Director: Steven R. Munroe
Year: 2015
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Possession
Plot:
Confined to a mental asylum, a troubled woman subjects a series of violent attacks and confrontations on the staff and patients within that slowly drives a former priest to conclude that she's possessed by a demonic being and must summon his faith to exorcism the creature out of her.
Review:
This ended up being a decent enough effort. Among it's virtues is the fact that this one manages to effectively utilize it's rather chilling horror setups rather effectively. Although it's all quite obvious, the early exorcism attempt at the house which sets his later banishment into motion is an effective opener with the various work on the pregnant woman possessed as well as the chilling result that gets this going on a strong note while the later incident at the apartment complex which leads to her incarceration is an enjoyable twist on conventions that plays off rather nicely. Helped along by the distorted, demonic voices continually calling out or the sudden outbursts of supernatural activity that come as a sudden shock to the afflicted individual that continually force themselves along here, this one manages to setup some convincing need for the later supernatural scenes.
Once this moves into her at the asylum, the supernatural situations here are far more enjoyable that enhance the need for something to be done against her. Starting with their initial encounter which results in the massive vomiting and supernatural attack that carries over into the numerous encounters inside her cell where she throws people across the room into the walls or causing strange encounters to the others at the facility that prove the tell-tale signs of possession. This includes the various scenes of the priest meeting up with her in the room where despite being chained up to the bed, the possessed girl still manages to engage in numerous physical and ethereal torments to try to convince him otherwise as this showcases all the usual tricks in the book. Utilizing the tried-and-tested techniques of demonic voice changes, words being carved into her flesh from within the body or spewing all manner of liquids at him while taunting him, these scenes are quite fun and enjoyable with a lot to like about them.
Once this goes into the actual exorcism, this one has a lot to actually like. Utilizing plenty of fine techniques to cleanse her while detailing the various methods she has to best him, the back-and-forth nature of their confrontation is long, engaging and rather fun. That it lasts for several rounds with both sides attempting to gain the upper hand which gives it a lot of fun that's far better than expected and really sells itself quite nicely. Although it goes for the routine elements here of repeatedly throwing holy water on the victim or placing crosses on their skin to hurling people across the room and taunting the priest with physical and verbal abuse, the lengthiness of the scene and the high intensity action contained within manage to raise it up significantly which is a nice part of what makes the scene so enjoyable.
The main flaw on display here is the fact that the ending is completely out-of-bounds with the rest of the story and serves no connection to the rest of the film. It really seems to come in from another movie entirely as it's tacked on nature goes completely against anything that had been told before and is simply there to add to the running time with the exorcism accomplished long before the ending which causes this surprise setup to come out of nowhere in order to make it even longer. As well, it has a disturbingly low level of sleaze present for such a story which is a bit surprising in that the typically profane and over-the-top performances aren't found as they normally are here. There's hardly any language or over-the-top torments here, just the typical tormented memories that don't really give this a strong bite. The cliche nature of this might also be a problem for some, consisting of virtually all the main tricks the genre has to offer and really only tacking on the later half's twist to really surprise which instead doesn't really offer much.
The cast here is also another rather big problem. Taking over the role of Molly Hartley, Sarah Lind doesn't really do that much in the role. She spends a vast majority of the film chained to the bed under heavy make-up signalling the possession which doesn't really allow her to have much of a personality or even really to allow her any kind of noticeable mark throughout here. It really doesn't seem like it should've been her and could've just been anyone since there's a flimsy connection to the past and that's a little distressing. Devon Sawa really seems miscast as the troubled Father John Barrow as he never really pulls off a priest-look at all. He still looks way too much like his stoner-slacker character that rose him to prominence in the genre and it's hard to remove him from that role here as he rarely looks troubled by the events that play out here which really lowers this one without a strong central priest performing the exorcism.
The lead psychiatrist at the facility, Dr. Laurie Hawthorne played by Gina Holden, comes off the best with her genuine care and concern. There's a bit of goofiness with her action roles in the final half, but it's a minor quibble as she really carries herself well here. The role of mention, Peter MacNeill as his friend Chaplain Henry Davies, is a lot of fun. He really does seem to be a concerned and helpful friend but that may or may not be the case here for a somewhat hit-or-miss acting style. Otherwise, it's not all that bad.
Overview: *** 1/2/5
Although it has a few issues here and there which do hold this back somewhat, the fact that it has a lot of enjoyable elements does manage to give this some wholly worthwhile elements. Give this a chance if you're into these kinds of somewhat serious supernatural or exorcism pictures, while those looking for more beyond these types of cliched films should heed caution.
Comments
Post a Comment