PopHorror Let's Get Scared
When watching a film, I usually go in with an inkling of what is in store for me. When I watched Islamic Exorcist, I did not know anything about the film beforehand, so I was completely clueless. Personally, I do not watch a lot of foreign films, so this will be a first for me. So let’s dig into my review of Islamic Exorcist.
https://youtu.be/iiXbz1sxeyc
Official Synopsis: The lives of an Indian couple are devastated when their adopted daughter becomes possessed by a demonic force. The father shoots the daughter to death. However an investigative journalist doesn’t believe in their story and becomes determined to know the real truth by going much deeper in the couple’s scary past.
What Works
The practical effects work for the film. Most movies rely heavily on CGI, so I applaud the director for going that route. Another thing that works for the film is the end, which is not a conventional exorcist ending. It has the viewer guessing what route they want: is she possessed or does she have multiple personalities? It leaves Islamic Exorcist open to those two possibilities of an ending.
What Doesn’t Work
The audio and video don’t match up. It makes it seem as if the entire film was dubbed in English or maybe it was dubbed in English and I just didn’t realize it. I also felt that some of the scares could be improved. One in particular is when the aunt is being forced to cut up the vegetables by the demon girl. It would have been better to have some kind of injury or her cutting herself. Plus, I have to say that the bloody footprints are kind of cliché. It would have work if it was just blood running in a trail.
The film was directed and written by Faisal Saif. According to MoreHorror.com, Saif said:
“I got lots of life threats from the Muslim and Shia Muslim community to not to make this film. It is my honor to be associated with a studio like Cinema Epoch, which gave me a huge freedom on my creativity and my film. This is not the only film we will be working on. Filmmaker Geno McGahee, along with myself, are writing another horror for the studio as a tribute to a classic horror which we have seen and grown with.”
Islamic Exorcist was released on July 11th on VOD, Vimeo and IBleedIndie.
