The Last Exorcism (15)

That accepted, then you're set up to swallow the idea of the continual religious war being fought out between the acolytes of good and evil.

But it's far harder to frighten unbelievers, especially those not sharing the notion of sin, repentance and revenge inherent in Christianity.

That's the central thesis of all horror films, not least the series of films associated with the idea of exorcising evil.

In Daniel Stamm's The Last Exorcism the intention is to expose the whole practice as a hoax before it resurrects all the tropes familiar to the genre.

It begins with the Reverend Cotton Marcus explaining the tricks of the trade, he being an evangelist who has now lost his faith.

However, for a time he used his show skills to "help" those who "thought" they were possessed, because they're usually victims of trauma.

To prove his point he invites a documentary film crew to accompany him on his "final exorcism" in the deepest backwoods of Louisiana.

The intention is to meet Nell (Ashley Bell) a 16-year-old whose father believes she is possessed as their cows are being attacked and she's acting strangely.

Travelling through the swampland only to arrive at the archetypical weather-boarded house, Cotton runs through his routine and declares she's free of demons.

However, since Cotton doesn't believe in demons, and her condition gets worse, he naturally suspects that her affliction is as a result of rape or incest.

With an incredible cast of believable characters, it manages to hold the audience's attention as long as it stays within the parameters of psychological and physical abuse.

Sadly, despite establishing its credentials at challenging our pre-conceptions, it suddenly mutates from The Exorcist into Rosemary's Baby.

Then again, you just might be a believer.