Danny
31-Jul-2011, 03:17 AM
So over the last 2 days ive watched this twice and i think i really , really like this film.
Not as strict entertainment, but as a film maker myself i can break down the chemistry of a film and about 90% of the time predict where the film is going just from picking up the little bits here and there that set it up. It kind of ruins films for me sometimes. When you are in a profession where you work on something you cant help but see another persons work and break it down mentally y'know?
Anyway, i watch this and not only do i not predict the plot in any way- even thought there IS set up that you think is part of a fake out- but it has like 4 or 5 plot twists in the last 10 minutes i just never saw coming. Like it gives you a satisfying ending then keeps going.
Now im not gonna say the reveal wasn't kind of stupid in a "wat." kind of way but i have to applaud the way they masterfully tread the line between a dramatic character narrative and a horror film. Even though its not really scary, just bloody frenetic as all get out.
If you haven't seen it the last exorcism is about a charlatan preacher who, to pay for medical bills for his ill son, fakes exorcisms. His way of dealing with it is that god or demons aren't real so he is giving closure and healing to mentally ill people and providing for his family while doing so.
That is till he hears of a vatican priest who killed a child during an exorcism gone horribly awry. This pulls at his moral compass so he decides to do one more, with a documentary crew in tow to unmask this global lie of exorcism.
He heads to the bayous of southern louisiana and meets nell. A teenage girl who has been blacking out and killing her fathers farm animals during the night and drawing biblical imagery from her dreams. The Priest doe's his fake exorcism and sure enough it does not take and she gets worse not better and it all goes downhill for the priest and documentary crew from there.
Honestly i dug the story, the main actor takes a character that should be a greasy, unlikable bastard and makes him charming and likeable to the audience and even the crew behind the camera have more character development than they actually need. The actress behind Nell also has a hell of a range in the film. From a simple, poorly educated and sheltered southern girl to a rude demonic character she fully convinces the viewer 3 separate times that what you thought you knew was wrong and never lets up.
My one problem was its shot blair witch style yet they have atmospheric music. If diary of the dead taught us anything its that this should. never. ever. happen. especially in films like this.
Has anyone else watched this? i was put off because it had eli roths name attached but i was very pleasantly surprised by a film that tried to tell a complex story rather than the traditional popcorn horror "6 point isolation-death/twist" narrative structure and really dug it.
Not as strict entertainment, but as a film maker myself i can break down the chemistry of a film and about 90% of the time predict where the film is going just from picking up the little bits here and there that set it up. It kind of ruins films for me sometimes. When you are in a profession where you work on something you cant help but see another persons work and break it down mentally y'know?
Anyway, i watch this and not only do i not predict the plot in any way- even thought there IS set up that you think is part of a fake out- but it has like 4 or 5 plot twists in the last 10 minutes i just never saw coming. Like it gives you a satisfying ending then keeps going.
Now im not gonna say the reveal wasn't kind of stupid in a "wat." kind of way but i have to applaud the way they masterfully tread the line between a dramatic character narrative and a horror film. Even though its not really scary, just bloody frenetic as all get out.
If you haven't seen it the last exorcism is about a charlatan preacher who, to pay for medical bills for his ill son, fakes exorcisms. His way of dealing with it is that god or demons aren't real so he is giving closure and healing to mentally ill people and providing for his family while doing so.
That is till he hears of a vatican priest who killed a child during an exorcism gone horribly awry. This pulls at his moral compass so he decides to do one more, with a documentary crew in tow to unmask this global lie of exorcism.
He heads to the bayous of southern louisiana and meets nell. A teenage girl who has been blacking out and killing her fathers farm animals during the night and drawing biblical imagery from her dreams. The Priest doe's his fake exorcism and sure enough it does not take and she gets worse not better and it all goes downhill for the priest and documentary crew from there.
Honestly i dug the story, the main actor takes a character that should be a greasy, unlikable bastard and makes him charming and likeable to the audience and even the crew behind the camera have more character development than they actually need. The actress behind Nell also has a hell of a range in the film. From a simple, poorly educated and sheltered southern girl to a rude demonic character she fully convinces the viewer 3 separate times that what you thought you knew was wrong and never lets up.
My one problem was its shot blair witch style yet they have atmospheric music. If diary of the dead taught us anything its that this should. never. ever. happen. especially in films like this.
Has anyone else watched this? i was put off because it had eli roths name attached but i was very pleasantly surprised by a film that tried to tell a complex story rather than the traditional popcorn horror "6 point isolation-death/twist" narrative structure and really dug it.