The Last Exorcism

[SimonV]

great review Glassman but Id still rather watch paint dry than watch this.

Plus its dropping rapidly with the Rotten Tomatoes Community, down to 41% now and will get lower.

I think youve got to be a horror fan to enjoy it, so Ill stick to the rom coms

[TheyCallMeMrGlass]

WOW!!!
5 stars for your new review Mr Glass....v detailed and excellent!
Was anyone rude enough to ask Eli Roth about the false marketing campaign?
Apparently I read the director is going to work with Lars Von Trier next

No, I'm afraid I didnt pluck up the courage to ask either about it as I had that one question in my mind to ask them I was too enraptured with their personalities and being the coward that I am, didnt dare to spoil the mood! I'd be like "uh...um...hi....Enjoyed it...uh yeah...my question...um...yeah enjoyed it..."

But to be fair, some did ask some questions bordering on criticsm. 2 of those questions I mentioned in my last post. I wish you were there, I know you would have asked the question fearlessly!

I'm not familiar with Lars Von Trier, not seen any of his films but just read his filmography, and his films sound quite fascinating. Which do you recommend watching first?

[TheyCallMeMrGlass]

Thanks for your great review Mr Glass. Yes Wow!

Now I wished I went too!

Well, Eli Roth tolds us to spread the word, he's depending on us and if what SimonV is saying is true, we got our work cut out, lol!!

[superhero]

Yeah thats the problem with these Q&As, it's like a lovefest mostly. Any "negative" questions need to be phrased delicately, but Eli Roth sounds like he would be up for any kind of questioning.
Lars Von Trier? Maybe Breaking the Waves, well Dogville is the most accessible I think.

[kevinknapman]

Impressive write up TheyCallMeMrGlass.
I was there too and I can honestly say that I really enjoyed it too (The film and the Q&A).
I'd been ready to dismiss Eli Roth as a second rate William Castle. A showman more interested in cheap shocks and thrills than anything deeper. Well I was wrong. In fact anyone going to this expecting that will be disappointed. The Last Exorcism is far more intelligent and layered than I expected it to be. Although I'm sure that's more down to indie filmmaker Daniel Stamm's involvement than Roth's.
An interesting spin on the mock documentary format that uses this approach to detail one man's loss of faith and how he regains it. Crucially throwing in a healthy amount of humour in it's early stages just in case that sounds too heavy (the banana bread recipe sermon is hilarious). The decision to take time to get to know the characters before bringing on the horror pays dividends too. You get to care about the characters and what happens to them. The acting is a major part of why this works. Both Patrick Fabian and Ashley Bell are perfect in their roles but Louis Herthum as the father is really good too.
I do have some reservations though. I would have liked them to have had more faith in the documentary format. The use of multiple angles and reaction shots in the second exorcism kind of took me out of the film (despite Stamm explaining in the Q&A that it was intended to do the opposite). It undermined the reality feel that for most of the film they actually manage to do quite successfully.
The ending I'm also not sure about. It felt a bit too Hammer Horror to me and a little out of place in comparison to the rest of the film.
Still this is superior horror fare. Not the scariest movie ever but an interesting and intelligent one.

As for the Q&A that was great fun too. I was actually sitting next to two of the guys that walked out before the Q&A and they actually decided before the film started that they weren't going to hang around once the end credits started. One of them said that Q&A's are always boring. How wrong they were. All four guests were all good value.

[tilly]

Glad it worked out well theycallmemrglass! I can't wait to hear what my brother thought of the film!

[howyoudoin]

Brilliant write up Mr Glass! It almost felt like I was there myself.

Really pleased you were able to make good use of the tickets.

All the best,

HYD

[valda]

WOW!!!
5 stars for your new review Mr Glass....v detailed and excellent!
Was anyone rude enough to ask Eli Roth about the false marketing campaign?
Apparently I read the director is going to work with Lars Von Trier next

No, I'm afraid I didnt pluck up the courage to ask either about it as I had that one question in my mind to ask them I was too enraptured with their personalities and being the coward that I am, didnt dare to spoil the mood! I'd be like "uh...um...hi....Enjoyed it...uh yeah...my question...um...yeah enjoyed it..."

But to be fair, some did ask some questions bordering on criticsm. 2 of those questions I mentioned in my last post. I wish you were there, I know you would have asked the question fearlessly!

I'm not familiar with Lars Von Trier, not seen any of his films but just read his filmography, and his films sound quite fascinating. Which do you recommend watching first?

Hey Mr G, I was convinced that the guy in the front was Superhero being a bit critical as he said he would, no idea who it was really

[valda]

Glad it worked out well theycallmemrglass! I can't wait to hear what my brother thought of the film!

shame I didn't get to meet anyone, yet again

I was rather scared when it started getting a bit creepy, but the ending didn't do it for me. It reminded me of a Hammer Film, either The Devil Rides out or something like that from the 60's. I loved all the performances, especially Cotton, he was great. Now after the Q & A, I've sort of changed my mind at the ending, having listened to what it was meant to be. I may see it again sometime when its on DVD, and see it it made more sense vx

[superhero]

Thats the problem, they "explain" the ending to you and then you go...awww...It's so brilliant...
Thats the brilliance of films, one person's rubbish ending is another person's masterful ending....
I just thought it was lacking...