Executive produced by shock horror auteur Eli Roth, The Last Exorcism began riling up certain members of the public before a single frame had been screened. Shortly before its release 15 years ago today, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority banned a blood-soaked promo poster following complaints it would distress the nation’s impressionable youth. Unfortunately, thanks to a whiplash ending which left more questions than answers, many of those undeterred by such attention-grabbing tactics exited the theaters in similar pitchfork-wielding mode.
In the film’s defense, this response was largely born out of disappointment that the cliche-free, thought-provoking chills displayed in the previous 75 minutes had been sacrificed for an overload of cheap thrills. Instead of adhering to found footage’s law of diminishing returns, The Last Exorcism had attempted to give the well-worn genre a much-needed shot in the arm.
