THE WASHINGTON POST • FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2010
30
THE LAST EXORCISM
Simple scares more effective than demonic twists and turns
by Sean O’Connell The exorcism that ignites Daniel
Stamm’s unnerving new chiller, “The Last Exorcism,” is supposed to be a sham, a sim- ple hoax performed by a dishonest Protes- tant preacher who hopes to expose the church’s ancient practice as fraud. The scares that transpire once the man
of faith’s plan goes awry, however, are very real. Drawing inspiration from recognizable sources — the documentary filmmaking style of “The Blair Witch Project,” the in- vestigative-journalism tactics of a “20/20” exposé — Stamm creates an anxious psy- chological horror that’s vaguely familiar yet refreshingly original. It’s also tremendously creepy, a mes- meric tiptoe through controversial debates on fundamentalist religions and psychol- ogy. It maintains its subtle tensions until the crucial final minutes, when the myster- ies of Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland’s screenplay must be explained with an- swers that, to be honest, fall a little short. Before that, “Exorcism” delivers. It es- tablishes a clever premise, suggests a few meaty spiritual conundrums and earns ev- ery one of its uncomfortable squirms. Much like Father Damien Karras in Wil-
liam Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” — still the high-water mark for Hollywood’s demonic
era’s benefit, thereby poking a hole through the ancient religious task. Need- less to say, things don’t go as planned. Revealing any more would strip “Exor-
PATTI PERRET
In “The Last Exorcism,” Ashley Bell plays a girl thought to be possessed. Patrick Fabian, left, with Louis Herthum, center, and Caleb Landry Jones, is asked to cure her.
possession genre — the Rev. Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) has misplaced his faith. To him, religion is a sideshow, a practical and lucrative way to both feed his family and bolster the wavering faith of his Baton Rouge congregation. Marcus, who comes from a long line of
exorcists, would be the first to tell you he’s performing from the pulpit. Yet the cocky reverend still bristles when someone asks if he’s a fraud. Marcus sees value in the service he provides his Deep South com-
munity — that is, until a news story crosses his desk regarding a young boy who is suf- focated to death by a fervent, amateur ex- orcist.
Disgusted by the charade of Christian-
ity’s exaggerated exorcisms, Marcus sets out to expose the deceitful practice. He in- vites a camera crew on a mission trip to ru- ral Louisiana where Louis Sweetzer (Louis Herthum) fears his timid teenage daugh- ter, Nell (Ashley Bell), is possessed. Marcus intends to fake Nell’s exorcism for the cam-
O’Connell is a freelance reviewer.
PG-13. Area theaters. Contains disturbing violent content and terror, some sexual
BBB references and thematic material. 87 minutes.
cism” of its visceral impact. It may even be a mistake to mention specific films you’ll likely discuss after viewing “Exorcism,” though it’s safe to say Friedkin’s master- piece and another horror staple from the late 1960s (this one directed by Roman Po- lanski) would make for excellent compan- ion pieces. Stamm’s disciplined picture certainly has more in common with those films than, say, “Cloverfield,” “Paranormal Activ- ity” or other recent spellbinders that used jiggly, cinema verite techniques to shake up the audience. Stamm’s tricks are basic. The director tweaks us with an unexpected sleepwalker, boiling water, whispering voices chanting Latin passages and the sound of a crying baby when there’s no in- fant in the house. The simplicity of each new scare only seems to disturb us more. Look deeper, though, and you’ll find se- rious questions aimed at devout followers of any religion who cling to faith at the ex- pense of logic. Bell may bend and twist in her best Linda Blair impersonation as the once-innocent Nell wrestles with her per- ceived demons. But “Exorcism” would col- lapse in a puddle of demonic green vomit if not for Fabian’s unyielding performance. As Stamm’s drama settles in, it becomes less the story of a possessed girl and more the tortured journey of a snake oil sales- man forced by the hand of God to stare into his own murky soul. I’d be terrified to imagine “Exorcism” without him.
weekend@washpost.com
lebanon from 29
forward enough coming from the no- nonsense commanding officer. When the gunner, Shmuel, sees a car coming, he needs to fire two warning shots then blow the thing up. But Shmuel is a bit of a deli- cate flower — a conflicted novice with fro- zen fingers and a gag reflex — and his in- ability to follow orders leads to the first of many disasters. He focuses on the faces of a family of hostages, paralyzed by the choice of sparing the lives of the enemy with the innocent captives or ensuring the safety of his comrades on the ground. Along with the plot’s steady torment, a
collection of elements reels the audience into the action to astonishing effect. Shaky filming mimics the rumbling tank until it almost feels as if the theater seats have be- gun to move. The unsettling camera work is buttressed by an effective use of sound. Beyond a spare soundtrack of disconcert- ing single notes, we are assaulted with the noise of combat: the deathly growl of the tank, a helicopter descending overhead, a missile making contact with machinery. Meanwhile, the camera tells a full story
by simply zooming in on a pair of eyes. Shmuel’s are pitiable and horrified, while a mother searching for her daughter ap- pears dazed yet desperate. The eyes of a horse in the road, innards exposed, reveal the final moments of life as a tear begins to stream down the animal’s face. The ex- pression of the tank’s ineffective com- mander, Assi, exposes the onset of shock. Dizzy and adrift, he begins swaying to mu- sic blaring outside the tank when the men end up in the wrong place.
While some moments tend toward the
heavy-handed, the overall effect remains haunting. As chaos looms, Assi begins to shave — a troubling, bizarre sight under the circumstances — and orders his men to clean up the tank: “You can’t run a war in this mess,” he tells them. But, really, you can’t run a war without
it.
R. At Landmark’s E Street Cinema. Contains grisly war violence, strong language and brief nudity. In Hebrew and Arabic with English subtitles. 94 minutes.
stephanie.merry@
wpost.com BBB ⁄2
1
takers from 29
friend Rachel (Zoe Saldana) has taken up with Jake. The Russian mobsters who provided Ghost with the info on the ar- mored car are saying nyet, nyet, nyet. The whole thing is a soap opera, but with much bigger bullets. Fortunately the melodramatic aspects
of “Takers” (“We’re all takers,” murmurs Gordon. “It’s what we do.”) are good, be- cause otherwise the movie would be pure muddle. Luessenhop and his antic cam- era are after a kineticism that eludes them: He shoots too closely; he’s practi- cally crawling up his characters’ nostrils with his unhinged camera. Sometimes there’s no center of gravity at all, so all that motion is rendered meaningless: To get a vicarious thrill, you have to at least know where you are. It’s up to the actors to provide the trac- tion, and that’s a mixed bag. Elba and Dil- lon are solidly engaging and, at the risk of dwelling on “Heat,” do the same thing De Niro and Pacino did: hold up opposite ends of a movie in which they barely come into contact. The rest of the casting
is more about marketing than drama. T.I. and Brown, aiming to join the estimable ranks of rappers-turned-actors (can we call them raptors?) turn in passable per- formances. T.I.’s is one-note but memora- ble; Brown’s is all but forgettable save for a prolonged chase scene that grows tire- some long before it’s over. Walker and Saldana don’t have enough to do. Chris- tensen is like part of the plumbing. What this shoot-’em-up could have used was more complexity in its storytell- ing: Compared with some of the better- known titles in the genre (“Riffifi,” “Top- kapi,” “The Asphalt Jungle”), “Takers” is strictly smash-and-grab. It could have used fewer people, too, or at least fewer poses: A story this thin can only prop up so much ’tude.
weekend@washpost.com Anderson is a freelance reviewer.
PG-13. Area theaters. Contains adult content, violence and vulgarity. 107 minutes.
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