August 8, 2010 | 12:00 pm

‘The Last Excorcism’ at Grace Community Church

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

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I saw “The Exorcist” at the Fox Village during my first weekend in college. (I’m getting old, but this was the re-release.) A good movie, though I wonder what I’d think of it after five years of having a reporter’s eye for religion.

Because we live in an era when every movie, recent or old, gets a sequel or a spin-off or a rip-off, “The Last Exorcism” is about to hit theaters. Here’s the Wiki synopsis:

The film is told from the perspective of a disillusioned Protestant minister, who after years of performing exorcisms decides to participate in a documentary chronicling his last exorcism while exposing the fraud of his ministry. After receiving a letter from a farmer asking for help in driving out the devil, he meets the farmer’s afflicted daughter. The tagline and premise of the movie is “If you believe in God, then you believe in the Devil.” The film itself is presented as “found footage”.

I’m pretty tired of the “found footage” gimmick. It was great for “Blair Witch Project” and even “Cloverfield.” But enough already.

As for the plot, I’m not sure what to make of it. It has potential, though I’m pretty skeptical of a story like this being told in a meaningful way, even if John Anderson at Variety thinks “‘The Last Exorcism’ makes first-rate use of religious doubt and religious extremism to concoct a novel horror-thriller clever enough to seduce unbelievers while satisfying the bloodlust of its congregation/fanbase.”

Whose bloodlust?

Anyway, advertising for “The Last Exorcism” has started to pop up, and my law school classmate Joy Odom spotted the poorly placed bus bench spot shown here.