The Last Exorcism- 4.5/5

Horror has always been one of my favorite genres. I love a good scary movie. Sadly, the term ‘good scary movie’ is usually an oxymoron that ranks among ‘Microsoft Works’, and ‘employed English major.’ Fortunately, for every oxymoron, there are exceptions. Microsoft made the Xbox (shut up, it makes my analogy work), Dave Barry can stand as an example to English majors everywhere, and Daniel Stamm made The Last Exorcism. In a word, this movie was fantastic. It was a coming together of styles and techniques that are frequently used, but rarely used well.
For the first time in recent memory, it feels like a director finally took Alfred Hitchcock’s saying, “There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it” to heart. This movie was terrifying, but not graphic. There were few bangs, but a great deal of anticipation. We live in a world where directors and producers have come to rely on computer generated monsters and absurd amounts of gore in the making of horror movies. The genre requires neither, and The Last Exorcism is proof of that. It was refreshing to see a movie that didn’t feel the need to try to scare me with effects.
Most mockumentary style films not only gain no benefit from the style, but often would be better movies if they were told as traditional narratives. This wasn’t the case with The Last Exorcism. The developers used the style to their full advantage, and allowed the audience to see things from multiple points of view that would have been difficult, if not impossible, with another style.
Casting largely unknown actors is another practice that isn’t new. It’s a game of Russian Roulette that rarely works for the film as a whole. Fortunately for The Last Exorcism, it’s a practice that worked this time. The lack of recognizable faces led to a much greater sense of realism and immersion.
The last thing that made this film truly fantastic was its ending. Most movies end in a way that is either predictable, or in some way breaks promises that were made to the audience earlier in the movie. The Last Exorcism was one that did neither. The ending of this movie was surprising, but at the same time fulfilled all of their promises to the audience, and made good on all the foreshadowing.
This was a superb movie. It was scary, well made, thought out, and the prefect blend of familiar and unpredictable. I give it a score of 4.5 out of 5, and command that you go see it in the theater. Today.