  Exorcism genuinely frightening despite ending FILM | Chuck Koplinski I’m of the opinion that the best horror films are low-budget affairs. In the past, cheap black and white film stock shot on the fly gave movies like Night of the Living Dead a cheap aesthetic that lent an organic quality to films of this sort. It added a more realistic sense of horror. Though shot in color, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre sports a similar feel, as does The Blair Witch Project, which uses a documentary-like approach to achieve this tone. Daniel Stamm’s The Last Exorcism achieves a similar you-are-there feeling. It not only delivers effective scares but provides a powerful look at how faith can be shaken and restored in the face of overwhelming adversity. Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) is an exorcist who’s on the ropes. Facing a crisis of conscience, he invites a film crew to accompany him on his last exorcism as he’s intent on telling all that most of what he does is a lie. Answering a call from Louis (Louis Herthum), a fundamentalist farmer from Louisiana, Marcus isn’t expecting much when he first encounters Ashley (Ashley Bell), a troubled girl whose father thinks she’s possessed. That is, until the young lady does a few things that defy explanation and suddenly the exorcist starts to think he’s finally stumbled upon the real deal. Stamm keeps things moving at a rapid pace, effectively building the suspense while undercutting it at times with effective humor. There’s little time for the audience to put all of the film’s pieces together, which we come to realize is the point when we get to the film’s ending which will leave some scratching their heads and others infuriated. Still, until the last few minutes, the movie delivers some genuine scares that will stay with you long after the credits roll, as will questions of just how flexible Miss Bell really is. Contact Chuck Koplinski at [email protected]. 
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