(2012-04-28 17:49:54)

The dead cat did it

I had to stop watching it at that point where Nell kills the cat. I hate it when they kill pets in movies. That part made my veterinarian sister cry and shake because it disturbed her so much. We returned this movie after that and watched Inception.

(2012-04-28 13:08:36)

The last 3 minutes DESTROY a fairly good film

This is worth a rental and I saw it in the theater and was really enjoying it--until the final 3 minutes.No spoilers here, just a warning that the end of this movie is just dreadful. Also, MANY of the scenes in the trailer and shown in the poster do NOT occur in the film. The poster of her bent over backward---well, she bends over backwards, but not THAT far.And the poster with her on the ceiling? Never happens.Again, a rental that really delivers--until the end....

(2012-04-25 19:43:43)

It's behind my cross!

I was on the edge of my seat as this "documentary" took place. The begining is a little slow but once the Rev. Marcus gets to the Sweeten farm, all hell breaks lose.Nell is possesed or is it a psych problem?I have the movie behind my cross on the shelf.

Flesh_Lives

(2012-04-25 02:56:23)

Absolutely above average.

Well, in a world full of crappy movies, horror genre is not shiningneither these times. I had no real expectations regarding The LastExorcism and actually, it kind of impressed me.I read a lot of hard stuff on the movie and a lot of people hated it.Some were talking about the (brilliant) ending and others complainedabout the shaky camera.This movie is a clever hybrid between documentary style (Blair WithProject for example) and horror genre. What works in 'TLE' is thealways active camera that rides the audience through evil. It's morelike a roller-coaster ride in a mad circus of horror and you can'thide.For those who hated the ending, well I would say: Watch some good oldhorror movies like The Devil Rides Out or Rosemary's Baby (or morerecently, House of the Devil). These movies are about satanism too. Theending is to me a sort of an homage to the genre and I would not changea thing.Characters are good and give an extra edge to the story. The LastExorcism is not reinventing horror movies, but absolutely capture thefeel of the genre. Compared to crappy Paranormal Activities, this isfun!

(2012-04-17 05:25:19)

A Harsh Truth

A preacher who does not actually believe in evil spirits, but in psychological deviations of the victims, goes to a country town with a film crew to investigate a supposed case of demonic possession. But when things quickly spiral out of control, he starts to question his own convictions. I saw this movie last night not expecting much but was surprised by the elaborate plot, solid and continuous suspense, great acting and especially the macabre and unexpected conclusion. I woke up thinking about these wonderful details, and really could not understand so many negative reviews, especially those that mention the lack of originality. There are many good films that blend a number of ideas from other films, which are not dismissed as this movie is. I think people were expecting a sort of remake of the original Exorcist, and simply were not properly prepared with an open mind. Moreover, probably because of Eli Roth's many detractors, I believe there are some "critics " who began to see the film with pre-established concepts. Back to the film, one of the best points is the character development, which reveals many hidden facets, helping to build a tangible and complex story. With a brilliantly tense and gloomy atmosphere, you should prepare for a movie that will make you speculate all the time, until it finally lead to a harsh truth behind appearances. If you are a true horror fan, please ignore the bad reviews. This is definitely a must see.

Talon-LongStar

(2012-04-16 11:01:36)

fairly creepy movie with a horrible ending

The movie started off kind of slow but became interesting as the storyprogressed, becoming fairly creepy...until the end. The end was justsuch a complete let down and took the movie in an entirely differentdirection with no explanation nor reason. The story went from slow andborderline boring to decent to creepy to utterly horrible. Myrecommendation is unless you find yourself snowed in or with absolutelynothing else to do with 90+ minutes of your life I would skip thismovie. I only got a 5 out of 10 from me because the middle of the movieis fairly decent for a modern American horror movie. There are so manybetter horror movies out there if you are willing to deal withsubtitles. The review's rating this movie below a 5 are more accurateof the overall value of the movie.

(2012-04-12 21:59:50)

Absolute rubbish!

