User reviews

A great premise and a good book. Could have been Booksmart meets The Exorcist. But Elsie Fisher is awful as Abigail which torpedos most of the film's promise and none of the cast are helped by a very lazy and poorly crafted script. The whole films feel very rushed, there's no connection to the main characters as most of the back story and bonding has been ditched I'm favour of getting to the horror elements faster. Which leads to the final strike against this film, in that it's about as scary as an episode of Scooby Doo. Constantly shifting in time between young teen/family friendly and adult. It just never really knows what it's doing. Amiah Miller does however deliver a good performance despite the bad material and myopic direction she's been given.

I thought this was okay but nothing memorable. I loved the book which was fun and retro but also genuinely creepy. The film didn't capture the essence of the book for me, or if it did it was a watered down version that was lacklustre. Everything these days seems to be trying to be a Stranger Things, or at least that's how it feels. This film just didn't feel that fresh and also wasn't remotely scary which was missing the point. Also, who was the target market as it felt YA? The book was about teens but definitely an adult read. I think it could have been so much more, like why not be a full on campy horror like Drag Me To Hell or just something that would be a fun ride. Not just another retro teen story.

Its a take on my generations typical scare genre, a case of excorsism, devilworship and girls coming of age flirting with the ouija board, at a pyjamaparty when caretakers takes a late night bartrip, and leaves the teen alone at home.

Its also a sting of irony on the issues of sexuality, elaborating anorexia, in a more or less sugarfree story, with not much above average acting from well known female cast, and as innocent pupils of a catholic high school they swear unreasonably far too much.

The dressing code and script is without doubt written and sewn together by people that hasnt lived through the 80's, the best hit must be the dedicated musical score and a few moments of real fright but not enough for a grumpy old man like me. It might as well stay outta the silverscreen theaters because it lacks the heart and mind of the 80's.

Nothing like the book. Not half as good. Terrible in comparison. Was really looking forward to this but it was not good. Having the read the book i was looking forward to seeing the story play out on screen. Unfortunately the story told is not that close to the story of the book. Film loses the charm and character of the original story though there are some similarities. The film is neither funny or scary, it's a bit of a mess. Cast are good apart for the whole Lemon brothers rubbish. That was shameful. I'm glad that it was on Prime as I'd be annoyed if I'd paid money to purchase this tripe. Not worth your time.

I remember finishing the book in a day. It was an original, well-paced and fun read that I just could not put down until every page was turned. Sometimes that does not always translate to the screen, but I still found the film to be quite entertaining. The book had some pretty heavy, dark scenes and I was surprised that the movie did as well. I figured it would be presented more as a comedy than a horror film, playing more to mainstream viewers. However, there were some genuinely creepy aspects to the mostly dramatic script. It's such an original concept that it may be too unusual for those who haven't read the novel.

RATED: 7/10 Language: English Source: Amazon Prime

The title itself says its more on fun notes than the horror. And it lives to the title till end. I wish if it has more fun or spoof moments, it would be more enjoyable one.

The premises and horror are run of the mill, they mixed it and make it watchable one. It is not so funny and also not so scary.

The beginning was good and get into the story in short time. They added more friends sentiments towards end and looks bit dragged before climax.

I was expecting more on exorcism, but not much on that. It is not boring at the same time it is not fulfilled one also.

One time watchable.

'My Best Friend's Exorcism' is a horror/comedy that isn't horrifying and isn't funny. In fact it never even really feels like it is trying to be either of those things. I can think of only a small handful of times where the film attempts to get a laugh, and it never comes off. And the horror side of things is more just nastiness than anything else.

I don't really know who this film is targeted at. It isn't fun enough to be for kids. But it is nowhere near dark enough to be aimed at adults. It seems to fall into an awkward middle ground.

The characters are incredibly bland. They aren't funny or clever or sexy or inspiring. No energy is spent building them into anything at all. Every one of them could basically be the same person.

Without spoiling anything, there is a decision made at the end of the movie to show something quite important. I can't stress how bad of a decision this was. What isn't seen is always infinitely more scary than what is seen. This did not look good and was a final nail in the coffin for this film.

The only redeeming factor I can find is that some good song choices were used. Otherwise though this was a misfire. 3/10.

Didn't read book or know there was one until reading reviews here. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I thought the set up, acting, pacing, and storyline were all on point. I genuinely laughed out loud several times throughout the movie. I also had a few scares/moments where my mouth was aghast.

At this day and age, it baffles me that book readers don't walk into movies with the expectation that it will be very different from the book. Baffling. Solid 8.5.

These words in this sentence are typed to meet the six hundred characters minimum, for writing movie reviews on this website. Enjoy you day, night..

I really enjoyed this book, but this movie misses the mark. I think it would've been better as a miniseries. To recap, this is a story of childhood friendship. A Stephen King says no matter how many friends or family you have in your life, you will never have friends like that again. It's also a coming of age story, and what happens as you and your friends start getting older and branching out. It's a story of high school anxiety and 80s nostalgia (Frusen Glädjé!) . And, front and center, of course it's a story about strange things starting to happen and possible dark forces visiting your hometown. Good stuff for spooky season!

