THE RITE- Review

"Spinning heads and pea soup" sounds almost like a Dr. Seuss story about exorcism, but it's an SFX cliche made famous by The Exorcist, which is arguably the finest film ever made on the subject, and name-checked in The Rite, which is decidedly less memorable. However, it does boast a supporting turn from the venerable Sir Anthony Hopkins, even if it's actually a film about the continuing adventures of the world's worst priest.

The rubbish cleric in question is Michael, a young man who comes up with quite a flawed scheme to enrol in a seminary to study for the priesthood and gain a scholarship for a top-notch education. He plans to flout his commitment once his education is done, but doesn't realise that even the Catholic Church isn't that dumb. So with potentially crippling financial payback looming over his head, he's assigned to the eccentric Father Lucas Trevant, one of the church's veteran exorcists.

Early on in The Rite, I realised that there was more of Father Ted in here than there was of The Exorcist. That "spinning heads and pea soup" line would be fine if screenwriter Michael Petroni had anything new up his sleeve, but he has nothing we didn't see six months ago in The Last Exorcism, a superior and still rather underrated film. I could entirely enjoy a film that was Father Ted meets The Exorcist, but to be honest, the unintentional humour that kept me going in this film wasn't that funny.

It also claims to be based on true events right at the beginning, only to backtrack minutes later in the opening credits, which tells us that the film is "suggested by the book by Matt Baglio". After a raft of truly excellent films based on true stories, like The King's Speech and The Fighter, this seems poorly timed, making it tantamount to calling Donnie Darko a true story because it was "suggested" by A Brief History of Time. Here was me thinking that horror films had graduated from "based on a true story" scare-mongering, onto the less condescending model of Blair Witchery and found-footage constructions.

But let's be frank- I cannot conceive the idea of a single person being frightened by The Rite. Truthfully, there is nothing in it that is frightening. I speak, of course, from the standpoint of an atheist, but if you're scared of the Devil, that idea of evil and demonic possession has been done elsewhere, and so much better. This film runs to 114 minutes, and really has little to show for it except for the notion of an exorcism as a palliative in an ongoing battle against Satanic infestation.

The major problem is the casting of Colin O'Donoghue in the role of Michael. He's no Patrick Fabian, that's for sure, and so there's not much in the way of attachment to his character. As a leading man, he's continually shown up by co-stars Toby Jones and Ciarán Hinds, which might explain why they're both relegated to parts that really could have been cut, to tighten up a film that is way too long. In particular, it's a shame to see Toby Jones doing so little, because he's a fantastic actor who disappears after the rambling and unnecessary first act.

Anthony Hopkins gets the run of the production, really. He's top-billed, and his face is on the poster, and rightly so because he's easily the best thing about this. He plays Father Lucas as a showman, but one who still believes in the battle he is fighting. It comes back to that notion of the palliative exorcism, instilling a belief in the possessed person that they are winning the battle, and to do that, Hopkins exudes the confidence of an eccentric uncle. Later in the film, he's given the opportunity to really exercise his skills as an actor. He refuses to phone it in, and this film really reminded me of what a good actor he is.

Hopkins' performance is a bright spot in The Rite, which has to be seen as a failure on a basic level because it's not scary in any way, shape or form. However, many sites seem to list the film's genre as mystery or thriller, on which merits it would be slightly more of a success. It's quite an ungainly effort that doesn't really deploy the interesting notion of palliative exorcisms as effectively as it could have done. The humour might be unintentional, but coupled with Anthony Hopkins, it makes this overlong sermon just about watchable.

The Rite is now showing in cinemas nationwide.
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If you've seen The Rite, why not share your comments below?

I'm Mark the mad prophet, and until next time, don't watch anything I wouldn't watch.

Exorschism- THE LAST EXORCISM Review

In the vein of other recent found footage horror films, The Last Exorcism covers the ultimate assignment for Father Cotton Marcus, guerilla style. The Marcus men have long been preachers, passing down the tricks of the trade in phoney exorcisms along the way. Cotton's scruples have come to the fore when he realises that more zealous exorcists are actually hurting the supposedly possessed rather than helping.