After seeing previews for this movie on TV, I was really looking forward to seeing it. It looked truly scary, and I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. The writer and director of this film made little, if any, effort to research the subject of their film and it shows glaringly throughout. The self-styled preacher is laughable, the characters are poorly written and act and react in ways that inexplicably go against common sense, and the moronic story fails to deliver on practically every level. It takes a lot to make me consider walking out of the theater after paying too much at the box office, but two-thirds of the way through this turd burger I wanted to leave so bad that I could barely sit still.And then there's the ending. I can't spoil it for you, but it can be best described as a laughable WTF cliche' that the writer simply pulled out of his @$$ as a way to end this train-wreck to nowhere and score a "twist" ending. People in the audience where I saw this movie laughed out loud or audibly groaned an incredulous, "Oh come ON!" See "The Rite" or the even better "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" because "The Last Exorcism" has all the intellectual appeal of a boiled potato. I wish Mike and the 'Bots were still around because this film is in serious need of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment. I found this film wholly unsatisfying and built on a huge pile of been-there-done-that. Call this movie Legion, for the cliche's are MANY!Brent

kaynefred

(2012-04-12 11:09:24)

Worst acting, writing ... don't waste your time!

that film is a blatant marketing propaganda, all but unwatchable forits poor imaginative story, bad acting and no horror!! The worst... thejerky cameras! And the acting, amateur at best. This movie offers nothing new and original to the genre and will leaveyou feeling so empty.Too bad because I was so excited to see it!The worst thing for me was the perpetual motion of the hand-heldcamera. It made me feel so dizzy. I had a headache.I'd rather watch the Blair Witch which had more scares! Save yourselfthis waste of celluloid. This was a yawn fest.

(2012-04-05 20:01:56)

better then i thought

This review is from: The Last Exorcism (DVD) i wanted to see it in the movies but i didn't think it was worth it. so i got the dvd and i was very happy i did. I like the style it was shot in and the ending was a very good one.

kcshelly

(2012-04-05 13:28:51)

*Spoiler Alert*- Filming Format Changed Gears

SPOILER ALERT-SPOILER ALERT-SPOILER ALERT-SPOILER ALERT-SPOILER ALERT_____________________________________________________________________I can appreciate a film based only on its entertainment value, but thisfilm threw in a major curve ball at the end that fails to make sense.Allow me to explain.The concept of the fictitious "documentary" is not new (consider theBlair Witch Project). The first hour or so of this movie provided theviewer with the impression they were viewing a completed documentary.This impression is reinforced through the use of captions; providingthe names of the individuals being introduced on the screen. How canthe captions be added without some editing after the raw footage isrecorded?I don't watch movies to find mistakes or errors, but this movie madethe error too obvious which resulted in a somewhat disappointingending; unless, of course, the demon-worshipers decided to get into thedocumentary business!

(2012-03-27 20:59:49)

Eh

This review is from: The Last Exorcism (DVD) Had great potential but the ending fell flat. Couple of creepy parts, but overall predictable and NOT scary. Skip it!

(2012-03-26 22:36:29)

Meanders and disappoints...

What starts as an intriguing premise slowly degrades into a silly take on exorcism and religion. This is The Wicker Man rehashed-complete with a twist ending that is discouraging at best. Bell does a great turn as the victim, however Fabian's character is unlikable and hard to watch. You don't care about his journey. The "documentary" feel is OK, but doesn't add anything new here. Southern setting is helpful and creepy, but not enough to save this film. Watch only for Bell's performance, otherwise it simply doesn't achieve the level of fright that it promises.

rtgooner

(2012-03-19 01:25:04)

Disappointed

I love horror films and I have found Eli's work quite good and unusualin the past but this film wasn't even considered properly. It issupposed to be a docu-film, well then why wasn't it explained how thefilm was "leaked" if *SPOILER ALERT* the cult was to kill everyone,surely they wouldn't have wanted this footage to have been leaked. Ieven sat through the credits to try and see if something was hidden butalas I was disappointed. The start promised so much, explaining whythey were filming, how the Reverend didn't really believe in it alletc, then to have an unexplained ending was just a little, well, silly.This film could have been so much better if it was considered a littlemore, to me it felt like they just wanted it over and rushed it!

