The Last Exorcism

The “found footage” horror movie has become a staple of low budget film-making. But they’re hard to get right and for every hit like REC or Paranormal Activity, there’s a painfully underwhelming Diary of the Dead.

This latest offering is a mock documentary following a former child evangelist and exorcist now determined to expose the exorcism "industry" as a pack of lies. Or the first part is and it works well as a decent facsimile of an ITV2 documentary on the subject. But when the emphasis shifts to him taking on a supposedly “possessed” girl on an isolated farm, it all falls apart.

It just can’t resist being a conventional horror film, and despite some very creepy scenes, the more horror concessions it makes, the less convincing it all becomes. Where is the spooky incidental music coming from?? Enthusiasm is great but it can make you lose track of your original intentions. Somewhere the Blair Witch is spinning in her grave. [Scotty McKellar]