Blackwater Valley Exorcism

After their daughter's strange behavior alarms them, the discovery of her demonic possession being the cause of it all sends to parents to a local priest and attempts an exorcism to save her.

This here turned out to be quite the decent and wholly unoriginal take on the genre. The biggest thing with this one tends to be it's rather blatant and stereotypical use of the genre clichés which are quite apparent simply due to its' placement in the genre. This one really tends to wallow in those stereotypes featuring the sinful priest, the lustful temptress and the servant who's lost his way which all manages to fit into the traditional tropes of the genre. It's all stuff we've seen before and doesn't really alter that much in the way this goes for the traditional stories in these efforts. Where it differs from the norm is the actual exorcism scene itself which is pretty far removed from what usually happens here as this avoids the vomiting and levitation so frequently used in favor of trickery and deception which has quite a nice difference here but showcases another big flaw in that this one being way more talky than anything else. Nothing here really happens as it decides to spell out everything instead of the action route. The back-story for each of the characters and how they come to be stuck in the situation which is really lame and doesn't matter how it affects the action in the film of the film which suffers greatly because of how dull it is through all this talking rather than going for the action. The exorcism scene being such an utter afterthought that it takes up the final fifteen minutes makes this quite a rather unsatisfying effort just for the sheer brevity of it all really hurts this one overall as well as the other flaws within this one. About the only main saving grace for this one is the lead-up to the exorcism as the events themselves are handled well and create a pretty terrifying picture. Otherwise, this one is pretty flawed.

Rated R: Graphic Language, Violence, Nudity, mild sex scenes and themes of incest.

I'm not sure if this is a comedy or not, but I found it pretty comical. Isobel is possessed by the devil. Somehow a perverted priest and the gardener are gonna' fix that. Part exorcism and part soap opera, you'll at least get some laughs. There's the paranoid jealous dad, satanic sister, Valley of the Dolls mother, and then the cowboy boyfriend; all there to help the skirt chasing priest fight the demons from dear Isobel. It sometimes felt like a Jerry Springer episode, but I actually paid to see this. Instead of the cool head-twisting, sailor cursing, and crucifix humping that Regan did in The Exorcist; you get a lot of Isobel bouncing on her bed like it's a trampoline, hiding in her closet, and jumping from a hay-loft. Yeah, it's Chuck E. Cheese gone wild. So, if you want to watch a quote unquote horror film that is worth a few laughs while you wait for the predictable ending ... this is your movie.

I just rented Blackwater Valley Exorcism because the cover and pictures looked terrifying, and I don't normally watch movies that are automatically released onto DVD, but this looked so interesting and scary! I was very much in the mood for a good scary film and to me, possession is one of the scariest subjects to watch or learn about. Just look at The Exorcist or The Exorcism of Emily Rose, both terrific movies that made break-throughs not only horror wise, but story as well.

Blackwater Valley Exorcism is about a girl, Isabelle, who from the get go is automatically possessed, so we can't even tell what kind of a person she was to begin with. But a former wife beater turned priest is on the case with a gardener...? I know... I know. Then they go into several other stories with the priest and Isabella's sister, and the priest hit the sister and messed around with Isabelle? I'm not sure, then we get into a story with Isabelle's dad and his questioning of his wife's faithfulness to him.

I mean, the story just goes into too many directions and wasn't well developed at all. Not to mention that the exorcism didn't seem authentic at all and more of a just scare your pants off type of a film, which I didn't like at all because I couldn't take it seriously. Whoever directed and wrote this clearly had no idea where to go or how to direct the story well, so I wouldn't really recommend this.

2/10

So being the horror freak that I am I noticed this on the shelves of the local blockbuster and rented it.

Wow, was I surprised at the quality of this Lionsgate horror gem. First of all its got genre faves Jeffrey (Reanimator) Combs and James (Donnie Brasco & Satanic) Russo giving the usual solid performances. Next, it takes a totally new take on the portrayal of an Exorcism and the special features on the disc indicate that a real Catholic Bishop was used to consult in regard to the ritual so you may be surprised at the efforts the filmmakers went to set this aside from other lesser fact-based Exorcism films that have come out in the last few years.

Lastly, this film maintains a uniquely creepy and dark atmosphere through out the film that had me at the edge of my seat trying to figure out what was going to take place next. Compared to the cliché and formulaic horror attempts that have been hitting the marketplace in the last few years I highly recommend checking this out, as I don't think you'll be disappointed.

The movie started very well..so far Isabelle's exorcism could be believed....but later, gosh!!! I didn't know if it was a horror movie, a drama one or a Must Not See one! The possessed creature attacking the sheriff had no connection at all with the movie....the make up!! well it looked pretty real at beginning, but at the end, last part of movie, the make up (especially teeth and eyes) was very exaggerated. If you want a good "EXorcism" movie watch "The Exorcism of Emily Rose".

Together with "Hard Candy" (Totally boring, pathetic plot and ending), these two movies are the worst I've seen from Lionsgate!! But well the movie company has given horror movie fans excellent films, but with this one, you will wish you never rent it!! Exorcism movie fans, just stay with two "The Exorcist" and "Emily Rose's Exorcism"