What do you think of a tablet app about a do-it-yourself
exorcism complete with step-by-step procedures and animated videos? How about
improvising the holy water by dipping a dead priest’s finger on regular water?
Or chopping off a dead body into small pieces and converting them into
something like protein shakes stored in jam bottles? If you are up for these
kind of ridiculous but fun ideas amidst demonic attacks, then better watch
Marcus Nispel’s horror flick Exeter.
The movie opens up with a woman’s mysterious suicide. Then clips
of the Exeter School of the Feeble Minded are shown, along with an account of
the history of the place, its demise and abandon. Presently, the asylum is
undergoing renovations under the watchful guidance of a priest named Father
Conway (Stephen Lang). Patrick (Kelly Blatz), Father Conway’s protégé, finds himself
in big trouble when his friends decide to hold a party at the asylum. After a
night of party, sex and booze, Patrick, his brother Rory and five friends learn
about the asylum’s dark history when they play a vinyl record backwards. And when
they attempt to practice levitation, a series of demonic possessions and
paranormal activities ensue and haunt them one by one.
Director Marcus Nispel did a wonderful surprise with Exeter. Though he is much associated
with successful remakes like “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (2003) and Friday
the 13th (2009), he equally made a commendable original horror film
with Exeter. The film is fast-paced
and its one-and-a-half-hour duration is a jam-packed entertaining treat of
perfect and well-balanced gore, violence, humor and drama. Unlike other films
of similar theme, Nispel forgo showing unnecessary sex and nudity in the film. There
are few sexy flashes of skin, like the asshole Drew running around in
underwear, Brad’s muscular body and Amber’s low tight-fitting jeans, but they
do not distract the overall suspense of the movie.
The movie is pretty violent but it spares the audience of
the vomiting details of decapitation, lacerations and executions. There is
blood but not too much to drown us. One of the most unforgettable scenes in the film is
when one of the main characters chopped off his friend’s face. The face is
split into two; however, the demonic possession continues and the half face
remains eerily alive. Nispel also added tons of spot-on humor in the film. The DIY
exorcism, Wi-fi in the desolate asylum and witty dialogues are some of those.
The story also unfolded well. Though the first half of the
film seemed to be just running around in circles, the other half gave way to shocking
revelations and major plot twist. Spoiler alert but one of the main
protagonists turns out to be the real enemy. The film then takes a breathless
climax and a satisfying ending. No loose ends and no promises for a sequel.
Other than the right timing and shot, the suspense of the
film is brought alive much by the plausible performance of the actors. While Stephen
Lang steps up perfectly as the strange Father Conway, the other casts (Gage Golightly, Brittany Curran, Kelly Blatz, Kevin Chapman, Brett Dier and Michael Ormsby) deliver the correct flare of naughtiness, fear and drama.
Exeter is surprisingly
a good horror movie. It may not be on the same level with “Insidious,” “The Cabin
in the Woods” or “Paranormal Activity,” but it has several unique and enjoyable
moments. With its right blend of suspense, violence and drama, we might
consider putting it on our Friday fright night lists. Since the movie tends to
be generic and forgettable, I give the movie three and a half stars.
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