manuelasaez

At this point, we all know the tired story;

1. Girl is possessed 2. Church chooses a priest 3. Exorcism is performed 4. Demonic voices, poorly spoken world languages, throwing up weird stuff 5. Exorcism succeeds, everyone goes home happy

Why do they keep making these movies with this same basic, overdone and frankly tiresome formula? People who aren't Christian, nor truly believe in God (let alone Satan) making movies about demonic possession is akin to a person who only eats fast food making a movie about world cuisine. It comes off as forced, sorely lacking in authenticity, and just plain fake. The world is not as religious as it once was, where movies like The Exorcist could cause and existential threat to the well-being of society. No one really believes in or is actually scared of demons anymore, so why do they keep making the same movie, with the same plot points and storylines, over and over and over?

The cast was incredibly talented and certainly did the best they could with what they were given, even if it was rehashed tripe most of the time. Even the cast members that barely spoke 2 words played their parts well, and added to the overall effectiveness of the film. But when the movie is "just another" one in a litany of films that do the same thing, verbatim, I think they should be commended for making it work as well as it did.

My one GLARING criticism of this movie is the inclusion of feminist ideology in any fashion, escpecially as it pertains to church doctrine. The "reverend mother", in an ill-timed rant, complained about "taking orders from men all her life". Has she ever read a Bible? Does she know God and has she ever bothered to listen to and follow His order? Nuns MUST follow Priests because that is what GOD wants in his patriarchy. Criticizing this is not only heresy, but is against the very creation of God Himself. It goes to show that those that write these movies do not truly comprehend Christianity, which is why so many of these movies flat flat on their face.

Aside from the acting and a few (emphasis on FEW) special effects, there is literally nothing about this movie that you haven't seen before. It's every demonic possession movie almost to the letter (no crab walk or contortionist scenes in this one, thank God), but other movies have done this same story much better.

If you really want to see something unique, check out "The Cleansing Hour", the Thai movie "The Medium", and the South Korean films "The Priests" and "Dark Nuns". All of which do a superior job at telling possession stories without falling into the trap of copying lesser films.

I saw the creepy looking puppets and I knew this movie was right up my alley. I truly appreciate when people take risks in their art and storytelling, and this film has that in SPADES. I mean, I cannot sing enough praises as to how original and unique the style of the film is, and even after all my years as a fan of film, I have rarely come across films that actually make me take note in doing something few others have done before. The fact that it's gory and graphic in its violence seems like it might be comical in execution but was in fact even creepier than if it had been actual actors. I mean, I've seen dozens of movies with visceral human gore, but has anyone seen it happen to puppets? THAT'S the originality I so desperately seek, especially in horror films.

The story is a bit convoluted, especially towards the end, and the acting is REALLY hit-or-miss, but as far as seeing something you've rarely seen before and that might actually give you nightmares like it did for me, you'll be hard pressed to find anything close to the bizarre absurdity of this film.