewers’ idea of Christian leaders as charlatans. Even as he starts to realize the evil he’s facing is real, he can’t quite seem to regain his beliefs, leaving the film to bear the message that evil reigns supreme.

That may not come as much of a surprise to those who are wise enough to shy away from Hollywood’s often pointlessly gruesome excuses for horror in the slasher-film genre. But when that message is at the heart of a film like “Exorcism” that is vastly better made than most horror films, Christian viewers should be warned that it risks leaving a lasting impression on their minds. I saw the film two months ago at a film festival, and I still can’t quite shake it. And while it might have been the filmmakers’ goal, that’s probably not a good thing for my soul.