Review
br> “What the hell’s got into you?” – Carl.This movie kicks off with a way cool Priest of the “kicking arse for the Lord” variety going in to do battle with an unwanted demon tenant. Actually the possessed person looked more like a zombie to me, but then I don’t regularly perform exorcisms unless you count driving the spirits out of a bottle of tequila down the Cabana Lounge on a Friday evening. Unfortunately for Priest Cool he’s off his game plan. We get death by crucifix happening to some bystander who is never explained, and the Priest ending up blind. Now how ramped is that for a movie kick off!
We then jump to Carl and Anne Pederson who are moving into a new house with Anne’s younger sister, Gail. Anne is distinctly Catholic, her sister isn’t. Gail takes the bedroom over the garage because it will be just like having her own apartment. There’s some bollocks about a jeep if Gail goes to some academy, but let’s not digress from our hayride to hell.
Gail moves into the garage bedroom and straight away odd things start to happen. A picture frame moves by itself and drops off a bedside table, some freaky shadows are going down, floor boards creak, and doors open by themselves. Added to Gail’s fast track on the highway to hell is a neighbour Francine, who introduces her to hard liqueur and a Ouija board. This really can’t be good, folks.
Gail’s personality gradually changes along with her eyeliner. Not only does she try to seduce Carl but she’s also talking dirty to Anne. Carl and Anne call in Doctor Richard, who’s apparently a shrink or something. After a couple of sessions with Gail, Doc Dick suggests an exorcism, like you can have two for the price of one on any given Sunday.
When finally Gail starts showing signs of stigmata, the God Squad is called in. Priest Cool is joined by a couple of nerdy looking Priests and Doc Dick. The battle for Gail’s soul ensues. The power of Christ compels and all that ….
Is it just me or did the Asylum manage to kick a couple of goals with this journey into the diabolical?
When I first received this DVD, courtesy of the Yvette Movie Group, l must admit to being somewhat gun shy. The title bore a marked resemblance to The Exorcism of Emily Rose and the production house was the Indie venture The Asylum. How wrong I was. This movie was actually enjoyable in a sort of holy flock fashion.
Director Leigh Slawner clearly has zero budget – The Asylum pumps out a movie a month so that’s a given – but works with what he has. Some nice green tinting for the prologue piece, overhead pans, and heavy atmosphere going down. Slawner knows there’s not going to be a lot of CGI available so he holds off the scares until night time; all about people wandering around in the dark alone with creepy shadows and creaking floor boards happening. The Director holds his special effects budget for the most part until the final act, when we get everything but the kitchen sink thrown at us. Nice development with a huge payback for time spent getting there.
I was actually quite surprised at how well this movie was paced. Slawner goes all out in the first exorcism scene; that one is really on afterburners and sets the tone for what we can expect by act three. He then shifts down a couple of gears for the first act. There’s a slow getting-to-know the characters happening, some nice quiet scares, and of course indications that things aren’t going to be all bliss in the Pederson household.
Act two sees a steady increase in happenings, scary scenes, and pace. Gail is changing, and it’s not puberty. We proceed through a number of freak out scenes to keep you on the edge of your seat, then the Exorcism team arrive, Act three gears up, and it’s back to the afterburners until the final resolution.
Throughout the film the Director has an eye on his atmosphere, uses the dry ice as required, and really scores on the lighting effects. Slawner has drafted his movie with an eye for detail and lifts it above the no-budget exploitative movie I was expecting. Script-wise, though, there are some glaring holes. We have something in a white shroud zooming in the background at one stage – exactly what was the point there? Doc Dick gets a phone call with no one on the other end, but why? A few punch lines also manage to blow the tension being built up. The movie needed another editing with the spare time maybe put into the psychiatric evaluation of Gail: the old “when science fails you fall back on religion” idea. That would have rocked; give me a call next time, Slawner.
Another surprise was the lack of ripping that went down by the writer. Okay, we get a nod toward The Ring at one stage, another scene that went nowhere and could have been dropped. But apart from the clear influences via The Exorcist everything is pretty fresh.
The leads do okay in this one. Noel Thurman (Anne) was working for me and was believable as the Catholic person facing their worst nightmare. Griff Furst (Clark) was a bit wooden at times but managed to get a passing mark. David Shick (Dr Richard Thornhill) overdid it and came across as strictly amateur hour. Tom Downey (Father Thomas Bates) was pretty cool and thundered his way through his airtime.
The real star of the show was of course Erica Roby (Gail Bowers). An exorcism movie lives or dies by the actor playing the possessed person and Erica nailed that one. She had the facial features working for her, and really came across when required. Nice work; she carried the movie as required and hit all the right notes.
T&A is strictly a guy thing in this one. Every female character gets her top off at some stage and the movie is overrunning with boobs. We could do a collage or something, but that would be exploitative and not at all what the makers of Gail Bowers would appreciate. Excuse me while I pick myself up off the floor. The gals get .. uhmm … Father Cool, I guess.
Eliza Swenson provides a soundtrack that was better than middling. Some fairground music to start, a bit of Cajun, and enough eerie and creepy movements to appease the most discerning horror fan. Swenson pretty well matches what we see on screen, and goes somewhat beyond what the budget of this movie deserves.
We’ve got to say that if a cheap and cheerful Indie film factory like The Asylum is hitting 2006 with movies like Gail Bowers then it’s looking promising for the year ahead. The movie has pretty much a zero budget, no name actors, and the occasional logic problem, however it is saved by filmmakers wanting to craft something they can be proud of. The attention to detail displayed here should put most major studios to shame.
Parental advice would be to keep this one well out of the hands of the grubby rug rats. Besides the exorcism angle, there’s gore going down, and boobs!!!
Not entirely sure if this one will get a wide cinema release – read when hell freezes over – but worth checking if you note the DVD listed somewhere. You could do a lot worse than diving into this gruel as it makes some interesting additions to the exorcism sub-genre. Overall, I was glad I watched it and would give it my recommendation.