DVD Review: Exorcism: The Possession of Gail Bowers

The film, which Scott based on different accounts of possessions, follows a teenage girl, named Gail Bowers, who moves into a new home with her sister and brother-in-law following the death of her parents. Although everything is fine at first, it doesn’t take long for Gail (played by Erica Roby in her first film) and her family to start noticing things just aren’t quite right. It begins with ghostly visits in the night, strange behavior (including Gail developing a bad vocabulary full of naughty words), and finally full possession complete with Gail levitating, speaking in tongues, and looking like she is in bad need of a makeover show. After psychiatrists fail to offer any real solution for what is causing Gail’s problems (one even recommends calling the priests), the family is forced to turn to the church and an exorcism is quickly ordered. With few priest having any real experience in dealing with the possessed, the church turns to Father Thomas – a priest who we meet early in the film when an exorcism goes very bad leaving him blind. Shouting every prayer known to man, Father Thomas and two other priests confront the demons inside Gail and a major battle between good and evil takes up the rest of the film.Although the movie’s plot has been done before (lets face it, nothing is ever going to live up to The Exorcist), Scott’s own love for the horror genre makes this movie just fun. He has mastered what it takes to make a good horror film on a tight budget and shows his own knowledge of horror in this movie. The movie has touches of The Entity (such as when Gail is being visited at night); Stigmata (when Gail forms a cross and starts bleeding from her hands and feet); White Noise (when Gail sees ghostly images in the television) and naturally The Exorcist. Scott also has the movie go “low tech” with practically no computer generated effects (like what was used in King of the Lost World) or actors running around in creature suits (like Beast of Bray Road or Frankenstein Reborn). Instead, the film has quick edits of things jumping out at you, something quickly walking by the camera, and some great facial expressions from Roby – when that girl screams it is down right creepy.

Tom Downey is a blend of the traditional priest and Dirty Harry

Noel Thurman is also good in the movie as Gail’s sister – who desperately wants to save her sister, but is lost as to what do. She does a good job as the emotional center of the film and reminds you just how serious the situation is that they are facing.Another great part of the movie is Tom Downey’s performance as Father Thomas Bates – who the actor makes a blend of the traditional priest and Dirty Harry. He is blind, wears shades and looks like he walked off a classic John Carpenter set. The role could have been played reserved or trying to act like Max Von Sydow’s Father Mirrin, but Downey transforms the priest into almost a super-hero without the cape. This may not have been what Scott had in mind for the character (in the behind the scenes feature he admits it wasn’t), but it makes the film even more fun to watch. It also lightens some of the mood, and reminds you that this is just a good time.Although the film is fun, there are some problems that take away from a bit of the enjoyment. Some of these problems can be blamed on the film being made on a lower budget (such as the levitating special effect) and some are a bit of a throw back to classic horror films – such as a person covered in a sheet walking in front of the camera. While these two problems don’t hurt the film, it does kind of distract from the “horror” element – I laughed when the person in the sheet ran across the screen.

Erica Roby uses great facial expressions to get extremely creepy

Another problem with the film is the sound. While it is fine throughout most of the movie, it does cut out from time to time – a problem that has occurred in other Asylum Home Entertainment films. This is more of a distraction than something that will make you hate the movie, and doesn’t happen enough to ruin the overall enjoyment of the film. Also, while I found Downey’s performance fun and Roby’s performance creepy at times, some audiences might find the actors a bit cheesy towards the final confrontation. Both actors keep the scene from getting away from them, but with all the yelling it can be a bit funny instead of scary. This is the same problem that has hounded any demon possession movie – including both prequels to Exorcist and The Exorcism of Emily Rose.The DVD comes with a couple of special features including a behind the scenes look with Leigh Scott, and some bloopers from the film – something Scott has included on most of his Asylum movies. The behind the scenes feature has an interview with Scott where he talks about how Asylum approached him about the project, the different research he did writing the script (Gail for instance was actually based on a boy), and how he wanted to shoot the film in a more low tech fashion compared to his past couple of films. They also show how the film did some of the special effects – such as Gail’s levitation, and how the effects were done in a more tradition horror film way instead of using CGI. Scott also discusses how Downey’s (who was not originally cast for the part) interpretation of the priest character was different from what he wrote, and why he liked it better.

The film’s plot is a great blend of different elements of the horror genre

Overall, Exorcism: The Possession of Gail Bowers is a fun movie for horror fans, and manages to hold its own against some of the other recent demon possession films that have made their way to the big screen (it is better than Renny Harlin’s monstrosity). Scott works with his budget and delivers a film that is entertaining, fun to watch, and will give the spine a tingle from time to time. I would recommend the movie to any horror fan, Asylum fan, or anyone that wants a little scare mixed with some popcorn.Exorcism: The Possession of Gail Bowers is available for pre-order at Amazon for a Jan. 31st release. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD’s database for more information.