[fatherbowdern]

Since the debut of the first trailer for The Last Exorcism, there are immediate symbolic bonds between this film’s treatment of demonic possession with that of The Exorcist and The Exorcism of Emily Rose. As noted in my prior post, The Last Exorcism exploits the same nauseating camera movements similar to its mock-documentary-style predecessors, The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. Watching another cerebral-hemorrhaging film while being bombarded with stale and overwrought elements of past horror films should definitely send shivers up the spines of paying audiences.

In its 2:11 trailer, The Last Exorcism drenches the screen with familiar red herrings that draws too much attention away from something unique and original. Once again, all possessed individuals must be young females dressed in “Regan-esque” nightgowns with Cirque-de-Soleil acrobatic abilities. Even Jodie Foster’s character Nell Kellty from the film Nell would find it impossible to disconnect the dots between Regan’s spiderwalk and Emily Rose’s bodily contortions. The Last Exorcism plagiarizes the twisting, cracking neck scenario, void of the 180- to 360-degree rotations, along with the bloody-crotched theme of the most historic horror film in cinematic history, The Exorcist. At this point, it seems the only thing missing is the green-bile vomit (maybe).

One last issue is the barn connection. Yes, the barn connection. On the heels of the disastrous film, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, why these writers chose to follow in the same sinking footsteps is “beyond comprehension.” Emily Rose’s exorcism takes place in the family’s barn. In The Last Exorcism, it is time again for a performance of the rites of exorcism in the family’s barn. Perhaps there is something about the smell of barnyard animal feces that helps drive away demons because something already stinks about The Last Exorcism.

Father Bowdern

[Author]

Posts