| Author | Message | ||
     Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
http://www.argusleader.com/article/20100826/ENT04/8260320/1005/rss05 | ||
| Kate (Kathleen) Username: Kathleen Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 86.142.147.219 |
I'm intrigued by that one too. We've seen the trailer now a couple of times, but I at least dismissed it as "yet another Exorcist wannabe". Glad to see from the review that it goes in a different direction. And if it does fall apart at the end, hey, I'll probably enjoy it more if my expectations are lowered. | ||
| John Forth (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 217.20.16.180 |
I'll be seeing this on Monday evening, so I'll let you all know what I think. Avoiding reviews in the meantime... | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
John - come back with good reports, please. I have high hopes for this. | ||
| Kate (Kathleen) Username: Kathleen Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 81.152.74.159 |
We saw this one today and I'm finally getting over the shakycam-induced queasiness.  Our local reviewer Robin Askew nailed it with his opening paragraph: "An enjoyable shakycam mockumentary with an Eli Roth production credit, 'The Last Exorcism' is at its best in the clever, satirical set up. By the third act, however, it seems to have forgotten altogether that it's supposed to be a documentary and starts piling on the incongruous crashing music cues as it comes over all Dennis Wheatley, with an additional nod to 'Race With the Devil'." Overall highly enjoyable and the first 3/4 are brilliant. And the "WTF?" ending is fun if you're not expecting any sort of sensible conclusion. Patrick Fabian and Ashley Bell are both fantastic. | ||
| John Forth (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.24.1.217 |
The paragraph Kate quotes above sums it all up pretty well. The first three quarters are tense and scary, then - similar to HOUSE OF THE DEVIL - it jerks into what seems like the ending of another film entirely. Ashely Bell and Patrick Fabian both attended the screening I was at. It was quite disconcerting to see her wandering down the aisle after that performance. The lead actor was kind enough to perform his 'banana bread' speech for the benefit of the audience (which will mean nothing unless you've seen the movie). | ||
| Kate (Kathleen) Username: Kathleen Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 81.152.74.159 |
Oh, we're jealous now! LOL | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.152.74.159 |
John that's spot on - as we left I said to Kate it was the kind of film people would like who liked HOUSE OF THE DEVIL. Unfortunately I thought its going all 'Hollywoody / Wheatley' at the end prevented it from being a minor classic but it was a lot better than I was expecting. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
Saw this last night and was a great laugh listening to all the teens screaming their non-horror fans head's off! One poor girl had to be taken out in tears, bless... This was pure by-the-numbers hokum and as obvious a bit of low budget scare trickery as I've ever seen but, despite myself, I really enjoyed it. I think the movie is best viewed as a knowing black comedy - imagine Christopher Guest making a horror mockumentary - as the performances, frights and plot developments tend to get a bit outlandish (to say the least). If taken in the right spirit it's an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours, especially if watched with a susceptible audience. Great craic though hardly great filmmaking imho. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Thanks for that, Steve. I was hoping it might turn to be a bit more substantial, but hey ho, still sounds like a treat. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
Apparently the marketing people have done this film a great disservice - it was originally made as a sort of low-key, tongue-in-cheek thing about the main character (the conman preacher), but the marketing bods pushed for a title changed (it was originally titled after the lead character's name) and created an aggressive marketing capmaign to bring in the dollars. Reviewres in the know have mostly said that if you view this with the original intentions in mind, it's a great success. | ||
| John Forth (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.24.1.217 |
Sounds plausible, Zed. Especially considering the image they're using on the main poster is nowhere to be seen in the film. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
The original title was COTTON but it wasn't deemed dynamic enough. | ||
| Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts) Username: Tom_alaerts Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.78.35.185 |
The makers did an excellent viral video on chatroulette.com (a site you REALLY don't want to visit). There is a video with proof: it did look as if a playful girl starts unbuttoning her blouse before she suddenly turns all demonic. Some of the guys at the other side really jump out of their seat! | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
The more I think about this film, and particularly its ending, the funnier it gets... one I wouldn't be ashamed to have in the DVD collection. A clever spoof imo and the character of Cotton is as irresistibly funny as he is monstrous - edging toward minor cult classic status for me now. | ||
| Kate (Kathleen) Username: Kathleen Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 81.152.74.159 |
Er... "monstrous"? Stevie, did we see the same film? | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
You didn't find him monstrous?! All that fakery and manipulation of the vulnerable, mocking people's beliefs, playing with their fears... I certainly found him monstrous, endearingly so lol. | ||
| Kate (Kathleen) Username: Kathleen Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 81.152.74.159 |
He wasn't mocking belief as such. He explained that he was still helping people, even if he himself didn't believe in what he was doing. He said he was more like a magician and he set out to make the documentary to save children who were being killed by exorcism. So no, definitely not monstrous! Just a charismatic showman with a talent for helping people in an unconventional way. It was the backwoods Fundy father I found monstrous. LOL | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
The father was turned into an OTT psychotic monster by Cotton's mocking manipulation of his beliefs - as he ruthlessly promoted himself for the cameras. His motives were purely self-serving while hiding behind a clearly sham masquerade of "caring" imo. You play with religious superstition at your own peril as Cotton and the crew found out lol. | ||