lmax867

(2012-03-18 09:05:29)

Half way home…

I liked this more than I initially suspected I may, but I can't give ittoo much credit because overall I wasn't super impressed. What worked…1. Cotton I thought he was a great lead character and I really thoughtthey did a good job of making him into a real life person. If he hadbeen a more by the book type minister, I don't know if I would've caredabout him as much I did throughout the movie. 2. Camera Work Even tho I'm tired of all the Blair Witch Style movieslately for some reason this one really seemed to help the movie andmake it feel more authentic. 3.Ashley Bell She did a great job and I really cared about hercharacter. What DIDN'T WORK…1. The Story Just feels like we've seen it before. 2. The Scares Again it got kind of hard to be scared of the big scaremoments when they all sort of seem so familiar. 3. The Ending I won't give it away but it's really, really dopey. Iknow people say they were hinting at it all along, but it still feltlike a bad turn to take to me. See it if u really like exorcism movies but otherwise you can probablypass and not miss much.

Tat123

(2012-03-16 15:23:59)

A good laugh!

I give this movie a 7 because it really made me laugh, and the jokeswere awesome! Going into the movie I was worried and scared and triedto get out of going for the entire car ride, but in the end decided Iwould check it out. And to my surprise I was glad I did. The first 1/2of the movie was in my opinion hilarious, the priest was brilliant andthe jokes were amazing, it was not what I expected due to the fact thatthe trailer makes it seem like your typical creepy things appearingeverywhere movie. The last 1/2 of the movies was not as great but thefirst 1/2 made up for it. I had heard that the ending is awful andruins the movie, but I thought the ending was just weird and prettyentertaining, it was neat to see something different.

(2012-03-16 07:10:52)

Tragic story that must be told.

From start to end, the scenes are gloomy, dim, and depressing. From the onset, you would think that story would follow the Paranormal trail. As the priests turn into forensic experts, the narration comes to focus on the unfortunate sin of incest. The clues develop as the events unfold. Yet, the most stressing aspect of the movie was the playful scare tactics of the moviemaker that attempted to add an aura of terror. Most of the scenes are unclear and served no purpose in charging the viewers' emotion. The tragic story suffices traumatize a rational person. The outcome of the story is most probably the most established practice since the rise of mankind. In many cultures, the offspring of sin is eliminate together with the vulnerable target. Here, the vulnerable target will live with greater wounds than being eliminated. The end was definitely well thought. The respected priest participating in a clandestine abortion leaves the viewers with endless thoughts. The church stepped in to help a hopeless family when no other authority could. The outcome was the murder of a newborn. Had the government stepped in, many citizens would have suffered endlessly under the heavy hand of state. The priest gained nothing by daring to endorse the harsh reality. "Cut off" summarized the underlying causes of the unfortunate outcome. The brother and sister were cut off society, slipped into sin, where the community was kind enough to lend help: kill the newborn.

(2012-03-13 09:01:31)

Eh...

This review is from: The Last Exorcism (Amazon Instant Video) As a huge fan of possession movies I have seen many titles of this nature. I do not feel that this movie has surpassed recent titles. Definitely did not make me feel the way I did when I watched The Exorcist or The Exorcism of Emily Rose. However, I do feel that this movie is good if you're looking for a cheap scare that won't last past bedtime.

(2012-03-12 10:56:14)

A movie that has great vision, but poor execution.

