Film

The Last Exorcism

A cynical exorcist arrives at a Louisiana farmhouse to debunk possession on camera, expecting an easy mark. What he finds instead is something genuinely wrong—a found-footage horror film that's far more interested in slow-burn dread than jump scares. It's for people who like their horror intelligent and unsettling, who appreciate a premise that subverts its own genre.

TMDb rating2.8

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like a slow-burn skeptic's unraveling told through a handheld documentary lens, where the scares grow out of a conman's shaken confidence rather than jump cuts.

Skip it if you are tired of shaky handheld footage and the camera-as-witness gimmick, since the format is doing much of the work and can feel familiar.

What it asks of you: Roughly 87 minutes, with the first half given over to talk, interviews and staged doubt before the mood tilts; it rewards patience and a tolerance for documentary-style set-up.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Sinister2012

A family moves into a house hiding a terrible secret. Like Last Exorcism, it builds quiet horror from research and discovery, letting you dread what's coming rather than shocking you. Genuinely disturbing.

But The pacing is deliberate and the scares are sparse. If you need constant action or clear answers, this will feel slow.

Sinister poster

The Possession2012

A girl becomes increasingly unstable after acquiring an ancient box. It shares the same DNA as Last Exorcism—religious belief clashing with genuine supernatural terror—but from a family perspective rather than a debunker's.

But The third act relies on conventional exorcism movie beats. After an unsettling middle section, it retreats into familiar territory.

The Possession poster

Hereditary2018

A family unravels after a death, slowly realizing something deeper is wrong. Like Last Exorcism, it uses religious trauma and belief systems as genuine horror architecture, not decoration.

But It's nearly two-and-a-half hours of accumulating dread with an ending some find pretentious. Not a crowdpleaser.

Hereditary poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Last Exorcism

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Marjoe1972

Both are sustained investigations into religious manipulation and the gap between performance and sincerity.

A documentary following a child evangelist-turned-skeptic as he exposes revival tent fraud. It's the non-fiction ancestor of Last Exorcism's con-artist premise: watching someone weaponize belief for profit, then watching it all unravel.

But It's a 1970s documentary with lo-fi footage and no narrative arc. Patient viewers will find it hypnotic; others will find it shapeless.

Marjoe poster
More like this (8)

A Dark Song2016

A grieving woman hires an occultist for a dangerous ritual. Both films trust their audience to sit with discomfort and ambiguity about what's really happening. Spiritual without being preachy.

But Virtually nothing happens in a conventional sense. It's meditative, almost like watching someone pray for 110 minutes.

A Dark Song poster

The Wailing2016

A Korean mystery where a detective investigates a mysterious illness in a village, suspecting supernatural involvement. Shares Last Exorcism's interrogation of belief and certainty; nothing is what it seems.

But It's two hours forty-five minutes long and deliberately obscures its own plot. You'll argue about what actually happened.

The Wailing poster

The Witch2016

A Puritan family's isolation breeds paranoia and genuine horror. Both films weaponize religious conviction and family dysfunction. Slow, methodical, and deeply unsettling.

But The dialogue is period-authentic and sometimes hard to parse. The horror is existential rather than visceral.

The Witch poster

Deliver Us from Evil2014

A cop and a priest investigate supposed demonic cases in 1970s New York. It has the same skepticism-meets-belief tension, and Scott Derrickson knows how to sustain dread.

But It's more conventional than Last Exorcism—more of a straightforward procedural with supernatural elements bolted on.

Deliver Us from Evil poster

The Exorcism of Emily Rose2005

A courtroom drama about whether a girl's death was murder or exorcism gone wrong. Intercuts between trial and flashbacks create genuine theological horror. Smart about doubt and faith.

But It leans heavily on conventional exorcism imagery and jump scares. The trial framing can feel like it's slowing down the scary parts.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose poster

Insidious2011

A boy falls into a coma and his family discovers something is using his body to reach our world. Released the same year and shares atmosphere: creeping wrongness, family in crisis, questions about what's real.

But It's straightforward genre entertainment. No ambiguity, no subversion—just effective jump scares and a clear supernatural threat.

Insidious poster

A Prayer Before Dawn2018

Both trust the viewer to process genuine horror without explanation or sentiment.

An actual documentary about a boxer in a Thai prison. It's brutal, non-judgmental, and treats its protagonist's degradation with complete seriousness—no score, no narrative guidance. Shares Last Exorcism's commitment to letting horror speak for itself.

But It's grainy, sometimes hard to follow, and deeply uncomfortable. There's no catharsis or redemption arc. Just suffering and survival.

A Prayer Before Dawn poster

The Fountain2006

Both take religious and spiritual questions as genuine subjects for horror and transcendence, not mockery.

Three timelines exploring love, death, and spiritual transcendence. It's visually stunning and philosophically ambitious in ways Last Exorcism is thematically ambitious—both ask whether faith is delusion or the only thing that matters, just in completely different registers.

But It's avant-garde and openly weird. The narrative is fragmented. Many will find it pretentious; others will find it life-changing. No middle ground exists.

The Fountain poster

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