You know when you are watching a movie, it's ticking along nicely but then, in an idle moment, you decide to astrally project your inner being outside your own construct and your essence floats above your body in the auditorium. You know, when you can see yourself sitting in the seat, your meta-body aloft, studying your own features, only to find your own face rendered into a portrait of absolute apathy.
You know what I'm talking about, right?
Well, I found myself doing precisely that during The Last Exorcism.
I was mildly entertained.
I was mildly intrigued.
I was mildly spooked at times.
But no more than that.
The plot: A disillusioned evangelical priestly sort allows a film crew to follow him as he performs one more exorcism, to prove to the world the mockery that the ritual actually represents. A letter arrives, marked urgent, so our ex-Man of the Cloth heads down to New Orleans to perform his act of cleansing, only to find.....gasp.....that this is one dispossession that comes with a demonic kick.
It's intriguing stuff.
It really is.
The movie is shot as a documentary, a lens-eye view, if you will and, for the most part, it works. I only say for the most part as, annoyingly, on occasion the PoV shots make little sense, but that's a small complaint.
The real downer is the ending, a pointless ten minute bolt on that bears scant resemblance to the preceding 75 minutes or so, and will come as absolutely no surprise to anyone who has seen either Rosemary's Baby or the Stones of Blood story from classic era Doctor Who.
Not dreadful, just not terribly impressive either, this is one to file under 'must try harder.'
Showing posts with label Demonic possession. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Demonic possession. Show all posts
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Saturday, 24 July 2010
The Exorcist (1973) Dir: William Friedkin
Without question the finest horror movie ever made, that has lost none of its power to freeze the blood in the near forty years since its original unleashing.
The plot: Regan, a young girl, daughter of a well known movie actress begins exhibiting startling and provocative behaviour, the extremity of which appears to be on the rise. Her mother tries all of the usual experts; doctors, psychiatrists, but none of them can explain her bizarre behaviour, much less the fact that, when in her frenzied state, her actual appearance appears to change almost as if she were becoming someone else, and someone damn ugly at that.
At her wits end, Regan's mother turns to those experts in all things spiritual (and a few other things I shall choose not to mention) the Catholic church, and begs a young priest, on the cusp of renouncing his own faith, to perform an exorcism on her daughter. Skeptical at first, he is soon convinced when he pays a visit on Regan, but he himself must seek permission from the Church. His immediate superior accepts his request, on the condition that an elder Priest lead the exorcism, Father Merrin, played with genuine conviction by the marvellous Max Von Sydow.
Can the two priests save the little girl and vanquish the evil spirit?
What was that damn stuff that spewed from her mouth?
And was there anyone that didn't cheer when the annoying drunken Englishman was hurled from the window?
This movie is so good it renders me literally speechless every time I watch it.
It has it all:
It's scary as hell, with an atmosphere to chill the stoniest of hearts.
There's the odd moment of gruelly nastiness, with the infamous pea soup vomit, head twisting sequences and vaginal abuse with a crucifix.
Talking of crucifixes being used inappropriately, there's a healthy line in blasphemy throughout - something I always approve of - with the church held up to ridicule by the monstrosity within the small girl though, of course, ultimately faith wins out over fear.
Shame.
The performances from all are top notch, with special mentions for Linda Blair as Regan, a more convincing teenager as demonic force you'll be hard pushed to find, whilst Ellen Burstyn (she sounds like someone who really needs to take a pee) does a sterling job of capturing the terror any parent would feel should their child happen to be, say, possessed by something monstrous.
Having spent time with my sister's kids, I think it's a more frequent occurrence than you may suspect.
Wonderfully paced, beautifully shot and THAT score from Mike Oldfield, this is about as good as cinema gets.
5 out of 5. Inevitably.
The plot: Regan, a young girl, daughter of a well known movie actress begins exhibiting startling and provocative behaviour, the extremity of which appears to be on the rise. Her mother tries all of the usual experts; doctors, psychiatrists, but none of them can explain her bizarre behaviour, much less the fact that, when in her frenzied state, her actual appearance appears to change almost as if she were becoming someone else, and someone damn ugly at that.
At her wits end, Regan's mother turns to those experts in all things spiritual (and a few other things I shall choose not to mention) the Catholic church, and begs a young priest, on the cusp of renouncing his own faith, to perform an exorcism on her daughter. Skeptical at first, he is soon convinced when he pays a visit on Regan, but he himself must seek permission from the Church. His immediate superior accepts his request, on the condition that an elder Priest lead the exorcism, Father Merrin, played with genuine conviction by the marvellous Max Von Sydow.
Can the two priests save the little girl and vanquish the evil spirit?
What was that damn stuff that spewed from her mouth?
And was there anyone that didn't cheer when the annoying drunken Englishman was hurled from the window?
This movie is so good it renders me literally speechless every time I watch it.
It has it all:
It's scary as hell, with an atmosphere to chill the stoniest of hearts.
There's the odd moment of gruelly nastiness, with the infamous pea soup vomit, head twisting sequences and vaginal abuse with a crucifix.
Talking of crucifixes being used inappropriately, there's a healthy line in blasphemy throughout - something I always approve of - with the church held up to ridicule by the monstrosity within the small girl though, of course, ultimately faith wins out over fear.
Shame.
The performances from all are top notch, with special mentions for Linda Blair as Regan, a more convincing teenager as demonic force you'll be hard pushed to find, whilst Ellen Burstyn (she sounds like someone who really needs to take a pee) does a sterling job of capturing the terror any parent would feel should their child happen to be, say, possessed by something monstrous.
Having spent time with my sister's kids, I think it's a more frequent occurrence than you may suspect.
Wonderfully paced, beautifully shot and THAT score from Mike Oldfield, this is about as good as cinema gets.
5 out of 5. Inevitably.
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