For two thousand years, the Catholic Church has investigated cases of alleged demonic possession, taping their findings. These tapes are housed in the Vatican. Now, we get to a glimpse at what they’ve found.
Fresh on the heels of “THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT,” “CLOVERFIELD” and “PARANORMAL ACTIVITY,” we get a look at “actual” tapes of demonic possession.
We open in Poland. FATHER ANTONIO, 50′s has traveled here to investigate a case. He brings with him FATHER MATT, African-American, 30′s. Father Matt videotapes the proceedings.
They are met at the airport by FATHER KARL JAWORSKI , Polish, 20′s. There is a demon here.
Father Matt and Father Antonio have come on behalf of the Vatican. Father Antonio is the skeptic – he states all these cases are usually some form of mental illness.
Father Karl takes them to meet FATHER JANUSZ OSTROWSKI – 70′s. Father Janusz is the one who asked the Church for help. He states a demon lives within a girl. Father Antonio states this might be a matter of mental illness. Father Janusz is insulted – he knows what mental illness is and this is definitely not mental illness. Angry, he leaves, telling them to go see the girl for themselves.
They go to a slum. Farmland and shanties. Most of the dwellings are deserted. This is hard living out here.
Used to be a mining town but the gas ran out.
They meet LESLAW – 40′s – 300lb farmer. He has a 4-YR OLD SON.
Leslaw’s 16-yr old daughter is possessed. Leslaw states that whatever is inside his daughter is no longer his daughter.
They keep her under the ground now, chained to a bed. Leslaw opens the trap door for them.
They find the girl catatonic in the basement. Antonio is outraged. He goes back upstairs and reprimands Leslaw, stating they’ll contact the police. Leslaw states it’s the police who told him to put his daughter down there.
And I’ve got to tell you, we’re only 10pgs in and the mood has effectively been set. The pages drip with horror, making me regret not going to church this past Sunday!
Antonio states there isn’t any demon in this house. He would have felt its presence upon entering.
Antonio accused Leslaw of molesting his daughter. Leslaw vehemently denies this.
Pacified, Antonio tells Leslaw that he has seen many recover from this catatonic state. Leslaw laughs, stating his daughter is not catatonic. They will soon see the truth.
They take the girl upstairs to her bedroom. She doesn’t speak. They get her cleaned up.
Karl comes to the room. Tries to get the daughter to talk by showing her a photo of his young sister. His sister was molested by a school teacher. The teacher was put away and his sister is doing fine now.
The girl responds. She takes the photo of Karl’s sister and licks it leaving behind a trail of blood. Karl and Matt realize the girl has bit her tongue and her mouth is full of blood.
They tell Father Antonio. Antonio enters the bedroom but finds it empty. The girl is gone. They find the girl back down in the cellar, listening to a broken radio.
And I’m telling you, my skin is crawling. The pages are written in a way that you dread turning the pages because you just know this situation is going to get a whole lot worse. It makes me want to run out and purchase holy water.
Father Antonio performs a blessing. Gives the Eucharist to the girl. She just stares at it. Father Antonio gently tells her to take it and be blessed. Everyone watches. The girl finally opens her mouth. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief. When they’re not looking, she spits it back out.
See, it’s little things like this. Spitting the bread back out. It makes us realize that this little girl is in complete control and that the priests are just pawns to her. And I’m wondering why I didn’t choose a comedy to review instead because it’s getting dark outside now and of course, I’m all alone in the house….damnit!
The priests watch a monitor – they have secretly set up a camera to record the girl while she sleeps. She suddenly gets down on all fours like an animal. She then turns and stares directly into the camera and screams, blowing out the microphone.
Antonio goes to investigate. And I’m mentally screaming at them NOT TO GO BACK DOWN INTO THAT CELLAR!!! You guys know that feeling. The one in the theater where you can’t tear your eyes from the screen yet you fear what you’re about to see.
Antonio finds holes in the ground along with bloody fingernails. She’s been digging. The girl appears and promptly bites Antonio’s finger. She then throws Antonio down and begins to strangle him with inhuman strength. Karl and Matt struggle to pull her off.
Antonio quickly injects her with a needle. She falls unconscious. Leslaw enters, holding up the chain. They nod and chain her up.
Karl’s back is badly scratched from the struggle. Antonio cleans the wounds.
The Priests then talk to NIKA – the girl’s best-friend. Nika states the girl started to change after their trip to the catacombs. Nika says the girl was floating off the ground in the catacombs.
Antonio has a theory. They’re in an old mining town. There are methane leaks. If the gas comes up from the ground and they breath it in, it could lead to hallucinations. Antonio needs to see the catacombs.
Into town the Priests go. They pull up a manhole cover and enter the sewer system. They travel down the sewer to the catacombs.
At the spot of the possession, they find coins all over the ground. There’s also an image of a shadow man on the wall. Antonio states this is witchcraft. You come down here, offer a coin and make a wish to the shadow man.
Back in the basement, the lone lightbulb explodes. Karl’s been left there to stand watch over the girl. He enters the basement to change the bulb. It explodes in his hand. That’s when the girl opens her eyes. The trap door slams shut. And now we hear something scurrying around in the dark.
