Movie Review: My Best Friend’s Exorcism

credit: My Best Friend’s Exorcism

The title alone should make it clear that this is a horror comedy since the idea being pushed is enough to make a lot of people laugh pre-emptively. Maybe it’s because it’s the 80s, but maybe it’s simply because the horror elements in this movie are so over the top that being scared in any way is virtually impossible. That’s not a bad thing, really, since being able to laugh at this movie and like or hate certain characters was easy and at least a little enjoyable.

Gretchen and Abby were believable as friends in the way that proves that opposites attract since Gretchen is pretty, confident, and kind of snooty to some folks, even if she and Abby are like sisters. Abby is the slightly dumpy friend that is awkward and doesn’t have the same level of confidence as her friend, while their other two friends, Margaret and Glee, have their own hangups, one of which is Margaret’s douchey boyfriend, Wallace, who’s the typical guy that will get with every young woman who looks at him twice if he has the chance. 

credit: My Best Friend’s Exorcism

The challenge of high school is still represented in a way that many people can understand. 

Hey, a lot of us can remember what it was like back in high school, and life wasn’t always easy since there were relationships to tend to, and none of them were bound to be easy at all times. But when it’s established that Gretchen and baby are such close friends, it stands to reason that something is going to drive a wedge between them since this wasn’t meant to be a happy, huggy-feely movie that would explore the dramatic change in a friendship when one friend moves away.

But thinking of how high school works, it’s not hard at all to think that Abby kind of feels like an outcast, which prompts her to avoid swimming when her friends decide to go for a dip. Instead, she and Gretchen end up visiting an abandoned shack that was apparently the site of a satanic ritual, according to local legend. I mean, that’s better than just hanging out with friends, right? 

It’s actually possible to enjoy Gretchen’s character, kind of, once she’s possessed. 

Somehow Gretchen’s character gets a little better after she’s possessed by the spirit that assaults her in the shack, but for different reasons than some might think. To start with, it’s kind of interesting to see Gretchen humbled and terrorized for a bit before the demon really takes control.

It’s very easy to feel sorry for the young woman since it needs to be said that the feeling of being tormented and terrorized is sometimes just as bad as the act itself. But when the demon takes the wheel and drives to speak, Gretchen becomes a true terror that’s even more interesting since the demon makes a real effort to lash out at Gretchen’s friends, using her body and voice in ways that are deadly without question, but also strike one as ultra petty. It’s almost as though Gretchen’s persona transformed the demon as much as the demon transformed her. 

credit: My Best Friend’s Exorcism

The cruelty of young women can’t be dismissed, especially when a demon is involved. 

Honestly, the moment that Abby decides to speak up and tell someone about Gretchen’s admission that something is watching her is when she really messed up, not because she was trying to help her friend, but she forgot how catty girls can really be. The fact that Margaret and Glee turned on her so quickly and without question is a little too real since, for those of us that have been through high school and noticed more than enough to leave a mark, this kind of thing does happen fairly often and it’s just about as tragic as a possession since there are times when teenagers will turn on each other without question and will shun each other for nothing more than a wisp of a rumor. But those kinds of demons are called hormones, and they’re even harder to deal with. 

The final reveal of the antagonists was kind of a letdown. 

The fact that one of the Lemon brothers, religious weightlifters that hold concerts to talk about faith and what it can do, tried to exorcise the demon from Gretchen’s body was rather funny, especially since he dipped the moment the demon managed to hit him with a personal memory he didn’t care for.

But once Abby pulled the demon from Gretchen by using recitations of their fondest memories the same way a priest would use the Holy Bible, it was a bit obvious that the power of sisterhood and love was much stronger than the lip service being paid to the good book by Christian. But the demon was actually kind of disappointing since it felt more bothersome than terrifying. Oh well, the movie was still rather funny.