I could not shake the feeling, while watching The Last Exorcism, that I was watching a movie I'd seen before. The character POV format (pseudo-documentary horror, unfolding through the camera of a character) was attempted by a low budget movie called The Last Broadcast in 1998. Perhaps the title of The Last Exorcism pays homage to The Last Broadcast for originating that trend. (One can trace the pseudo-documentary horror back much further however, such as with The Legend of Boggy Creek in 1972, which used the documentary style of its day -- before the popularization of home video and prosumer-grade video cameras.)
However most people didn't see The Last Broadcast. It had no theatrical distribution. The Blair Witch Project took the exact same idea and executed it better in 1999. They were fortunate enough to land a limited theatrical release with Artisan Entertainment, who came up with a shrewd marketing campaign that drove an unprecedented amount of hype, causing it to sell out a day in advance in some theaters (such as at the Angelika in Greenwich Village, New York City). The publicity turned the format into its own sub-genre, which got old just as fast as it started. It was popular originally because many people were duped (or allowed themselves to be duped) into thinking it might be real video footage left behind by victims of some mysterious murderer. Unfortunately once everyone understood it was fiction, the genie was out of the bottle. It's like learning how stage magicians saw people in half. Once you know the secret, the act is no longer so appealing.
Nevertheless, filmmakers have attempted to repeat the formula and apply it in different ways. Frankly I thought Paranormal was better than The Last Exorcism because, even though everyone knew it was fake-reality fiction. Paranormal was fun to watch unfold, and was sufficiently spooky to sustain disbelief. The Last Exorcism's marketing team wisely didn't promote the movie as being "lost footage" or anything like that, because not only has the novelty run out, it's become more of an insult to the target audience.
The filmmakers simply told their story through the camera held by one of the characters. Which is not as easy at it sounds -- you have to look for excuses to keep that camera running without being contrived, so we don't miss important dialog or plot points.
The actors in The Last Exorcist did a fine job, especially Patrick Fabian who carried 90% of the movie on his back. If he couldn't sell us on the right mixture of ignorance, charisma, and genuine empathy, the movie would have been a dismal failure. The real problem with The Last Exorcism was that the setup took too long. Things didn't get "horrifying" until about the last quarter of the movie, and that didn't leave enough time to play it out. The other problem is that the sense of peril was forced. The only reason our main character, Reverend Cotton Marcus, put his team into danger is because he insisted on helping young woman and her family at all costs, even when he didn't know what was really going on, knew he was over his head, and wouldn't -- despite all rational thinking -- call the police. Unlike The Blair Witch Project, they weren't lost in the woods and helpless to get out of their situation.
I was also confused by the ending. I wasn't exactly sure of the motives behind the cult around the campfire. Were they against the demon or not? If they were against the demon, why did they attack our characters? I feel like I missed something.
A little more work on the script would have helped this movie.
However most people didn't see The Last Broadcast. It had no theatrical distribution. The Blair Witch Project took the exact same idea and executed it better in 1999. They were fortunate enough to land a limited theatrical release with Artisan Entertainment, who came up with a shrewd marketing campaign that drove an unprecedented amount of hype, causing it to sell out a day in advance in some theaters (such as at the Angelika in Greenwich Village, New York City). The publicity turned the format into its own sub-genre, which got old just as fast as it started. It was popular originally because many people were duped (or allowed themselves to be duped) into thinking it might be real video footage left behind by victims of some mysterious murderer. Unfortunately once everyone understood it was fiction, the genie was out of the bottle. It's like learning how stage magicians saw people in half. Once you know the secret, the act is no longer so appealing.
Nevertheless, filmmakers have attempted to repeat the formula and apply it in different ways. Frankly I thought Paranormal was better than The Last Exorcism because, even though everyone knew it was fake-reality fiction. Paranormal was fun to watch unfold, and was sufficiently spooky to sustain disbelief. The Last Exorcism's marketing team wisely didn't promote the movie as being "lost footage" or anything like that, because not only has the novelty run out, it's become more of an insult to the target audience.
The filmmakers simply told their story through the camera held by one of the characters. Which is not as easy at it sounds -- you have to look for excuses to keep that camera running without being contrived, so we don't miss important dialog or plot points.
The actors in The Last Exorcist did a fine job, especially Patrick Fabian who carried 90% of the movie on his back. If he couldn't sell us on the right mixture of ignorance, charisma, and genuine empathy, the movie would have been a dismal failure. The real problem with The Last Exorcism was that the setup took too long. Things didn't get "horrifying" until about the last quarter of the movie, and that didn't leave enough time to play it out. The other problem is that the sense of peril was forced. The only reason our main character, Reverend Cotton Marcus, put his team into danger is because he insisted on helping young woman and her family at all costs, even when he didn't know what was really going on, knew he was over his head, and wouldn't -- despite all rational thinking -- call the police. Unlike The Blair Witch Project, they weren't lost in the woods and helpless to get out of their situation.
I was also confused by the ending. I wasn't exactly sure of the motives behind the cult around the campfire. Were they against the demon or not? If they were against the demon, why did they attack our characters? I feel like I missed something.
A little more work on the script would have helped this movie.