I’m going to say just four words that’ll strike a weird sort of comedic terror into your very soul. Those four words?
Father-Exorcist Leslie Nielsen.
You feel that? Yeah, I know—I’m scared too. But that’s what we’re looking at thanks to Lions Gate’s Lost Collection title Repossessed.
Basically, Repossessed takes a poor little girl named Nancy (an analogue of Regan from The Exorcist) and subjects her to demon possession. Leslie Nielsen serves as the exorcist this time as Father Mayii (Father, may I. get it?), courtesy of the unlikely-named church of Our Lady of the Blinding Vision, who ejects the demon from Nancy’s soul in a fierce battle. The demon swears revenge as it leaves.
Several years later, Nancy’s all grown up, with children, and a love of split pea soup. But it may not be the demon that’s the bad guy in this one—there’s a pair of televangelists (Ernest and Fanny Rae Weller, an almost too-clear analogue of Jim and Tammy Fae Bakker) who are looking to cash in on exorcisms, and find themselves taking on Nancy’s demon. Who will come out ahead in this battle for eternity: the demon, the money-grubbing televangelists or the valiant non-child-molesting Catholic father?
Now, you can tell already that this is going to be a winner. When you start a movie with jokes before you even start the footage, you know you’ve got a movie that’s going to be a real comic winner. And there will be plenty of jokes that are totally unrelated to the plot itself, almost befitting a Zucker / Abrams / Zucker film—for instance, check out the new and interesting definition of “severe tire damage” at the hospital. Granted, some of the jokes will require a knowledge of 1980s politics and pop culture to be fully understood. For instance, look for jokes on The Clapper, Magic Fingers bed controls, Chappaquiddic, and the Ollie North affair.
But despite some jokes that require understanding of events that happened twenty to thirty years ago, there will still be plenty of laughs to be had here, because they’re not dependent on culture. Fans of the original Exorcist, and eighties film buffs, will especially be enthused by this fantastic comedy.
Here’s the REALLY interesting part—around the last half hour, you can look for the movie to turn into a nigh-genuine horror title, albeit with no small amount of laughs thrown in. This eye-opening turn is at once unexpected and highly welcome, and also well executed. With Linda Blair putting on a role that she’s already well acquainted with, added on to a comedic dynamo performance like Leslie Nielsen has made popular for years on end, the result is nothing short of amazing.
As one last little surprise, look for little movie and TV parodies, along with some quick costume changes to be slipped in throughout the narrative for extra fun. There’s really a lot to like here, no matter your personal favor in movie types—so rest assured that whether it’s comedies or horror movies you favor, you’ll get a real charge out of Repossessed. Look for this one to take over your DVD player.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Shane Meadows is one of the best directors you don’t know. Working primarily in the UK’s indie scene, he has made some excellent films such as the dark and gritty Dead Man’s Shoes, and the touching This is England and Somers Town (out this month in the US). And in this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival Meadows confirmed his next picture, entitled Beware the Devil. Based on a true story, the film will depict a sceptic who investigated the world of Ouija boards, only to be possessed, exorcised, and finally became an exorcist himself.