Exorcisms in films seem to be ten a penny these days with a new fright-fest popping up every week. I’m being over-dramatic, but it’s very hard for a horror film to come out these days with a unique twist and unfortunately The Last Exorcism follows a formulaic plot to the near end.

The plot is simple enough; a film crew is following a pastor who is going to be showing how he fakes exorcisms for one last time after reading about a child dying. A pick of a random letter later and they’re off to find a family struggling to cope with their supposedly possessed daughter.

A quick exorcism later and they’re off. Seriously, it feels as if the film has ended. Now up until this point everything has been fairly humorous and documentary like. After leaving however they quickly find their plans scuppered and return to the family farm. The film quickly slips into a more serious role, with some bone-jarring parts, but the humour from the first act conspires to undermine any real tension this might bring.

As everything moves towards the final acts it quickly becomes apparent what’s happening and ultimately… you just don’t care. After a twist partway through you’re left disbelieving of the cast. It is a good ending, albeit as one would expect with lots of loose ends, but it just lacks the punch that would be needed to pull it out of the usual run-of-the-mill horror.

Overall, The Last Exorcism exhibits all of the trademarks of your standard horror with a good cast and light hearted beginning. It’s better than could be expected, especially if all you’ve seen are the trailers which let it down. For a not-quite-too-scary flick it’s worth a watch.

My rating: 6/10