This film, which sort of pretends to be a documentary and is based on real events, was released in early January.  When the reviews came in, it was unanimous – everyone thought this combination of The Exorcist and Paranormal Activity was awful, including the Star Ledger and the popular movie rating website Rotten Tomatoes.

I for one, actually enjoyed the movie. Although there seemed to be times when the audience in the theater was laughing when it appeared the director wanted a scream, I believe the movie was quite entertaining with an interesting plot line and possessed (no pun intended) a scare factor.

The movie begins with a 911 call from Maria Rossi saying she killed three people in her house. Twenty years later, her daughter Isabella travels to Rome to see her mother in the Centrino Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Her mother was moved to Rome after the Catholic Church got involved because the murders were committed during an exorcism that was being performed on her mother. However, the Church refuses to reopen her mother’s case because it is too dangerous, so she is constantly subdued with drugs. In order to understand the depth of an exorcism, Isabella tags along with two exorcists to observe up close what the devil does to those that are possessed. Some are possessed with only one demon, but Maria is possessed with four.

This twist leads to the climax, or what critics would say was the best part of the movie until its abrupt end. The tense atmosphere and intricate storyline make the viewer feel involved as they jump to conclusions about the movie. The beginning of the film seemed comical. The whole theater laughed at the parts previously seen in the preview until unseen material was integrated and the movie became very creepy. While some say that the movie was not good film-wise, I think that it was entertaining and was finally a scary movie that didn’t just focus on the thrill factor, but also on its plot line. It fulfilled its purpose which was to entertain. The film did end on a cliff hanger, which was another negative, but who knows if there will be a sequel?