The Last Exorcism...

As with Devil, this appears to be another horror movie coming out that won't suck. My first reaction when I saw the trailer, however, was to roll my eyes and groan. Another possessed-girl-freaking-out-her-family-so-bad-that-they-have-to-call-in-a-priest-to-save-the-day-only-to-have-everything-go-horribly-wrong movie. The Exorcist was the original and best but that doesn't stop arrogant filmmakers from thinking they can do better. The Exorcism of Emily Rose was a decent film only because the story was presented during a criminal trial in which the exorcist was accused of murder. The Last Exorcism is presented in psuedo-documentary form like in The Fourth Kind or The Blair Witch Project. Been there, done that I say. So you could say that I wasn't impressed. But...

I really shouldn't do this, but I visited RottenTomatoes.com to get the consensus of the country's top film critics. I had a hunch it would be skewered. It was not. Even Peter Travers from Rolling Stone liked it. As did Time and Entertainment Weekly. One critic said it will scare you out of your underpants while another said it will scare you right the hell out. Okay.

I'd give you a story synopsis but you already know what it is. The actors are unknowns and I'd never heard of the director. This is not a bad thing, of course. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait for DVD to tell you whether it lives up to the hype. I don't drop nine bucks on movies anymore unless it's something like Lord of the Rings. I've been burned way too many times.

It's out in theaters today.