Unfortunately, I don't think the story translated well here. Grady Hendrix's books are usually pretty jam-packed, so I don't see how you could cram everything into 90 minutes. It definitely felt choppy. Key scenes and characters fell flat because they didn't have enough set up. Things happened that seemed pretty random unless you knew the backstory. It felt like they were moving really fast, more like paying homage to major scenes rather than building a story that could stand on its own.

The best parts of the book- the sinister, creeping horror story build, the BFF saga, the 80s nostalgia- don't come across, and the whole thing felt rushed. I had no emotional investment in any of these people. It's the first point that bothers me the most. Why watch a horror movie if it's not even going to be spooky or scary?

Anyway, imo you're left with an empty book recap if you know the story, and I don't even know what you'd get out of it if you didn't. Maybe just a time filler movie to watch during a flight or something to have on in the background.

I really like Elsie Fischer, and she and Amiah Miller turn in good performances for what they were given. Chris Lowell too. They at least keep it watchable (if you know the story, anyway). The other actors were barely given enough material to register. Production was ok. 3 stars for the acting and for putting out a spooky movie in October.

This movie is a slog that unfortunately never goes anywhere with its premise. And no idea what it has an R rating as it comes off very PG-13.

Most of it is a rehash of old tropes played as the tropes they are. None are subverted or mocked. And since this is listed as a comedy, I at least expected that much.

No idea why this is set in the 1980's since that plays no part in the story, and all the actors basically talk and act like it's 2022.

I was excited to see Elsie Fisher as I adored her in Eighth Grade, and she does an admirable job given the material, but even she couldn't save this one.

Faith + Fitness - The Lemon Brothers

My Best Friend's Exorcism is a fun horror comedy with good performances from Elsie Fisher & Amiah Miller. Miller especially gives off a decent Jennifer's Body type vibe.

The movie has little horror elements to it but is backed up by being genuinely funny at times. The scenes of the Lemon Brothers doing a talk at the school was hysterical and the exorcism was well played.

A pleasant surprise, My Best Friend's Exorcism contains a great 80s soundtrack with hits by Culture Club, A-Ha, amongst others. I have seen some pretty poor reviews for this but i found it to be a blast.

This was recently added on prime since with no choice of any other good option I thought of giving it a try. The movie is said to be a horror comedy that's what makes it look interesting very few good movies are made if this genre but unfortunately it turned out to be a disappointment in that department. The blame goes on the writer and the director. With little hard work and effort in creativity this movie could have been very funny and entertaining but it is not. All actors did their job well they can't be blamed if the script is poor and the director is not up to the mark. If you are planning to watch it expecting it to be horror comedy just drop it because it's neither horror nor comedy but if you need time pass to kill your free time you can give it a try you atleast wont get bored.

This film probably has the weakest exorcism scene I've ever seen - it's the scary equivalent of an episode of Scooby Doo. A few fun bits involving Chris Lowell aside, Damon Thomas' directorial effort lacks the necessary humor and the scares. The dialogues are also not a clear reflection of the late '80s (methinks?). Elsie Fisher is a good performer, however, I felt she struggled a bit in essaying her role here. I hear this is based on a book, where I'm sure there were enough pages to flesh out the bond between the two leads, but it certainly feels rushed in the film. Amiah Miller is the only performer here who warrants a second look, and she's surely on her way to landing some splendid roles in the near future. Well, at least, the makers chose under-20-year-olds to portray high-schoolers.

Let me first say I don't like horror movies. I also don't like scary movies. However I do like dark comedies and can usually tolerate horror comedies. After watching the trailer for this movie I figured I'd check it out because it had the 1980s setting, the actress from Eight Grade was in it, it didn't seem like it would be too scary for me, and it was free with my Prime Video subscription. I quite enjoyed it.

I like the friendship established between Abby and Gretchen and the premise of Abby doing everything to save her best friend. The scares weren't too "scary" which was just fine for me because I really don't enjoy scary movies. There were some pretty gross scenes but if you can handle the puking in Pitch Perfect you'll be fine here. The acting was decent. I like how they poke fun at Christianity with acts like the over-the-top Jesus praising Lemon Brothers.

Overall it was a fun movie. If you're into Stranger Things, Paper Girls, films from the 80s why not give it a try?

Wow this is a special kind of bad. The audio sounds dubbed but doesn't look dubbed. The acting is comically bad and the writing is worse than the acting. I'm required to type a certain amount of characters so I'll continue... briefly. It's like Lifetime and Nickelodeon got together and made the worst horror movie of all time. Prime video made this garbage i think. I guess they needed something for Halloween and decided on this money grab. I would say to save your money but it was actually free on Prime (not that that makes it any less painful). It's Halloween man. People will put up with bad movies for a few cheap scares. This does not even qualify as bad... it's worse than that.

