Wednesday, March 18, 2015

JULY 6, 2012 2:48PM

UPDATE: A Banner Season for Demons (The Devil Inside)

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TDI
An update on this Banner Season for Demons:  I finally watched The Devil Inside (opened January 2012).  The completionist in me needed to see it after writing the article below this update, and despite being warned away from it by various sources.

The various sources were right.
 
The Devil Inside has this going for it: effective scare moments, an engrossing opening mystery, a somewhat interesting conceit about a cabal of rebel Roman Catholic priests (the plot shares the idea of a Hogwarts for exorcists that I described below about The Rite), and Suzan Crowley’s undeniably chilling turn as the possessed Maria Rossi.  Crowley probably portrayed the most frightening cinematic possession victim since Linda Blair (possibly Anthony Hopkins too, but frankly his possession was less sinister than his turn as Hannibal Lecter).

Sadly, the film proves yet another exercise of “much too vulgar a display of power,” as Regan McNeil’s Pazuzu would say.  Its found footage plot device is beyond tired, the ending is as dumb as you may have heard it is, and despite the religious gothic atmosphere it tries so hard to build (and that isn’t tough to do when filming in Rome) it remains very theologically shallow.  It’s essentially a Body Snatcher movie wrapped in religion.  

I call The Exorcist the 800-pound demon in the room for a reason.  Despite the literal supernatural antics of the Devil, right in front of your face, the genre’s parent still gives us some beautiful gnostic wisdom - a human example of Christ’s love left to you to interpret as you see fit.  Part of what makes the possession genre so fascinating to me is its potential to comment on theology and mysticism, but in the genre only four of the five films in the Exorcist franchise touch upon that in any interesting, thought-provoking way.  The Devil Inside certainly didn’t care to try.
 
One side tangent: a priest in the movie mentions “about 800 Satanic cults active in Rome.”  Italy has been in the perpetual grip of a Satanic panic for a while now, even as the U.S. finally seems to be moving away from its own.  Amanda Knox was caught up in it.  I myself had the pleasure of spending 6 months in the city of Firenze, and my boarder, a lovely, deeply faithful Italian Protestant woman, was quite worried about Satanism and the occult.  I wasted much time in fascination clicking through a whole set of links about Italy’s Satanic panic - posted by Diane Vera, a woman who calls herself a theistic Satanist!  I’d love to hear more from fellow OS blogger Beth Winegarner on this subject of Italy’s mania.  
 


October 31, 2011

goya-borgia
 “It gets complicated when no proof of the Devil is somehow proof of the Devil.”-    Father Michael Kovak in The Rite
The “banner season” for the current wave of demonic attack/possession films started last year, and is slouching towards January with the upcoming release of Rome-based theological thriller The Devil Inside.  What’s going on?  Is torture porn no longer capturing the imagination and fear of the horror fans and moviegoers?  Or, is this spiritual torture porn?  Is it a resurgence of belief and evangelical fundamentalism that’s making this theme a trend again?
Me, I suspect it’s nothing more than Hollywood’s mixed attempts to capture the genuine and sensational electric current of fear generated by the 600 pound demon in the room, The Exorcist.  I was susceptible to that current, and I didn’t grow up in a particularly religious household.  Can you really point to another film that created so much fright and trauma in people (no, Glitter doesn’t count)?  Are film creators and executives genuinely interested in the subject and the questions that it brings up, or do they want to find the next “hot creature” and sell their souls to it for revenue? 
Some of the films under discussion might have answers to that question, depending on your point of view.  Spoilers below for all of them.
Last Exorcism
 
