Emma is a home-schooled teen who one day cuts herself. It's thought that it's because she wants to be in school with her friends. One day she has a seizure and foams out of her mouth. Doctors don't find anything wrong with her. Her secular and modern parents send her to a psychologist who ends up dead. Emma knows that something is wrong with her and visits her uncle who is a priest. He recognizes that she's possessed. Emma is willing to undergo an exorcism. Her parents don't agree until she has another seizure and levitates.
The exorcism will take several session to be performed by the uncle who has been actually kicked out of the church for the death of his previous exorcism patient. Meanwhile, whenever the devil takes over and Emma is with someone else, that other person doesn't end up well. The priest recognizes the he alone won't be able to cast out the devil. He also films the sessions. The parents are still in disbelief until one day the father interrupts a session only to actually see for himself how possessed she is. Things get deadlier for the family and we learn some darker secrets about the priest and Emma.
Exorcismus was produced by Spanish production company Filmax which specializes in high quality, lower budget, good-natured, PG-13 horror movies, where the behavior of the characters is far less believable than the horror. This is their take on the exorcism genre, although the exorcisms aren't all that much at the center of the movie, "Possession" would be a more apt title. It follows the Filmax recipe, it won't offend anyone's sensibilities, is well directed, and has a European/Spanish feel to it.
The first third of the movie is very strong. It has its creepy moments, the hand-held camera-work is great and so is the digital sound. The heavily discolored look of the movie, however, is annoying. It doesn't manage to keep the interest or pace as things become less interesting during the second third for some reason, even though that's when stuff starts happening. The last third improves a bit as we learn why the girl really cut herself at the beginning of the movie. And we learn why the priest is so highly motivated to act. What I liked about it was that everything takes place during the day, even outdoors. This devil isn't scared of the sun or of public places. No lame night scenes, rain, thunder, lights going out and all the clichés that plague every single American horror movie. Exorcismus is enjoyable but it doesn't break any new ground, which is something that this type of movie needs at this point, although Sophie Vavasseur's understated performance is excellent.
