This seems like another new horror flick that come per thirteen in a dozen nowadays: cheap, derivative, gratuitously gore, and non-suspenseful. Well, I love to be proven wrong, and especially when it's least expected! "The Cleansing Hour" is a very pleasant surprise. Cheap, maybe, but also creative and intense, and with a large portion of effectively biting satire.
Clever entrepreneurs and friends since forever Max and Drew run a very profitable business. They perform vicious exorcisms and stream them live on the internet via their channel "The Cleansing Hour". It's all fake, of course, but very professionally staged by an entire team, and - in between two rites of blessings - "Father" Max sells merchandising that is supposedly Vatican-approved to their thousands of loyal followers. The next step in a plot like this is that one of exorcisms goes horribly wrong, obviously, when the stand-in actress turns out to be possessed by a real demon and starts exposing, humiliating, and killing the crew live in front of a rapidly increasing e-audience.
The script features several (inevitable?) clichés, but luckily even more freshness and originality. For instance, I like how the film also regularly checks in with a handful of loyal fans of the show to see how they react, and there's also a very sinister twist at the end. The gore and make-up effects are not the greatest, but they reach their effect, and the design of Aamon the Demon is a hit! The acting performances are more than acceptable, and so is the direction by Damien LeVeck. I haven't heard of him before but hope to see more of his work in the future.
Clever entrepreneurs and friends since forever Max and Drew run a very profitable business. They perform vicious exorcisms and stream them live on the internet via their channel "The Cleansing Hour". It's all fake, of course, but very professionally staged by an entire team, and - in between two rites of blessings - "Father" Max sells merchandising that is supposedly Vatican-approved to their thousands of loyal followers. The next step in a plot like this is that one of exorcisms goes horribly wrong, obviously, when the stand-in actress turns out to be possessed by a real demon and starts exposing, humiliating, and killing the crew live in front of a rapidly increasing e-audience.
The script features several (inevitable?) clichés, but luckily even more freshness and originality. For instance, I like how the film also regularly checks in with a handful of loyal fans of the show to see how they react, and there's also a very sinister twist at the end. The gore and make-up effects are not the greatest, but they reach their effect, and the design of Aamon the Demon is a hit! The acting performances are more than acceptable, and so is the direction by Damien LeVeck. I haven't heard of him before but hope to see more of his work in the future.