The Last Exorcism (released August 27, 2010) goes out of Catholicism into the American Protestant response to demonic possession, which I like.  A summary paraphrased from IMDB:
In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the evangelical Reverend Cotton Marcus agrees that the filmmaker Iris Reisen and the cameraman Daniel Moskowitz make a documentary about his life as an exorcist. Cotton tells that he questions his faith. Further, he tells that exorcisms are frauds but the results are good for the believers because they believe it is true. When Cotton is summoned by the farmer Louis Sweetzer to perform an exorcism in his daughter Nell, Cotton sees the chance to prove to the documentary crew what he has just told. Cotton performs the exorcism in Nell, exposing his tricks to the camera, but sooner they learn that the dysfunctional Sweetzer family has serious problems.
A good companion text for this movie is Michael W. Cuneo’s “American Exorcist: Expelling Demons in the Land of Penty."  I highly recommend it.  It discusses how exorcism is becoming a ‘cottage industry’ in many Protestant evangelical churches, and is being used to expel demons of ‘depression, laziness, apathy,’ etc., like some kind of mystic Prozac.
I loved The Last Exorcism up until the very end.  I loved the premise - an evangelical, professional exorcist working backwards to debunk possession in order to prevent further harm and superstition.  Not only was the possession creep factor high and well executed, but performances by Patrick Fabian as the likeable Cotton Marcus and Ashley Bell as the afflicted Nell Sweetzer were superb.  The mystery surrounding Nell's possession was engaging, as was Cotton's exposition of his bag of tricks. 
But then, the film turned to a "much too vulgar a display of power."  Eli Roth of Hostel fame was one of its producers, and many were suprised that he could be involved in such an understated horror film.  Alas, the understatement didn't last.  MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE LAST EXORCISM: the climax involved a plot twist shared by another film discussed below.  While it fit well in Paranormal Activity 3, it cheapened and shlockened what up until then was a fascinating treatment on the topic of demonic possession.
The Rite
 
The Rite (released January 28, 2011) is moody, serious and beautifully shot.  It takes us back to a highly Catholic take on the subject, and it is based on the book ”The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist” by Matt Baglio which claims to be founded upon on true events.  I never take that claim seriously.  I also suspect that the bizarre “true cases” found in Malachi Martin’s “Hostage to the Devil” have informed this film.  The premise involves a novice priest with lack of faith problem – yawn, again – being invited to join a sort of Hogwarts for exorcists run out of The Vatican.  The young priest Michael Kovak (played by Colin O’Donoghue) is a skeptic almost from the start and though the exorcism course is meant to be a way to keep him in the priesthood, he keeps pressing his instructors on matters of science.  As he resolves to leave for good, he is asked to study under Father Lucas Trevant (played by Anthony Hopkins) someone highly experienced in driving out demons.  We witness two dramatic exorcisms (a pregnant woman and a boy) that, although they contain highly fantastical elements, don’t necessarily riff The Exorcist overmuch.
Then, Father Trevant himself becomes possessed, leading to the conclusion involving Father Kovak and his red herring journalist love interest.  Kovak finally regains some deep Catholic faith.  As you can expect a possessed Anthony Hopkins is indeed terrifying and enigmatic, even if you can’t tell the difference between the demon and Dr. Hannibal Lecter. 
insidious
 
Switching gears and leaving religion mostly out of it, Insidious (released April 1, 2011) didn’t feature a demonic possession, but it would have if the evil hadn’t been stopped in its tracks.  It was a scary tale of household demonic attack, complete with all the trappings – a psychic advisor, a spiritually beleaguered child, progressive entrapment and a family secret.  A little-used New Age twist, a father-son talent for astral projection, was used as a plot device.  There were good frights along the way via the various apparitions and hauntings. That doesn’t last.  The climax of the film might be original but suffers from showing us too much of what we shouldn’t see.  Barbara Hershey as the grandmother of the afflicted child brought an extra tinge of residual creepiness from her own, highly disturbing 1983 movie The Entity about a rapist incubus.
PA3
 
