MD Bastek
First of all, the title alone has me sold as it promises campy, tongue-in-cheek fun. The trailer lives up to the title. The story takes place during the ’80s. I am a child of the ‘80s and admit I’m a sucker for nostalgia.
Based on a 2016 novel by Grady Hendrix, My Best Friend’s Exorcism follows two teen girls, Abby and Gretchen. The trailer shows that Gretchen is moving away. There are shots of the two in their bedrooms talking on their landlines and using lots of aerosol hairspray. The song, “I Think We’re Alone Now,” plays in the background, which was a popular song during the ‘80s.
There’s a shot of Gretchen with Abby and some other friends. They’re talking about going somewhere for the weekend. They head out to a cabin in the middle of nowhere. Then, we see someone watching them from the woods as the group sits out on a dock by the water, giving ‘80s teen slasher/Friday the 13th vibes.
There’s a shot of a small abandoned house at night. One girl says that a girl was sacrificed in a Satanic ritual there. They want to go inside but Abby is reluctant to go in. There’s a creepy shot of the girls exploring the house’s dark hallways. The girls enter a cluttered room and a small creature in a chair hisses at them. They run, and Gretchen falls. Then, we see the other girls searching for her in the dark hallways. They find her and Abby asks Gretchen where she was. She answers “Where were you?”
Then, we see shots of a health and fitness guy giving a presentation in the auditorium at their school. There’s a sign with a cross that says “Faith and Fitness” in the background. Abby goes to him for help. There’s a shot of Gretchen with her eyes rolled in the back of her head as she scribbles the word Hell over and over on a piece of paper and of her grabbing a butcher knife. We see some typical possession movie scenes like Gretchen being tied down and then lifting herself up in a back bend on the bed and puking on her friends at lunch. The fitness character says things like she may look normal but inside she’s “coo-coo for coco puffs” and “hot damn, we got ourselves a demon!”
The trailer mentions that My Best Friend’s Exorcism is produced by the director of Freaky and Happy Death Day. I saw both movies and thought that they were clever and entertaining horror comedies. This movie looks like it’s on the same wavelength, a campy, tongue-in-cheek horror flick and an entertaining homage to ‘80s teen horror movies.