| Kate (Kathleen) Username: Kathleen Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 81.152.74.159 |
Wow. And he had me at "hallelujah". Ah well, we have different eyes.  | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
The funniest part of the film was to see Cotton faced with a "reality" he had always denied and made his living, as opposed to his crusade, without a care in the world... in that way the movie works as a perfect comedy version of your typical Lovecraftian narrative. Instead of being driven insane he is driven to believe in what he had always parodied... do you see? It's one of the best, and most subtle, horror comedies I have seen - I now realise! | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Kate, one of the most terrifying experiences of my life was when I allowed myself to be talked into attending a prayer meeting by one of those Yank televangelist type preachers cum faith healers in a big hall in Belfast - by a genuine Christian friend who appealed to my honesty and fair mindedness. After half an hour I started to feel the dead stares and howling madness in the air around me become frighteningly overbearing and had to apologise and get out of there - for my own sanity. I still remember standing on the pavement outside shaking in a cold sweat! People were beginning to jabber like lunatics and sway and fall like ninepins... it was genuine mass hysteria and belief in something outside the body on a scale I never want to experience again. I imagine the Nazi gatherings in Germany during the 1930s would have filled me with a similar feeling of outraged terror! The Cotton character was of that milieu and irresponsibly playing along with it, despite knowing the power of his words and performances, and that is why, for me, he can only be seen as a monstrous character - despite his hilarious redemption! | ||
| Kate (Kathleen) Username: Kathleen Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 81.152.74.159 |
I can well understand how such a scary personal experience could colour your perception, Stevie. I saw my share of such religious fanaticism growing up in the States so I definitely sympathise. **shudder** | ||
| Paul_finch (Paul_finch) Username: Paul_finch Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 92.9.142.11 |
Finally got to see it tonight and thought it was a chance missed. SPOILERS COMING For me, the basic concept was pretty neat if a bit pat. The narrative could (should) then have taken off along any one of the three routes it plays with - possession, psychotic breakdown, or cult - and stuck with it, and it would have made an interesting if formulaic low budget horror. As it was, the sudden diversions in tone and subject killed it for me as a serious piece of story-telling. Whether there was any post-modernism intended, I'm not so sure, but even if there had been, it certainly wasn't worth all the hype. It may be selfish of me, but I can't help but resent movies which I allow to lure me into a state of eager anticipation, only to then disappoint me massively. I really ought to have learned my lesson by now - especially after HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, which also exposed my bovine sense of judgement when I paid good money to watch it. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Paul, viewed as a mockumentary type comedy I think 'The Last Exorcism' works extremely well. If watched expecting a straight horror narrative - unless you're one of the screaming teens I was surrounded by - will only bring disappointment. The film has been ill served by an inappropriate marketing campaign imho. | ||
| Paul_finch (Paul_finch) Username: Paul_finch Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 92.9.142.11 |
You must have been at the same cinema as me, Stevie ... I'm talking about the screaming teens thing, many of whom in our case were clearly under 15. I complained to the manager afterwards, but then, when the average age of the staff (the few there are) is about 17, I'm not sure what else you can expect. Put it this way, the cats' chorus of screams and pretend laughter didn't help my appreciation of this particular movie. It's my wife's view that the best time to watch a horror movie at the flicks these days is during the afternoon, when the scrotes are all at school. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
The screams appeared to be mostly genuine and the laughter nervously face-saving when I saw it, one young girl had to be taken out clearly distressed during one of the exorcism scenes, all of which had me in kinks lol. To me it was clear the filmmakers were taking the piss and the OTT ending only highlighted that! | ||
| Kate (Kathleen) Username: Kathleen Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 81.152.74.159 |
Anyone observing ME at this film might have assumed I was too scared to watch at times, as I occasionally had my hands over my eyes. Alas, it was merely shakycam-induced nausea. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
There was a little girl (she looked 11 but she must have been older I suppose) across from us with her mum & they both seemed to be enjoying it immensely - it gave me a (slightly) warm glow! | ||
| Paul_finch (Paul_finch) Username: Paul_finch Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 92.9.142.11 |
It gave me a hot rage, John. Thankfully, this time I managed to wait until the end of the movie before taking it out on them. The last time I did it mid-way through the film, I almost got chucked out with the little bastards. | ||
| John Forth (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 217.20.16.180 |
Stevie - I've sat in on a Q&A with the director and read a couple of interviews, and I'm fairly sure that it wasn't intended as a piss-take. Indeed, he appeared under the impression that he was making serious points about faith, but then he also claimed that he'd left the ending 'ambiguous' about whether or not the girl was really possessed or not. My impression was that it was anything but! I suspect that it was just a case of the film-makers dropping the ball in the last act, or cowtowing to studio demands for an ending more suiting to the screamy teens most of you encountered at the cinema. Still, even if the director didn't intend the film to be viewed that way, it's good that you took something more from it. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
That's interesting, John, call it an unintentional comedic success for me then lol. An odd little film at the end of the day... |