Exorcismus (2010)

Fifteen year old Emma begins to suffer from horrible fits of convulsions, and frightening visions. Her behaviour deteriorates and becomes violent. Tests and examinations fail to shed any light on the cause. When Emmma is sent to see a psychoanalyst, she has her cousin secretly record the session. But something terrible happens that Emma is unable to recall, and the doctor dies during the session. As the situation continues to spiral out of control, Emma listens to the recording of the session and begins to believe that she is possessed by the devil.

Her conservative parents refuse to believe her, instead believing she is just acting out or, thinking logically, that there must be some medical explanation. But Emma is convinced, and she seeks the help of her Uncle Christopher, a Priest, for an exorcism. Her parents are wary, particularly since a young boy died during one of Christopher's previous exorcisms.

But ultimately they are convinced and the exorcism begins, leading to a classic confrontation between good and evil which is fraught with plot twists and surprises.

Exorcismus has received mixed reviews and has been greeted with hopefulness by many horror fans. After all, it comes to us from the producers of [Rec], which was a major success and a highly effective horror film. At the same time, Exorcism movies will undoubtedly be compared to The Exorcist for time immemorial. In this case, the comparison is apt.

In both films, a female youth is possessed by a demon, or the devil. This leads to strange and violent behaviour, speaking in strange voices, levitating, and so forth. In both cases a priest is brought in to save the day. In both cases this is looked on with suspicion until the parent(s) see it for themselves. One could go on.

There are a few differences as well. In Exorcismus, the main possessed protagonist is not an innocent young girl, but a rebellious teenager, a young woman with a mind of her own whose rebellion against her controlling parents leads her to trouble. This takes something away from the effect of horror at the transformation from a total innocent into a monster. It also arguably sends a negative message to the viewer about blind obedience to authority.

The plot is also more complex, perhaps in an effort to stand out from the recent slew of exorcism themed films. But the jumping around and the attempts at shocking plot twists take away from what The Exorcist did so well. This film fails to build in intensity and horror as it progresses. Instead it chugs along at more or less the same pace and intensity until its conclusion. If nothing else, at least there is a clear reason why the devil would possess this young woman, but to say what it is would be a spoiler.

Much of the acting is will done. Sophie Vavasseur's performance as Emma was well performed overall. The same can be said of her parents (Richard Felix, Jo-Anne Stockham), the Priest (Stephen Billington), and her stunning cousin, Rose (Isamaya French).

Unfortunately the good performances fail to make up for the otherwise lacking film. Exorcismus just doesn't deliver on the scares and brings little new to a sub-genre of film that has been increasingly bombarded with new offerings in recent years.

2 levitations out of 5
Not rated: contains violence, frightening scenes, language.