With entries like "The Exorcism of Emily Rose," "The Rite," and "The Last Exorcism" dotting the genre landscape, it would be easy to say the exorcism genre is breathing its last gasps and cursing the public like it was a priest splashing it with holy water.
IFC Films' "Exorcismus," if too small to be a savior for the genre, at least marks a rare solid entry in it. It's well-acted, character-driven and appropriately low-key, culminating not in a priest-vs-possessed-girl one-on-one, but is complicated by others as well.
"Exorcismus" is the story of teen girl Emma Evans (Sophie Vavasseur), who has reached that stage where her parents no long understand her and the world isn't faring much better in figuring her out, or vice versa.
When she begins having what is first thought as behavior problems, her parents (Stephen Billington and Jo-Anne Stockham) pull her out of school, hoping to straighten her out.
Things only get worse, though, as Emma starts blacking out, hallucinating and hurting others and herself. Psychiatrists don't help; in fact, one mysteriously dies while in a session with her.
Of course, as the situations escalate, her parents resort to bringing in Emma's uncle (Doug Bradley of "Hellraiser" fame), a priest who had a purportedly possessed girl die while he was performing an exorcism. He tells them to trust him and that he can help Emma.
At that point, the film becomes a devil-vs-humanity yarn, with a revelation that creates a nice little twist to the film's climax.
Overall, the film presents a nice amount of tension and a few skin-crawlingly creepy sequences and a few out-and-out scares.
The film mostly relies on the tension of a teenage girl being possessed by a demon, and my one complaint is that the demon pops up almost on cue when the situation dictates it.a
The film actually serves as a solid metaphor for that time in a person's life: Aren't all teens a possessed by some malevolent spirit? Emma's own reactions and inability to control her own body and emotions are the real terror here, and the hurt she causes her parents and friends lines up nicely with most teens' experiences (minus the levitations and crucifix fears, anyway).
This is a bare-bones DVD release with no special features and is part of IFC's latest marketing strategy, which is a very limited theatrical release and a VOD and DVD release within a short window. And it's really OK to be able to take a film on face value, right?
Film: 3 Yaps Extras: 0 Yaps