Isabelle has a problem. Actually, she has quite a few problems. Just yesterday, she was a nice, well-adjusted girl waiting for her prom. Now she is out in the woods murdering Thumper with her bare hands, feasting on the raw bunny meat, and begging Daddy to touch her. Well, that’s putting what she asked for nicely. Some would call Isabelle a slut, but that is not a fair assessment. I prefer to say she is just in tune with her inner demons, literally.
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Blackwater Valley Exorcism takes us through a demon possession and exorcism. We meet Isabelle’s family (mom, dad, and sister), two farm hands, a veterinarian turned doctor, and a priest. While there are other supplemental characters, these are the ones that lead us through the story. You may think you are in for a good movie because in the beginning there is a text scroll explaining that the movie was based on actual events. Of course, based on actual events does not mean much anymore.
There seems to be many revolving plots in this movie. While the focus should be on Isabelle it often feels as she is an afterthought. Isabelle is just the demon locked in the back room that we occasionally check up on, hoping she will toss her cookies or find love with a cross. Then, of course, Linda Blair is she not.
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We start with the priest. In the beginning, the Vatican wants to send him to school for exorcism. He refuses the offer despite the bishop recommending he pray. It is about then, thanks to the subject of the movie, you begin to realize that come exorcism time it is this priest that will be in the room.
Other than that, the priest comes and goes, relatively quickly in the beginning. We spend more time with the immediate family. We see mom and dad. Mom seems to be worried and trying to deal with the problems her daughter is facing. Meanwhile, the dad seems more worried about what mom is doing. It becomes painstakingly obvious that dad does not trust mom. In fact, every time a man comes in the room with her he is ready to beat the man up
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The jealousy and the other sub-plot of the priest’s former relationship with Isabelle’s sister tend to take precedence over what should be the main plot of the movie, Isabelle’s possession. The demonic possession turns out to be stale and leaves you feeling unfulfilled. The possession is played out by a few body wiggles, some mind games, and a little bit of jumping around. At times, Isabelle hides in the closet.
However, the possession part of the movie is not played out enough to truly be interesting. You get the feeling that you come into the movie right as she is ready to be exorcised. We see a day or two into Isabelle’s life. This does not allow us to see the weird events that bring us to the exorcism. It is implied that her behavior has been bad and she needs help. She’s seen doctors and they can’t help her. Now we need a priest.
The exorcism is played out after way too much supplemental action is played out. The demon enjoys playing mind tricks, which do not really involve Isabelle or the actresses’ acting. However, they do lead to some other characters being hurt and/or hurting others.
We soon get to the conclusion of the movie and determine the problems with the demon and how to get rid of him. By the end of the movie I had laughed, shook my head, and was otherwise unaffected. The acting was mediocre, the direction was basic, and the camera angling was familiar for B-movies, which was fine because that’s what this movie was.
The Bottom Line: BlackwaterValley Exorcism had a chance to be a good movie. Exorcism movies do fairly well and can be interesting and even scary if they are done right. Sadly, this movie was not done as well as one would have hoped. In the end it is an exorcism movie that has elements of a Soap Opera and a Lifetime movie. Unfortunately, this just doesn’t work for the diehard exorcist fans. Ah well, better luck next time.
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Written by Dom and Ash - Visit Website
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