- Film Review
- Reviewed By Adam Smith
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3 out of 5
There's not much particularly original about this demon-themed shocker, which bolts the now distinctly tired-looking fake documentary gimmick (à la The Blair Witch Project) to a plot not a million miles removed from the grandaddy of possession palavers, 1973's The Exorcist. But the direction and performances are solid enough to hold the attention right up to the maddeningly mishandled ending. Cotton Marcus (the excellent Patrick Fabian) is a disillusioned evangelical pastor who, having decided to turn ecclesiastical whistle-blower, grants a documentary crew permission to film him faking an exorcism. All goes to plan at the conveniently isolated farmhouse location, until the possessed child (the extraordinarily flexible Ashley Bell) turns out to be more demonically afflicted than anyone had prepared for. It's all moderately spooky for the first hour or so, and Bell's contortions (achieved, we are informed, without special effects) are alarming enough, but things take a turn for the overwrought in the final reel. And if this is meant to be "found footage", who added the clichéd horror score?
Plot Summary
Horror thriller starring Patrick Fabian and Ashley Bell. An evangelical preacher makes a documentary to demonstrate the fakery of exorcisms, but the found footage reveals his own awakening on encountering a possessed farm girl.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Cotton Marcus
- Patrick Fabian
- Nell Sweetzer
- Ashley Bell
- Iris Reisen
- Iris Bahr
- Louis Sweetzer
- Louis Herthum
- Caleb Sweetzer
- Caleb Landry Jones
- Pastor Manley
- Tony Bentley
- John Marcus
- John Wright Jr
- Shanna Marcus
- Shanna Forrestall
- Justin Marcus
- Justin Shafer
- Shopkeeper
- Carol Sutton
Crew
- Director
- Daniel Stamm
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