There have been a large number of independent filmmakers who have tried to recreate the glory days of the exploitation film, but none have captured the essence quite like Richard Griffin and his 70’s grindhouse satire, The Disco Exorcist.
The last few independent films I’ve watched have been pretty painful to sit through with very little positive things to really touch on. Fortunately for me, The Disco Exorcist actually does have some strong points. The acting, although cheesy, was pretty on point for what one would expect from an outrageous, over-the-top 70’s spoof film. Each performer was able to do just that — perform. I can’t tell you how many indie films I’ve seen where acting is either not present at all or way overdone.
The Disco Exorcist plays out more like a softcore porn film for its majority, but when the horror hits, it is actually pretty entertaining. The blood and gore was reminiscent of the original Evil Dead films, which I know a lot of horror fans will appreciate. The Evil Dead influence is also rather evident in the film’s demons. With blackened eyes, pale skin, and very little additional make-up, these foul-mouthed ‘zombies’ could easily be placed in a Sam Raimi film and taken out by Ashley Williams, himself.
This movie most certainly isn’t my favorite, but I know there is an audience out there that would really love it. Get your hands on a copy and see if you are one of those people.
I give The Disco Exorcist 2 lines of cocaine out of 5.
I think I might like it, I’ll try to watch this later on this week