The Last Exorcism (2010)

A troubled evangelical minister agrees to let his last exorcism be filmed by a documentary crew.

Director:

Daniel Stamm

Writers:

Huck Botko, Andrew Gurland

Stars:

Patrick Fabian, Ashley Bell, Iris Bahr

7 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Patrick Fabian	...	Cotton Marcus
Ashley Bell	...	Nell Sweetzer
Iris Bahr	...	Iris Reisen
Louis Herthum	...	Louis Sweetzer
Caleb Landry Jones	...	Caleb Sweetzer
Tony Bentley	...	Pastor Manley
John Wright Jr.	...	John Marcus
Shanna Forrestall	...	Shanna Marcus
Justin Shafer	...	Justin Marcus
Carol Sutton	...	Shopkeeper
Victoria Patenaude	...	Motorist
John Wilmot	...	Spindly Man
Becky Fly	...	Becky Davis
Denise Lee	...	Nurse
Logan Craig Reid	...	Logan Winters

Storyline

In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the evangelical Reverend Cotton Marcus was raised by his father to be a preacher. He agrees that the filmmaker Iris Reisen and the cameraman Daniel Moskowitz make a documentary about his life. Cotton tells that when his wife Shanna Marcus had troubles in the delivery of their son Justin, he prioritized the doctor help to God and since then he questions his faith. Further, he tells that exorcisms are frauds but the results are good for the believers because they believe it is true. When Cotton is summoned by the farmer Louis Sweetzer to perform an exorcism in his daughter Nell, Cotton sees the chance to prove to the documentary crew what he has just told. They head to Ivanwood and they have a hostile reception from Louis's son Caleb. Cotton performs the exorcism in Nell, exposing his tricks to the camera, but sooner they learn that the dysfunctional Sweetzer family has serious problems.

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Plot Keywords:

exorcism | documentary crew | cult film | found footage | satanic ritual | 

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Taglines:

Eli Roth & Strike present

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for disturbing violent content and terror, some sexual references and thematic material

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

France USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 August 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cotton

Filming Locations:

Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$20,366,613, 29 August 2010, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$41,034,350, 26 September 2013

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$67,738,090, 26 September 2013

Company Credits

Production Co:

Strike Entertainment, StudioCanal, Arcade Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The script took three years to complete.

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Goofs

Upon entering the barn for the second Exorcism scene Nell is seen to be wearing a pair of Dr Marten boots, the amount of mud on the boots varies throughout the scene.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Shanna Marcus: Cotton!

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Connections

Referenced in Chelsea Lately: Episode #7.31 (2013)

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Soundtracks

Black Paws, Snow Deep
Written and Performed by Caleb Landry Jones (as Caleb Jones)
Courtesy of Caleb Jones

User Reviews

An underwhelming effort

Ambiguity is a powerful tool for a writer, filmmaker, or any creative person. But there's a fine line between ambiguity and lazy storytelling. The Last Exorcism, unfortunately, makes use of the latter. The film poses many questions but doesn't feel the need to answer most of them, meaning at the end of the film, the audience isn't so much pondering the themes of religious doubt and the adverse effects of shame so much as wondering what the hell just happened.

The lack of clarity is only made more frustrating by the overly shaky handy-cam cinematography. I normally enjoy this mode of filmmaking, and it was proved to be effective for horror films in last year's phenomenal breakout Paranormal Activity, but Daniel (the cameraman) has a bit too shaky of a hand for the style to work well here. I actually got a headache from some of the later, jumpier scenes.

It's a shame the film meanders to such a laughable conclusion, because it starts with such promise. The first half hour or so is surprisingly funny, effectively parodying the genre (specifically exorcism-based horror films) and presenting a religious slant to the proceedings that makes things interesting initially but ultimately seems cheap and even stupid. Two fine performances from Patrick Fabian and Ashley Bell are wasted as the material goes from subtly self-reflexive to blatantly generic. The horror that unfolds along the way rarely generates any real scares, settling instead for bursts of weirdness, cheap jumps, and ultimately, an unattractive mixture of stupidity and discomfort.