Growing up Catholic, I’ve always been captivated by stories of exorcism. Demons, demonic possession, and anything related to that was sort of taboo and just wasn’t talked about. Nuns and teachers would silence all talk on those subjects and as such, made it even more intriguing. Of course the first exorcism film most see is The Exorcist and I was no exception (they’d show it constantly as one of the Sunday movie on one of the local non-big 3 networks) and ever since seeing it, I’ve sought them out.
There are a ton of exorcism or religious tilted demonic possession films and a lot of them are total trash. Far too many of them rely on the same tired setups and don’t do anything to spice it up. One of my favorites from the last decade was, The Last Exorcism, which was a found footage film dealing with an exorcism. The big hook (spoilers for a 10 year old film) was that the exorcist in that film was a fraud but he encounters a real demonic possession and I loved it. The Cleansing Hour, the latest Shudder exclusive, is a new take on this concept.
The Cleansing Hour is a streaming “reality” exorcism show filmed entirely on a set. The premise is that they perform fake exorcisms but give the appearance that they are real. It’s a scripted show but the audience doesn’t know that or if they do, they don’t care. However, what happens when a bunch of frauds are actually confronted with a real demonic possession? And how far will people go for internet fame?
Unlike most possession films, the possession here is fun. The demon, knowing they are working with frauds sets rules and stipulations. And the demon also plays off popular live streaming tropes like, letting the audience decide what happens next or needing to get a certain amount of support for an action in a set amount of time. The tension ramps causing a schism between the best friends that are the host/star and producer forcing the two to deal with each other while also trying to destroy the demon in front of them. It all leads up to a satisfying conclusion that while maybe a bit goofy, was quite fun and unexpected.
The Cleansing Hour isn’t going to change your opinion on exorcism films and if you are looking for one a bit more grounded in the religious angles, it may not be for you. But otherwise, this is a winner through and through.
4*
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