Blackwater Valley Exorcism

I disagree with others that said this has no value. It's so bad it's good. Has hilarious dialogue, horrible acting and silly sex scenes. Watch it for laugh. It's more entertaining than the crappy horror that pretends to be serious these days.

I'm not sure if this is a comedy or not, but I found it pretty comical. Isobel is possessed by the devil. Somehow a perverted priest and the gardener are gonna' fix that. Part exorcism and part soap opera, you'll at least get some laughs. There's the paranoid jealous dad, satanic sister, Valley of the Dolls mother, and then the cowboy boyfriend; all there to help the skirt chasing priest fight the demons from dear Isobel. It sometimes felt like a Jerry Springer episode, but I actually paid to see this. Instead of the cool head-twisting, sailor cursing, and crucifix humping that Regan did in The Exorcist; you get a lot of Isobel bouncing on her bed like it's a trampoline, hiding in her closet, and jumping from a hay-loft. Yeah, it's Chuck E. Cheese gone wild. So, if you want to watch a quote unquote horror film that is worth a few laughs while you wait for the predictable ending ... this is your movie.

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.

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

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.