You might be asking yourself, “do we really need another addition to this horror franchise?” The answer would be, most assuredly yes if it’s of the caliber of The Last Exorcism. It has very little in common with the original The Exorcist, so it can’t really be considered a part of the on going story. But it is an original addition to a very spooky genre.

This is of the handheld, rough documentary-type genre more along the lines of The Blair Witch Project than a slick Hollywood production. It’s produced by the very clever Eli Roth, who is best known, to those who are not fans of his horror films, as friend of Quentin Tarrantino and the actor who played the brutal “Jew Bear” in Inglorious Basterds. He always puts an original and gory spin on things, and doesn’t disappoint in his latest effort.

This is the slow-starting story of Cotton Marcus, played by Thomas Jane clone Patrick Fabian, whom you may remember from his appearances on Big Love. Cotton is a third generation exorcist who is tired of the ruse, and decides to expose the fakery in this, his last exorcism, in front of a documentary crew. He contends that his powers over the devil and his demons are more psychological than actual – that when his subjects witness what they believe to be an exorcism, they cure themselves of their maladies.

But when the crew arrives at the hard-scrabble Sweetzer farm, they find slaughtered animals, blood stained clothes, and a seemingly gentle and naive young woman (an acrobatic Ashley Bell) who is full of devilish surprises. Her hard drinking father and creepy, uncooperative brother add to the mystery. Everyone, including the audience, starts to wonder if this could be the real thing.

If you like movies that are nicely tied up in the end with ribbons and bows and perhaps a wedding or frantic airport confrontation scene, this film will not be your cup of tea. Many people criticize the ending as sloppy and unsatisfying, but I see at as one of the only possible ways to close, in keeping with the rest of the film. It’s original, it’s fun and it’s frightening. What more could you ask of a horror film?

—Lisa Johnson Mandell