The Exorcism of Anna Ecklund

Was drawn into seeing 'The Exorcism of Anna Ecklund', with a cool poster/cover, a somewhat intriguing if very derivative premise and as someone with a general appreciation for the genre it fits under. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there (though there are decent to good ones as well), made me though apprehensive.

It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws present in those films are here, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. 'The Exorcism of Anna Ecklund' is really quite abominable, with so many huge flaws and doesn't do anything with any potential it had. There is nothing good here in 'The Exorcism of Anna Ecklund', just amateur hour all round.

Going on to the negatives, the story does feel over-stretched and some of it comes over as vague and under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less unsettled and never gaining momentum. All the characters are too sketchy and with cardboard thin and colourless personalities and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their annoying and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrates. The chemistry is bland and unfocused.

The sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions), the effects are shoddy and all of the acting is lacking severely on the whole, that's actually an understatement as the worst of it is horrendous. Lee Bane is at his hammiest and it is not fun to watch. There is no sense of horror or engagement with the awful predicament they're in, and no connecting with the character, it just reeks of indifference which makes the viewer not care less too.

Dialogue can be stilted and rambling while the pace and film drags on forever, apparent from the very start, never recovering that interest is lost fast. The ending has no build-up and just ends ridiculously. Found too many of the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense. Thrills are none, thanks to stodginess and excessive over-familiarity, and found myself never invested in the drama, which tended to be indifferently acted, interminably paced and statically directed.

A lot of 'The Exorcism of Anna Ecklund' has really dull and going nowhere plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you shocked are far from creative or unsettling. It all feels rather tame while the threat completely lacks menace and looks terrible.

Nothing freaky or interesting, no development and too derivative, while everything is unimaginative and are more odd than scary, completely failing to show any sense of dread. There is nothing interesting or illuminating with what the film was trying to do and the drama is overwrought with no momentum and a lot of weirdness. The direction is barely there and disorganised and the music is ill-fitting. 'The Exorcism of Anna Ecklund' is very amateurish visually, too drearily lit and shows no care in the way it's shot. The editing has more continuity errors than one can count.

Altogether, irredeemably terrible. 1/10 Bethany Cox

If you like the art form of "so bad it's good", this is your movie. The acting is terrible, the dialogue is boring, but the ending gives a twist you don't expect. The movie is trying hard to establish itself as a serious movie, but the low budget and lack of professionalism are evident. Trust me, I recommend this for a chill pizza-/movie night with friends, if you'd like to have fun.

This is the worst movie i ever seen containing an exorcism. The acting were so bad, and the effects aswell, so i believe anyone could make this movie by themselves at home.

I try, I really do, to give these movies the benefit of the doubt. Even despite some amateurish direction, some downright sophomoric cinematography, and some horrendous acting, I try to give these movies some credit. But when you fall on the same overused, clichéd, asinine tropes found in all demonic possession films, you have to ask yourself, why do these people bother? This movie does not even attempt to do anything even remotely clever with the premise, and from the onset, you can already see what the entirety of the movie will cover. Girl is possessed, priests get "clearance" to perform exorcism, demon possesses the priests, rinse and repeat. I mean, I has been done AD NAUSEUM, to the point were I wonder what this creative team was trying to accomplish, and I have several questions;

1. Why is it always a Catholic priest that is called in? There are other religious denominations that perform exorcisms, and don't need permission to do so. At this point, it's imperative that this trope is removed, as it adds nothing to genre that The Exorcist didn't already accomplish.

2. Second, why are the special effects so shoddily done? Did you not allocate the proper funds to create believable effects? When you make a movie that requires a good use of SFX, make sure that the budget is there before you even start filming. Do not skimp out on them in order to pay your cast.

3. Lastly, why didn't anyone ask themselves, "What is this movie doing that every demonic possession film before it has not already done?" If your answer is, "nothing", as I'm sure it was, you have to re-evaluate the use of your creativity.

Stop wasting your time making these films that don't enhance or further the sub-genre. At this point, it's just embarrassing. I have no faith in the sub-genre anymore, and it's due to movies like this. To the people responsible, your efforts are worthless and do not deserve to be seen by anyone. A complete and utter failure in every sense of the word.

In terms of image quality with good capture angles, the film was average compared to the others of its same generation of resources. However, his idea of proposing an exorcist horror brought us a very weak script with little creativity in his construction of scenes and elements. Left something to be desired.

Running away from a frame-by-frame analysis, the delivery of suspense they brought gave me an interpretive tasting with a very cliché flavor. Films that want to work in this type of genre demand a lot of dedication on the part of the construction of the script, as well as the visual. We perceive a usual terror of possession style "The Exorcist" of the 70's without taking anything away. If it's to be spent on a production whose final product is an allusion to a work from 50 years ago, it's money wasted. Surely they could have "given blood" to deliver an innovative terror in the field of horror!