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The problem with THE LAST EXORCISM, for the majority of its running time, is that it's more interesting than scary. It's easy to get engrossed in the story even if the moments that are meant to be scary aren't milked as effectively as they should be. "Interesting" isn't quite as fun as "scary" but it's still a good enough attribute for a film to have. If that were that, I would still give it a mild recommendation, but something happens during the final minutes of the film that I find hard to forgive: plagiarism. Let's be honest, if plagiarism were an ACTUAL crime that filmmakers could be accused of, there would be too many convicted directors and screenwriters. Ideas are stolen frequently from other films, often to make worse films, but sometimes to make better ones. The problem with this particular movie is how SHAMELESS the plagiarism is. The final moments of THE LAST EXORCISM don't even TRY to conceal how much they borrow from both ROSEMARY'S BABY and THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. The similarities are even more shocking than what actually happens to the characters during these final moments.
The film tries to make use of the same first-person approach taken by THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. A character is filming the events, thus giving us the impression that what's happening is real. Unfortunately, the approach doesn't work here. As opposed to THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, we are constantly, acutely aware of the fact that THE LAST EXORCISM is just a movie, and a lot of it has to do with the acting. Ashley Bell is the only exception, giving a courageous performance as the girl who may or may not be possessed by a demon; unfortunately, all the other actors would be at home in a made-for-TV movie. One of the many reasons why BLAIR WITCH, and to a lesser extent PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, worked so well was the presence of unknown actors who behaved like real people throughout the entire running time. There's never a doubt that we're watching something staged in THE LAST EXORCISM.
There are several moments during this film in which the characters are moving about in the dark, and all of these moments had the potential to be terrifying, but sadly, they turn out to be intriguing at best. As we watch THE LAST EXORCISM, we're interested in seeing how it's all going to turn out, but we're not on the edge of our seats while waiting to see how it's all going to turn out, even though we SHOULD be.
*SPOILER WARNING*
A discussion of this film doesn't feel complete without further comment on the ending. What looks to be the INITIAL ending of the film would've been a wonderfully ironic, interesting way to conclude it. It initially seems as though the girl who we thought was possessed was simply pretending to be possessed because she's ashamed about the fact that she's pregnant. This would've added a touch of realism to the proceedings and would've been a departure from what often happens in this type of movie. Of course, though, there's the last-minute twist, which would've been perfectly fine had it been good. First of all, the ending leaves one confused as to what were the roles of the girl's father and brother in what was being done to her. But the biggest sin here is the one I mentioned already. The makers of ROSEMARY'S BABY should at least try to sue for plagiarism - nothing may come of the lawsuit, but the makers of THE LAST EXORCISM should at least be slapped on their wrists for this shameless imitation. Similarly, the very last moments of the movie feature a character running with a camera while the final, horrific events start to unfold. No matter what, this film could never aspire to be as great as THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (still one of the best, most underrated horror films ever conceived), but that doesn't make the similarities any less outrageous.
5/10