With a crisis of faith, some special effects and a small documentary crew, he aims to expose the trade of exorcism by showing on camera how he and so many others have went about in their line of work for so many years. However, the case he chooses as his last exorcism isn't as clear-cut as he first thought- is innocent young Nell Sweetzer mentally ill like so many of those Cotton has helped, or is she possessed by a real demon?

The ending is poorly executed. That's what you're hearing, right? All of the word of mouth around this film since its release has been fixated on the final two minutes of the film, and possibly with good reason. Nevertheless, to make a bullet point of the film's chilling punchline is to do its makers a disservice. Above all else, The Last Exorcism is a damn good horror film.

Is it a scary horror film? Well, not to me, but then all films with this subject matter are on the backfoot with me as a viewer- I'm an atheist, so that old horror adage of telling yourself "it's only a film" is just a given when it comes to religious horror. What this one did very well is entertain me. I can't think of a horror film in recent times that's made itself as accessible and enjoyable as this one.

I can definitely see this one really creeping out those who do have the fear of God (and in turn, the Devil) in them though. Director Daniel Stamm builds a strong atmosphere from the moment Cotton arrives at the Sweetzer's farm, playing with the audience's expectations by showing us how certain our hero is that this will all be very simple. And that's played wonderfully by Patrick Fabian.

Here's a puzzler for you- name me a good performance in an American horror film from the last ten years. They're not non-existent, but I bet you couldn't name, say, ten off the top of your head. So often in recent times, characters are little more than disposable killing fodder in the mean-spirited brand the genre has taken up in the Saw and Final Destination franchises. By contrast, the filmmakers here care about these characters, and they make us care too.

That's exclusively Patrick Fabian's province for the first 20 minutes or so. How good is he? Think Sharlto Copley in District 9. Fabian gives an absolute knockout performance as the jaded preacher, whose quick charm and confidence makes an audience feel safe, as he lets them peek behind the velvet curtain of exorcism practices. Then the curtain closes, and the horror ramps up, and Fabian is just as good there too.

Wisely, Stamm doesn't evoke The Exorcist much, beyond a quick one-liner from Cotton about Roman Catholics having "the movie". Our winsome and possibly possessed farm girl Nell, played marvellously by Ashley Bell, doesn't do anything involving 360-degree head rotations or pea soup, which gels with the ambiguity of her condition too. No, the film this is most like on a structural level is District 9, working well with the mock-doc format as opposed to trying to desperately bluff the audience into thinking this really happened, like The Fourth Kind.

With the exception of sporadic musical cues and occasional lapses into a two-camera setup where there should only be one camera, it holds up very well as a faux documentary for the first 80 minutes. Then there's that ending I mentioned. I should clarify, I've seen the film twice now. The first time I saw the ending, I despised it. I felt angry and cheated, and felt that Stamm had fell at the last hurdle and resorted to the most heavy-handed fumbling of a conclusion imaginable.

Second time around, I knew what you're in for. And it works. Alright, it's still poorly executed- after getting to know the characters so well, they're not served properly by how abruptly it ends, but hey, at least it's not an incompetent ending- the second time around, you see just how the screenplay has foreshadowing seeded throughout. The ending certainly shouldn't put you off seeing the most fresh and interesting horror film ever to have Eli Roth's name slapped on it. This is the guy who was judging a wet T-shirt competition in Piranha 3D not two weeks ago, and now his name is on a horror film miles away from the leering and hyper-violent shockers he's pumped out for the last few years.

Follow these instructions carefully. See The Last Exorcism. Then whether you like the ending or not, see it again. Because if you do like it, you'll be happy to give the film another outing, and if you don't like it, I hope you'll find the same renewed appreciation that I did. This is a clever, well-paced film with terrific performances and a very strong central enigma throughout. It has flaws, definitely, but I think we definitely need to see more films like this, and less of the mind-numbing horrors that bring out cardboard cutouts instead of characters. The power of Christ compels you!

The Last Exorcism is now playing in cinemas nationwide.
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If you've seen The Last Exorcism, why not leave a comment on the film and/or my review? If by any chance you've seen it twice, tell me if I'm wrong about the ending. Believe me, I don't just mellow as much as I have about any old shitty ending.

I'm Mark the mad prophet, and until next time, don't watch anything I wouldn't watch.