Finally, we come to Paranormal Activity 3 which I watched on October 23rd.  I think this series does tap into what’s truly frightening about the premise of demons and spirits invading your own house – every little creak, bump, breeze and refrigerator hum as you’re trying to go to sleep.  The third installment in the series continues the tradition of a swarthy good looking man of the house videotaping the supernatural goings-on in his home. all the way to his doom.  If you follow the franchise you know that it’s not a ghost plaguing this family, it is in fact a vicious demon, always formless and faceless.  It was brought into this family’s life by a covenant, and in Part 3 we see a whole lot more of who and how.  MAJOR PA3 SPOILERS FOLLOW.  There is a frightening and expertly realized climax that avoids obvious didactic exposition and rewards all the hints and small pieces of information to be gathered throughout the franchise.  The compulsive videotaper Dennis stumbles upon a multigenerational demon worshipping coven responsible for the hauntings and subsequent possession throughout the entire PA franchise.  More importantly, the film is set in the 80’s, appropriately enough since it’s now dealing with the Satanic Panic as a motif.  The coven apparently has the ability to “brainwash” and alter recollections, reminiscent of claims of multiple personality disorders and suppressed memories by alleged victims of satanic ritual abuse.  The cult has goats of Mendes and weird occult triangle symbols.  It’s interesting that this franchise wants to revisit the lunatic thought of those days, especially when the characters in the films are so modern and seem so beyond that sort of hooey.  Also, I’m stupidly tempted to read into the nature of the cult (women) and the nature of the victim who receives the most violent and brutal death (the men of the house, though certainly not the only victims).  Retro in more ways than just its 80’s setting?

So, with all these films, there seems to be mostly a superficial interest in the horror of demonic attack and possession, which is certainly appropriate for Insidious or Paranormal Activity 3.  The explorations of faith and questions about the universe that are raised in films like The Rite are unsatisfactory, while The Last Exorcism dropped the ball on a fresh premise.  
Mostly the genre seems to be unable to escape an old trope – God as a cosmic extortionist.  You’ve lost your faith?  Well, just watch this innocent girl get incessantly tortured by demons, watch for impossible supernatural goings on, and you’ll be back at Mass in no time!  This irritated me in The Rite, and it irritated me in 2006’s The Exorcism of Emily Rose.  Now consider again the genre’s unbeatable parent, The Exorcist.  Yes, another priest lacking faith being tested via demons – but – Ellen Burstyn’s Chris MacNeil didn’t come out of this ordeal as a believer.  In fact no one did – no one said “I saw a little girl levitate and spin her head 360 degrees – there IS a God!” 
The audience however, witnessed the Christ-like sacrifice of Father Damien Karras.  There endeth the faith lesson.

UPDATE: I am now listening to an NPR interview with William Peter Blatty.  "The Exorcist"'s 40th anniversary edition (the novel, that is) is revised! He says the novel remains a "novel of faith", not of horror.  Reported changes include a new character, an extended scene and new dialogue.

Comments

Chiller, I agree that the original "Exorcist" tops them all. It terrified me when I saw it as a prepubescent with my Mom. Being raised Catholic only added to my terror. I really liked "The Exorcism of Emily Rose," though. Did you know that "The Exorcist" is being made into a play starring Brooke Shields (Ellen Burstyn role) and Richard Chamberlain in the Max von Sydow role? Mrs. Karras in the film was played by an old Greek woman who lived on my block in Jackson Heights. She had done some theatre in Greece and I believe some in the states, but had never been in a film. Thanks for the reviews.
Erica, thanks for stopping by! I'm excited about the stage play, because i'm willing to bet the material holds up in a live adaptation. Blattys sequel to the novel, Legion, was also recently made into a stage play. As for Emily Rose, I can't quite put my finger on why i didnt care for how it dealt with the material. Maybe it was the entirely too pat way it presented the fictionalized Annelise Michel as a martyr and saint and proof of the Divine. Who knows, i should probably give it another chance
Want a twist on demons? Read my book. Ha ha. Great post and a Zumapick.
Thank you for calling a spade a spade and current devil movies superficial! Amen to that! And why oh why isn't the concept scary foundation enough? Dear Lord I miss Hitchcock....
I was about to respond to your fright and trauma question but you beat me to the punch in bringing up/disqualifying “Glitter” (although those first five minutes are weepingly funny). It’s interesting to see just how long a shadow “The Exorcist” still casts on its later competition.

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