I really liked this book by Grady Hendrix, and it's one of those books that seems to naturally translate well to a screenplay (though the credits call it a teleplay). It's not a super dense or super long novel. It has a strong focus on its characters. It's structured in a way that naturally lends itself towards how we think movies work. It seems like an easy lift. I think the film, written by Jenna Lamia and directed by Damon Thomas, manages well enough to capture a good bulk of what made the book fun. It's missing something important, though. I haven't read the book in several years, so this is really judging the film entirely on its own.

The film's chief failing is really felt in its first act where we are introduced to Abby (Elsie Fisher) and Gretchen (Amiah Miller), best friends at a Catholic high school. The story is really the story of a friendship taken to its limits within the horror genre. It works most when it's about a friendship that is falling apart, that could convincingly be told even without the horror elements, and this film fumbles that in its first act. The friendship shown between Abby and Gretchen is too thinly drawn, mostly hinging on the opening scene where the two (their faces hidden through most of it for some reason while an overactive editor cuts the scene to shreds) have a phone conversation before school from their bedrooms. It's the beginnings of building that relationship, but by the time they get to school, we're suddenly in the entire friend group. We have to spend time with them to build up their characters and the whole group dynamic. This movie is only 97-minutes long. Would another five minutes with these girls to give them a deeper connection really have hurt it?

The rest of the friend group is Glee (Cathy Ang), Margaret (Rachel Ogechi Kanu), and Margaret's boyfriend Wallace (Clayton Royal Johnson). Amid scenes that introduce us to the Catholic high school world, the girls plan a trip out to one of their summer houses on a remote lake for the weekend. There, Abby and Gretchen, after getting shocked by Wallace's sudden appearance at the house, go off and walk around in the dark until they come upon an abandoned building where spooky things happen, the girls get separated with Gretchen getting left behind, and Abby bringing the other girls back (Wallace having gone home) to find Gretchen alive and angry at Abby for leaving her behind. Have you seen the title of the film? Yes, she's been possessed.

The second act of the film is where the film begins to lean into the horror elements, and where the film reveals the error of the thin treatment of the introduction of Abby and Gretchen's relationship. The demon possessing Gretchen sets out to isolate Gretchen from her friends to completely take over, and that means turning Gretchen against everyone, first and foremost Abby. That happens through embarrassments at school, especially around a crush Abby has regarding Brother Morgan (Cameron Bass) that Gretchen makes public in rather explicit terms. She also convinces Glee that Margaret is a lesbian in love with her, and since Glee is closeted it leads to a reveal that is embarrassing all around. She also convinces Margaret to start taking lots of a diet drink to lose weight, which ends with a gross development (that I remember being much more ornate in the book). The friend group is shattered, and it seems like something bad is going to happen.

Abby reaches out for help from Christian (Christopher Lowell) one of the Lemon Brothers, a trio who use weightlifting to advance the message of Christ (these sorts of "cool" Christians are always somewhere in the real world), who, as the runt of the litter, decides that this is his opportunity to prove himself by performing an exorcism. Well, the exorcism is in the title.

The point of the story is about two girls who are growing apart as they grow up and finding a way to maintain their relationship despite everything. This is most obvious in the plot point that Gretchen's parents are moving away. People change, and we have to find ways to deal with it. This works best with a great set of characters, and the script of My Best Friend's Exorcism just isn't meaty enough when it comes to that core relationship. However, just enough is there so that these final scenes of Abby having to take over the exorcism that it functions. And yet, it's meant to be an emotionally draining scene, and this isn't Regan and Chris MacNeil.

I also have a small complaint because the book is so tied to Charleston, South Carolina but the film was obviously not filmed here. There's a nod late in the film to the state where a moving truck is emblazoned with the blue state flag, but, for instance, Gretchen's house is in Mount Pleasant. Margaret's house is downtown. There's a nice scene detailed how dangerous it felt to drive over the old bridge that connected Mount Pleasant to Charleston. Losing that and filming the movie in Atlanta robs the setting of a specificity that helps give the story character, replaced by a relatively generic look at the 80s in a place that looks almost generically American suburban.

That being said, it isn't bad. The group of friends works better than the core relationship. Gretchen's descent is well shown. The acting is fine all around, and Lowell provides a good, late comedic presence. I somewhat enjoyed the overall experience, but I just found the key element to be too thinly written to work as well as it should.

For me the character Abby Rivers ruined the whole movie. She's one of the most annoying and frustrating characters I have had the displeasure of recently come across.

I don't know how she's portrayed in the books since the movie is based on a book but in the movie she's horrible ... a pushover, a doormat and annoyingly flat. I've seen people praise Elsie Fisher but I'm not familiar with her work so I'll chose to pin this on the material she was given to work with.

I really liked the premise and I think it could've been a really good thing but overall the movie seems rushed and feels like something is missing. I really liked Christopher Lowell tho. He was a fresh of breath air and I'm bummed his screen time wasn't longer.

Overall the movie is not terrible (at least for me) but it's also not one that I'd come back to rewatch it ... so it's a one time thing if you're really bored.