There's nothing like a quality horror movie. Only a good horror flick can scare the bejeezus out of you despite your foreknowledge that a shock is on the way. That said, I don't care for the gross factor that seems to be mistaken for scary these days. As a result, most modern horror movies don't scare me. So when I saw the trailer for The Last Exorcism, I had my doubts.
The Last Exorcism is about a minister (Patrick Fabian) experiencing a crisis of faith. He knows he's very good at spreading the word of the Lord, but lately he's just faking it every Sunday without heart. He also hates exorcisms because he sees them as a way for perfectly healthy people to be killed by a religion he no longer understands. The minister vows to go on one last exorcism with a film crew to expose the sham — and maybe save a life at the same time. What follows tests everything both the preacher and the audience know to be real.
This article appears in Aug 26 – Sep 1, 2010.