Blackwater Valley Exorcism

I have to agree with the previous reviewer. Although the Kristin Erikson did a great job of playing the possessed girl, I seriously don't think that Isabelle, the character she was playing, was possessed. I have seen people have psychotic breaks due to sexual abuse, and they never made it clear whether or not the father had actually abused her or not. I also had to watch some parts of it over again, to make it clear as to what the letter said, what the characters' names were, and I'm still not clear on a few things that happened, whether they were real or not. I'm trying to find the "original" story that it was based on, to compare facts, but I can't seem to find anything about it online.

It wasn't a bad movie, but some of the dialogue was incredibly cheesy. Special effects wise, the movie wasn't bad for a Grade B, pretty much, and those possession scenes made it all worth while... that is, if you have nothing better to do. LOL

After their daughter's strange behavior alarms them, the discovery of her demonic possession being the cause of it all sends to parents to a local priest and attempts an exorcism to save her.

This here turned out to be quite the decent and wholly unoriginal take on the genre. The biggest thing with this one tends to be it's rather blatant and stereotypical use of the genre clichés which are quite apparent simply due to its' placement in the genre. This one really tends to wallow in those stereotypes featuring the sinful priest, the lustful temptress and the servant who's lost his way which all manages to fit into the traditional tropes of the genre. It's all stuff we've seen before and doesn't really alter that much in the way this goes for the traditional stories in these efforts. Where it differs from the norm is the actual exorcism scene itself which is pretty far removed from what usually happens here as this avoids the vomiting and levitation so frequently used in favor of trickery and deception which has quite a nice difference here but showcases another big flaw in that this one being way more talky than anything else. Nothing here really happens as it decides to spell out everything instead of the action route. The back-story for each of the characters and how they come to be stuck in the situation which is really lame and doesn't matter how it affects the action in the film of the film which suffers greatly because of how dull it is through all this talking rather than going for the action. The exorcism scene being such an utter afterthought that it takes up the final fifteen minutes makes this quite a rather unsatisfying effort just for the sheer brevity of it all really hurts this one overall as well as the other flaws within this one. About the only main saving grace for this one is the lead-up to the exorcism as the events themselves are handled well and create a pretty terrifying picture. Otherwise, this one is pretty flawed.

Rated R: Graphic Language, Violence, Nudity, mild sex scenes and themes of incest.

So being the horror freak that I am I noticed this on the shelves of the local blockbuster and rented it.

Wow, was I surprised at the quality of this Lionsgate horror gem. First of all its got genre faves Jeffrey (Reanimator) Combs and James (Donnie Brasco & Satanic) Russo giving the usual solid performances. Next, it takes a totally new take on the portrayal of an Exorcism and the special features on the disc indicate that a real Catholic Bishop was used to consult in regard to the ritual so you may be surprised at the efforts the filmmakers went to set this aside from other lesser fact-based Exorcism films that have come out in the last few years.

Lastly, this film maintains a uniquely creepy and dark atmosphere through out the film that had me at the edge of my seat trying to figure out what was going to take place next. Compared to the cliché and formulaic horror attempts that have been hitting the marketplace in the last few years I highly recommend checking this out, as I don't think you'll be disappointed.

1st watched 5/27/2007 - 6 out of 10(Dir-Ethan Wiley): Better than expected exorcism movie based on an actual event. In this movie, the demon doesn't just stay in the one body but tries to influence the entire ranch in an area called Blackwater Valley. The possessed girl named Isabella begins the movie being found in the woods devouring a live rabbit. Her response as to why it happens is a meek "he made her do it"(referring, of course, to the demon inside her). Initially the family doesn't know what's happening to her and wants to deny anything supernatural but their little girl is rapidly becoming something other than the person they know. Throughout the movie, little bits and pieces of the family's mixed-up life is revealed which is definitely unique for this type of movie. It's obvious that the demon wants to possess more than just the girl but also ruin the entire family and does this by revealing different episodes in their soap opera life to make them feel guilty about their past. The priest brought in to perform the exorcism is far from being an outside observer. He is a former lover of one of the daughters and has obviously been involved in the family's affairs for awhile. This gives the demon more fuel for it's fire(so to speak), but also gives the priest a greater reason to cure the girl. The ending of the movie was pretty disappointing, but the rest of the movie was actually a refreshing spin on this type of movie where the demon starts getting into everyone's heads -- making them do things that they wouldn't normally do. I also like the fact that they kind of showed you how the Catholics actually do the exorcisms and didn't skimp on the specifics. They also didn't throw in a lot of extra over-the-top gore or silliness that would make the story unbelievable. This movie was obviously made with less of a budget than other movies of this kind but they handled the story very well and made this actual event appear somewhat possible -- for this I commend the filmmakers and deem this a worthwhile movie.

The movie started very well..so far Isabelle's exorcism could be believed....but later, gosh!!! I didn't know if it was a horror movie, a drama one or a Must Not See one! The possessed creature attacking the sheriff had no connection at all with the movie....the make up!! well it looked pretty real at beginning, but at the end, last part of movie, the make up (especially teeth and eyes) was very exaggerated. If you want a good "EXorcism" movie watch "The Exorcism of Emily Rose".

Together with "Hard Candy" (Totally boring, pathetic plot and ending), these two movies are the worst I've seen from Lionsgate!! But well the movie company has given horror movie fans excellent films, but with this one, you will wish you never rent it!! Exorcism movie fans, just stay with two "The Exorcist" and "Emily Rose's Exorcism"