Blackwater Valley Exorcism

Back in 1973 a film was released that not only altered the way movies where made but also how audiences perceived them, the Exorcist. It was truly ground breaking and like most such innovative films spawned a number of imitators. When I heard I was going to review ‘Blackwater Valley Exorcism’ I thought that this would be just another gore filled flick with a young girl possessed by a demon. Fortunately, the film went beyond the usual slash and gash horror genre to one that was not only enjoyable but worth discussing with friends afterwards. This direct to video release by Lion’s Gate was more character driven that most imitators of the original classic. As both the opening crawl and commentary explain this is based on true events and the actual scenes of exorcism where from the Roman rites overseen by Bishop Justin Spadafore, an independent Roman Catholic.

Instead of the usual time spent showing the young, innocent girl before the dastardly demon possesses her, this films cuts right to the chase. Two ranch hands, Miguel ( Del Zamora) and Luke (Paul Kapellas) are out in the woods searching for the lost Isabelle (Kristin Erickson). They find a rabbit that has been ripped apart, apparently by an animal. A few yards away they see Isabelle in her night gown covered by blood. She is frighten and confesses that she just ate the animal. They take the girl home to her parents, Ely (Randy Colton) and Blanche (Leslie Fleming-Mitchell) who are naturally upset about their daughter’s irrational behavior. The girl is so out of control that Ely asks the local veterinarian Joe McCall (Don O. Knowlton) to please give Isabelle something to calm her down. He is reluctant at first but then agrees. When the two men go into Isabelle’s room she attacks the vet and jabs the injection of horse tranquillizer into his shoulder. He sheriff, (Jeffrey Combs) stops by to check on the girl and she grabs him, giving him a vision of when he forced a young female runaway to perform oral sex on him. Ely is approached by Miguel who tells the worried father that he has seen this before and they need to get a priest immediately. Jacob (Cameron Daddo) is a Roman Catholic priest who was just told by his Bishop that he has been accepted to study exorcism at the Vatican. Before entering the priesthood he was engaged to Isabelle’s older sister Claire (Madison Taylor). The breakup was not completely amicable and while Blanche was able to turn to him for help Ely still holds a grudge. When Jacob arrives at the ranch he goes into Isabelle’s bedroom where the girl is now showing the physical signs of possession, cracked lips, sunken dark eyes and speaking in a deep, sinister voice. She gives Jacob a vision on when he was engaged to her sister and walked in on her taking a shower; he cheated on Claire with her then underage sister. He immediately decides an exorcism is in order but when the demon disables the phones realizes that he is on his own with the procedure. It turns out that Miguel was once a priest who had performed the ritual before leaving the church. Grudgingly he agrees to help Jacob with the exorcism. The ritual hardly begins before the demon starts to pit each person there against the others and against themselves. It convinces Ely that his wife is sleeping with the vet and causes Claire to try to seduce Jacob. The third act of the film details the remaining attempt to rid the lamented girl of the demon and uncover the truth about the possession.

This film is a lot different that I expected. There is actually very little in the way of fake blood splattered around and extravagant special effects. Shot in a matter of weeks with a very low budget they cast and crew had to rely on talent instead on shock value to tell the story. There is more in the way of character development here. The audience rapidly becomes interested in what motivates these people instead of waiting to see how they will be hacked apart. No one here is particularly an admirable person. Each character is seriously flawed and the demon uses a more psychological approach to horror than the over done Hollywood physical horror. As explained in the commentary track the film explores the sexual aspect of cases like this. The victim is usually a young girl entering the stage of sexual growth. While possessed Isabelle can writhe around the bed in a seductive fashion far beyond her years, she frequently uses sexual frustration and amoral acts to unsettle the friends and family. This is a cat and mouse game where the demon knows the weaknesses of the others and is well able to employ them to its advantage. Writer-director Ethan Wiley keeps the pace of the film up moving the story along with great economy. Hardly a scene is wasted; everything goes right to the point. There are a few bad cuts in the film where the scene jumps unnaturally but overall the editing is great. Wiley also uses some unusual angles to keep the audience off balance. In on scene where Jacob tries to leave the ranch the camera is placed far overhead. It swoops down to a close shot visually showing how the situation is closing in on the doubtful priest.

The cast here for the most part does not have a lot of film credits but they are talented. Cameron Daddo is well cast as the all too human priest. He plays Jacob as a man who had a tendency not only towards cheating on his fiancée with her underage sister but also capable of hitting Claire. He tried to make amends for this part of his life by turning to the church but the guilt still resides in him. Randy Colton takes his character of Ely on an emotional arc. He is worried about his daughter and is willing to turn to the man he can no longer trust to help. As the film progresses the audience watches as Colton displays the slow disintegration of this man. Leslie Fleming-Mitchell comes across a little stiff here but considering the circumstances her character is in it actually works. She portrays Blanche as a woman whose life is falling apart. One daughter was in a failed relationship while the other is possessed by a demon. Del Zamora as Miguel really demonstrates some ability. His character is one living with guilty and who has turned his back on his faith.

You can depend on Lion’s Gate to bring to the public little gems like this. At one time direct to video was just a way for studios to make a few dollars on properties lying around in a cabinet somewhere. Now with DVD as a popular media smaller films that would not find a wide audience can be made available. An unknown director can get a group of actors together and with a modest budget find a means of artistic expression. While some online retail sites list the audio as Dolby 2.0 the copy I received for preview also had a full 5.1 track. The speakers generally did a good job with the sound including a realistic ambience but the dialogue was bit muddy especially in the beginning of the film. The demon voice was over mixed with bass making it difficult to understand. I had to turn on the close caption feature to get some vital dialogue. Also unlike the retail specifications the video was anamorphic 1.85:1. The color balance was very good with excellent contrast and no artifacts. The disc has a little making of featurette that gives a reasonable if typical behind the scenes look. The commentary track with Ethan Wiley and Cameron Daddo was enjoyable and interesting. The two men go into some back stage stories and jabs at each other. They also discuss some of the finer points of making a low budget film and the themes they wanted to explore. This is a film that will entertain more than you might expect.

Posted 9/30/06