trailer break: ‘The Last Exorcism’

I also saw the trailer for the first time after seeing the film, and was quite surprised with the way it presents the film. While I think it will get more people in to see the film (along with the hugely misleading poster), I believe the actual film to be far better than the trailer lets on.

I hope this is the start of a huge career for Ashley Bell.

I must admit that it's not a genre I watch much of, but I will tentatively voice the question: is it always the ladies who get in a pickle and need to be exorcised?

Saw it tonight at a preview screening. I think it's the first time I've been in an audience where lots of people reacted loudly when the end credits started.

I liked the film, but it didn't quite work for me at mixing horror with horror deconstruction -- the balance wasn't quite right. Also, my remembering Patrick Fabian from his rather comic appearances on Millennium and Veronica Mars probably didn't help me take his character seriously (hard to find gravitas in Ratfinkovich, sorry!), though he worked really well for the first half of the film, and the overall cast was pretty strong; and some of the cinematic tricks, like the atmospheric cutaways interspersed between scenes, undermined the effectiveness of the central narrative conceit.

I'm pleased that it passes the Bechdel test, though.

(By reacting loudly, I don't mean clapping and cheering, but more -- hooting or exclaiming in disbelief and protest.)

I hate the movie poster for this film. It's an image of the poor girl contorted in a sort of "W" shape, wedged into the corner of a ceiling. I dunno, the film really seems to be into contortions. Defiled virgin-type loosing control over her body....can't do that with a boy. Pfft. I'm trying to think of possession film with a male victim and "Fallen" (various men and women were ridden by the demon) comes to mind, but the body violation stuff wasn't played up in the movie.