The Last Exorcism is a mockumentary about a Pastor who decides to expose Exorcism as a fraud, but finds trouble losing faith completely when he visits a troubled family in Georgia. The father of the family is convinced that his daughter is possessed by the devil, as she has been supposedly killing livestock in the middle of the night, along with other satanic deeds being acted out. Kudos to the casting director. I think everyone was perfectly cast, perfectly believable. You can tell that Patrick Fabian is having so much fun with the role, carrying all the nuances of being a minister with him. I especially love the interaction that he has with the camera. He really makes you feel that you are there with him, living out the experience(maybe i should be complementing the director then for how it was shot) The rest of the members fulfill their roles quite well. The brother of the family is actually the scariest aspect of the film for me. I know this doesn't sound good for the rest of the film, but I'll get to that later. Nell, the daughter/satan possessee plays a very likable child by day, and downright freaky at night. There are a lot of things to like about this movie. I thought that the scenes were shot very well for this type of scare mockumentary, as the camera held pretty steady for the most part, and didn't make you feel dizzy or queasy when watching it. The atmosphere was well chosen, as most of the action takes place at a ranch far away from the town. There is that sense of isolation that adds to the tension of the movie. As mentioned before, a lot of camera time is devoted to Fabian and you feel that you are kind of tagging along with him throughout the movie. I will say that the fact that he is unflappable throughout most of the movie makes for less tension, and you never feel like he loses control of the situation. I thought the script was above par for a scary movie. Issues of religion, child abuse, post traumatic stress disorder, and fraud are dealt with, and some polarizing message do come across. You don't find this often. This lends itself to make you wonder if Nell is really possessed or simply faking it for reasons unknown. It keeps you guessing up until the very end.Unfortunately, even with the great story structure,cast, and pacing, the movie is done in by not living up to being a scary movie. I will not say that there should have been more scary scenes, because quantity doesnt necessarily equate to a better movie. The scary scenes themselves were simply not long enough, or substantial enough to keep you on the edge of your seat. They would make you cringe slightly, but then the scene would cut before anything would really materialize as being geniunely frightening. This could have have something to do with the execution of some scary moments as well. A couple of them were slightly humorous at times.There were also times that it would have made perfect sense to just put the camera down and run. Obviously for the sake of making a movie, they decide to keep filming even when it seems like their is in danger. Damned if you film, but damned if you don't, because we, as the audience, want to see what's going on. These two main issues might cause a large number of people to walk about thinking the movie was OK. I really couldn't decide between 3 out of 5 or 4 out of 5. I rounded up because compared to what scary movies have been released recently, it's pretty good.

(2012-03-08 13:12:34)

For real???

I was so excited when I saw that this movie was coming out. Being a huge fan of horror movies, I knew that this was on my must-see list. The story follows a reverend as he attempts to prove that things like possession don't actually occur (yeah, you know where this is headed). It is another fake-documentary movie that resembles ones like The Blair Witch Project (in more ways than one...such as running through the forest, with the camera bouncing all over the place. I half expected to see the Blair Witch symbol appear in the trees, as they run past) and Rosemary's Baby. So, the reverend gets called to this house where animals are being killed by the young daughter (who doesn't remember anything in between going to sleep and waking up with a blood-stained outfit). So begins the task of being paid to "get the demon out of this girl". It would've been a fine movie...if it was scary. There was one part that had the whole theater screaming, but in shocked horror more than actually being terrified (I didn't see that part because I could see what was going to happen and had my head buried in my jacket). It also would've been a fine movie if it wasn't for the completely random and bizarre ending that they stuck on it. The movie was just starting to get good when they do a "Rosemary's Blair Witch Baby" (to quote Entertainment Weekly) on it and leave you with this diappointed and confused feeling. At the very end, when the screen went black, no body in my theater moved, obviously hoping and expecting something else. But, when the credits started rolling, everyone started complaining, yelling at the screen, and just plain making their feelings heard. DO NOT SEE THIS IN THEATERS!! I instantly regretted paying almost $10 to see this. Wait for it to come out on DVD, if you still want to see it, and rent it from Redbox or Blockbuster Express for $1. Because that's all this movie is worth.

(2012-03-07 21:10:02)

Pretty good for what it is

And what I mean by that title is that it is trying to be a variation on The Blair Witch Project. That's fine, except that it is rather obvious. Anyway....Ashley Bell does a fantastic job as Nell, the young girl who is possessed and whose father wants help for her. This help, unfortunately, turns out to be a duplicitous preacher who makes the father think he is really getting rid of a demon when in reality he is merely using tricks. However, there is a twist: she IS possessed, and other people in town know it and are complicit in it.I will not say anything more, but you should check it out if you like this sort of documentary-style creepiness.