#22 - Exorcismus

MOVIE:  Exorcismus (2010)  Currently on Netflix, where I watched it.

OVERALL ENJOYMENT:  Slow starter, but not bad!  Second half of the movie was pretty decent.

PLOT:  Teen girl gets possessed by satan.  Priest who recently tried to exorcise a demon from another girl tries to help her, but his last exorcism was not only a failure, but the girl died as well.  Is Satan up for round 2, or is the priest down for the count?  There's no referee in this mano-a-mano battle of wills!

GOOD POINTS:  No CGI, I don't think.  Special effects are all acting and makeup.  This is definitely NOT a "found footage" or "paranormal disasters" type of film.  All the film is high quality.  One nice twist near the end that was original and that I certainly didn't see coming.  Everyone in this film looks normal!  No teen hotties!

BAD POINTS:  No nudity again!  Sigh.  Teen girl isn't all that interesting.  Hard to identify with any of the characters, for me at least.  Another film about demonic possession, very similar to others in the genre.  Everyone in this film looks normal!  No teen hotties!  And yes, that is both a good AND bad thing.  lol

SPOILERS:  Talk about your anti-heroes!  lol  I don't want to spoil anything of the plot in case anyone wants to watch it, but this is definitely the only film of it's kind where the line between villain and hero is not only blurred, but completely erased and re-drawn.  lol  Impressive and unexpected!

IMPRESSIONS:  I thought I was going to turn it off for the first half of the film.  Seriously, you've got this teen girl, and she's going through your typical teen girl drama that I cannot identify with and don't understand, and she's not even getting naked, and nothing really of any interest happens for like the first 40 minutes of the film.  I mean, there's a lot of backstory and events leading up to where the good stuff starts, so I wouldn't recommend fast forwarding (i was SO tempted), but after that, then things turn around.  The rest of the movie was pretty decent.  We're not talking the Exorcist here, but a pretty good cage match between good and evil in the end!  Just, got to make it through that first half of the movie.  lol

OTHER NEWS:  Flu season has started!  I read this story the other day about a 17 year old high school athlete who got the flu and a MRSA (meticillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) infection and died within days.  Basically they used the article as a hammering point for telling people that getting your flu shot is the best line of defense against the flu.  Here's my problem with the article...  There is no defense against the flu.  It mutates every year.  Saying the flu vaccine is the best defense may technically be true (since it's the only thing we have as an option), but it's like trying to stop a bullet by shooting it out of the air with another bullet.  Let me explain.

Let's say a new strain of influenza starts infecting people in October. By november or december, the new strain is identified and catalogued, and perhaps another month or two for a vaccine to be identified.  So let's say vaccine production begins on the new strain of flu by january.  It takes 6 months to grow ANY quantity of vaccine, longer for the vast amounts that would be necessary to treat the populace of any major country.  So by July of the following year, the first doses of the vaccine might be ready.  And that is the EARLIEST possible time that any doses might be available.  If you know your flu seasons, it doesn't start til october or november every year.  So that gives the drug companies a few months between july and october to make enough to package, market and distribute.  Yes, that's right.  The vaccine for last year's strain is just getting finished up right about now.  So here's another problem...

Doctors always tell you, you don't get sick from the flu vaccine.  That's mostly true!  The virus in the vaccine is either completely dead (in the case of a shot) or mostly dead (in the case of the inhalant, which you may actually catch the flu from, but the odds are slim).  So why DO people get sick from it?  I know I did.  The fever, chills, etc. is your body's way of processing the antibodies necessary to become immune to the variant that you were injected with.  You're not actually infected with the flu, it just FEELS like it, while your body reacts to one of the strains of flu in the vaccine.  Yes, ONE of...  the usual flu shot contains 3 vaccines for 3 of last year's most common varieties of influenza.  Yes, not ALL 3 varieties, just 3 of the most common ones.  There are many varieties of flu every year.  Not to mention, if there was a major outbreak (like the swine flu a few years back) they usually include a vaccine for that in addition to the 3 most common strains.

So basically, let me sum up.  IF their vaccine works EXACTLY the way they want it to, you get sick.  You might miss days of work due to your body processing a dead virus so it can make antibodies to fight off last year's flu.  This gives absolutely NO protection for THIS year's flu, since the flu strain mutates yearly to overcome your body's immune system.  However, if at that point, you DO happen to get exposed to one of those 3 strains of last year's flu (how that might happen, I have absolutely no idea...  Not even my genius brain can come up with a scenario whereby last year's flu strain slowly traveled the world and took an entire year to make its way to you), then congrats!  You MAY (i say may because not even the doctors can guarantee that the flu shot actually works) not get as sick as you might if you had just got the flu in the first place.  Money well spent.  If their vaccine fails completely (meaning, you already had all 3 of those strains of flu last year), then you don't get sick (because there's nothing new for your body to react to), and you've spent the $20 or so for nothing.  And then next year, you get to do it all again!

Oh, and in case you're one of those "man this guy is nuts!" folks, well, look it up, people.  I'm not a conspiracy theorist.  Nobody is out to get me.  This is all fact.  All this information is readily available on and off the internet.  There's no argument about the effectiveness of the flu vaccine.  Even the doctors and the pharmaceutical companies will tell you how it's made.  Quite simply, it's the only option we currently have, even if it's mostly or completely useless.  (shrugs)

I say, enjoy the flu season!  Welcome our new viral overlords, and take a few days off work to shiver, and drink hot cocoa, and catch up on your sleep.  lol  See you all tomorrow night.