Come on! Why in Hell did I start reading this script at night? Every sound makes me jump now. I’m no longer reading the pages, I’m seeing the film unspool in my head. The pages are that good!
Time passes. Antonio and Matt enter the basement, finding Karl huddled in the corner. He says he had a dream about his sister. Karl is shaken badly. They tell him to go upstairs and get rest.
Antonio tells Matt there is a demon here. He must now fast to prepare for the exorcism.
Antonio has only been involved in one other case of true demonic possession. It was in the 1950′s. Matt knows about this case. It happened in Norway. Matt is confused though, how could Antonio have been involved in that exorcism. Antonio states he was the boy that was possessed.
That was flat out creepy. Revealing that Antonio was possessed when he was little. Stroke of genius there. I’m definitely going to church this Sunday…twice!
Matt and Antonio go back into the cellar. Replace the bulb. The light comes on, revealing graffiti all over the walls.
Antonio performs the exorcism. The girl is howling.
Meanwhile, two police officers have come to the house. They take Karl with them, stating they have something to show him.
The girl begins to cough badly now, hacking. Matt goes to clear her throat. Finds her teeth stained with blood. He pulls an object from her mouth. She coughs up more, spitting out volumes of black goo.
Matt cleans off the object in his hand – it’s a coin. She is inexplicably spitting up more coins.
And I’m telling you, I’m flying through the pages now. They are that compelling.
The police take Karl to a crime scene. Mika is dead.
Karl comes back to the house, freaked. He states that somehow the girl killed Mika. He fears they are next.
Antonio finds Leslaw’s 4-yr old son dead in the basement. The girl just giggles with glee. Leslaw throws himself ontop his daughter, strangling her. He’s going to kill her. Antonio injects him with a needle. Leslaw lapses into unconsciousness.
And I’m just cringing inside. The horror is becoming so much more powerful. The girl is just toying with them!
Karl wants to kill the girl. Antonio states if the girl dies, her soul will be damned. They have to finish the exorcism to save the girl.
Karl leaves them, fearing for the safety of his sister. He thinks the girl will kill his sister next. He will get to her sister and immediately have her baptized. I myself am thinking of getting baptized again just to be sure.
Antonio and Matt go back down to the basement to continue the exorcism. This time they bring the camera lights, illuminating the entire room.
The girl begins to climb up the wall like a spider. Antonio pulls on the chain, knocking her back down. She’s weakened. Antonio tells Matt to get the bread and wine. Matt goes upstairs. A shadow appears on the floor. Matt turns and is attacked.
Why did Matt go upstairs, leaving Antonio alone in the cellar with this devil girl? I’m reading in enough fear as is!
Antonio calls out to Matt. It is time. He needs the bread and wine now. A figure comes down the stairs. Antonio turns. It’s Karl. He’s returned with a gun. He says he tried to drive off but the girl was floating in the air, ahead of him. She won’t let him leave.
Karl turns the gun on Antonio and tells him to go upstairs. Antonio has no choice but to comply, begging
Karl not to kill the child.
Karl locks himself away in the cellar with the girl.
Karl is about to shoot the girl. But now, she’s his sister. Karl stops, in a trance. He begins to disassemble the gun.
Antonio finds Matt unconscious upstairs. He helps him to his feet. They see what’s happening in the cellar on their monitor.
The girl smashes all the lights, plunging the cellar into darkness.
Matt gets the cellar door opened. He rushes into the dark and finds Karl, pulling him up the stairs to safety. The girl grabs ahold of Karl and with inhuman strength smashes him against the wall, killing him.
Antonio manages to get Matt to safety. They lock the trap door.
Antonio tells Matt to drive back to the Church to get help.
Now alone, Antonio goes back down into the cellar, preparing for the final confrontation.
The girl is there. Antonio tells the girl to fight against the demon that is possessing her. The girl just laughs.
And Antonio finally realizes what this demon wants. It wants him. It’s the same demon that possessed him when he was little. It has come back for him.
Antonio then injects the girl with the needle. The girl turns sluggish. He then fills a second needle and injects her again. The girl dies?
Antonio then looks into the camera and begins to give a confession. He never sees the girl float into the air behind him. The girl then attacks Antonio with a vengeance.
We cut to Matt driving to the church. Suddenly, the girl floats in the air above him. His car crashes. Matt’s badly hurt. A shadow then falls over him. Matt begins screaming and the film ends.
The script is extremely effective at making you feel the horror. Your skin crawls as you read the pages. Christopher Borrelli is definitely a writer to keep an eye out for. Unlike “CLOVERFIELD” or “QUARANTINE,” this story actually delivers the scares. The dread mounts with each page as terror builds to a race-to-the-finish ending.
And here’s the thing. In “THE EXORCIST,” the child Regan was actually outmatched by the Priests. Oh sure, she could spin her head around and vomit on you but it was mostly her playing mind games with us. She had to rely on lies. She didn’t really have much power.
That’s not the case here. This demon is so much stronger than us which makes the film scarier. We cannot hope to beat this thing and we realize our faith means nothing at all. That’s a terrifying statement.