This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Bob Blaschuk’s review published on Letterboxd:
This review may contain spoilers.
I would say there are very few, or even no, amazing, 5-Star found footage horror films. I am hopefully wrong about that and have just not seen a perfect one. So when watching, or re-watching a film in this style, I want to sometimes cut them a bit of slack, but at the same time know that the market is saturated in low-budget films in this style. "The Last Exorcism" fits into the low-budget aspect, but actually manages to do something clever for the most part as well. Well, before it ruins itself with its ending.
Reading about "The Last Exorcism" would make you feel like you would be in for a bit of a cliche film. Right from the get go though the story shows us that our preacher is actually a bit of a charlatan. He uses the word of god, and people's devotion to the church as a way to make money, as well as help people. He performs exorcisms in small towns and backwater areas, using a bit of jiggery-pokery to wow the people, but ultimately steering them to seek professional help with what is not possession, but mental illness. It is a strange gray area that our preacher has entered into, which makes his character a lot more interesting to watch, as he starts with very little faith himself, and has to go through a range of tests of faith, before the end of this story. I actually really liked the clever idea of starting off knowing that exorcisms aren't real. It made for a different mindset when viewing a film that could easily fall into cliche territory.
With a solid performance from our preacher, you start to recognize that it is a rare moment when most of the actors in the faux-doc horror you are watching aren't terrible. In fact both the actor that played the preacher and especially the woman who played Nell were very good in this. Nell, although not looking 14 in the least had this backwater innocence to her that could turn on a dime and make you completely uncomfortable watching her. Her performance adds so much to the film and makes it more interesting to watch. There is a great dynamic between the preacher, Nell, and her father. It helps build tension and even the creep factor of the characters around them.
Sadly this film is not without some major flaws. The main one for me is the ending. "The Last Exorcism" hits this moment that leaves you with a semi-happy ending. They learn what seems like a realistic truth, and the story turns from supernatural into one of a home-schooled girl and her fear of repercussions and shame of a pregnancy out of wedlock. The family now has to lean on their community and try to pick up the pieces and move on. I was actually really good with this ending. But then they have to go and ruin it. The characters go back to the farm after learning the boy that supposedly got Nell pregnant is gay, and find that the town is really a cult that worships Satan and death ensues...all completely unneeded. It ruins any of the storytelling that was done to get to this point. It doesn't ruin the film mind you, just makes you wonder who decided to tack on an ending that takes away from the main product.
To me, "The Last exorcism" represents one of the few, solid, and good shaky cam horror films. Solid casting, an interesting story, with somewhat clever ideas. Overall it makes for a fun watch.
