Review by JD Piche, SAG-AFTRA, Filmmaker, Producer, Writer: Follow on IG @Misadventur3r
Clocking in at a hilarious 10 minutes, Jordan McKittrick’s “Carl the Exorcist” is a great subversion to the original film, the first actual possession in 48 years, and Father Carl is the man for the job. Loading up his personal squeezy bottle of Holy Water, his collar, and the good book in hand, he rides to the scene of demonic enrapturement with his colleague a ‘Spiritual Doula’ / pet psychic (she was on Ellen). Will the forces of good triumph?! Is the Possessed Girl doomed for all eternity! you can find out in 10 short minutes that will leave you grinning.
Best known as Fenmore Baldwin on The Young and the Restless, Zach Tinker plays Father Carl, quite handsome for a priest and about as ready for this Exorcism as he would be if he were tapped to fill in for Tom Brady at a Big Game. Like Shaggy and Falstaff before him, we cheer at his cowardice, he’s in over his head and plays it well, panickedly asking if the family of the Possessed Girl can speak Latin. He’s a fun character that would be welcomed if he ever rides again.
Battling the forces of Hell with him is Christina Wolfgram in a great red ensemble. Playing a Spiritual Doula, she’s Father Carl’s best compatriot … and his ride. Christina’s IMDb is fairly sparse, but her performance in this proves she’s got chops.
The family, featuring Katydid comedy troupe member Katie O’Brien as Mrs. Blaire (a nod to Linda) is handling the possession of her daughter, surprisingly well, she’s at worst, a bit miffed that this demon is in control of her daughter, and not playing into the traumatized desperation one would first assume for such a situation. Her husband played by Michael Strassner, who played Vaughn Swanson on two episodes of Parks and Rec, has a lot of comedy credits under his belt and matches Katie’s deadpan well. Especially when he nonchalantly says “oh yeah my Uncle Gilbert was possessed, exorcism went just like this, only we were at a vacation home.” His nonplusity at that statement is the only thing to really agitate his wife, subtle, strong choice and it really works.
Finally is our Possessed Girl herself, played by Ellie Grace Pomeroy who had previously been in a supernatural short film, and is quite fun as a creepy little girl.
Antonius Nazareth’s score broadcasts chills. He does a great sound-a-like heavy metal riff that feels like an AC/DC B-Side, as well as the other queues, that sounds like they big-budget fare, which is a major Kudo to the talent of the Sound Department, Alexandra Parral’s mixing was top-notch, and because of how good the finished project sounds, Sean Higgins deserves some praise too as the re-recording mixer.
Jen Martin’s Costumes were stellar. Catherine’s Red Ensemble was great, Father Carl’s shirt seemed custom-tailored, and Katie’s paisley-patterned outfit was really fun, and by how boring Michael looked, fit his character perfectly with the sweater vest. Great work from all the craftspeople, especially Craig Barker’s cinematography, not sure if all the sconces are his call or if Alexandria Lee’s Production Design had “every sconce possible” there was some fun artifice in a lamp placed on a shawl, on top of two suitcases, just to get the light on a hung Cross on the wall that… wouldn’t ya know, rotates upside down on its own! Movie Magic! But the lighting is great, you can see everything, night shoots are hard and Barker did a phenomenal job.
That leaves us with filmmaker, Jordan McKittrick, this as his first Narrative short, and he knocked it out of the park. Not only did he assemble a helluva cast and crew, but you still need a good sense of comedic timing to pull off the jokes he did. IMDb shows him more a cinematographer than a director, but hopefully, after people see Carl the Exorcist, he’ll get more work. Shorts function as proofs of concept and calling cards, and this was so well done, the cast and crew should be applauded and Jordan too, I guess…
Seek This Out. 10/10
Follow the cast and director on their social : @zach_atticus @itsthecwolf @strasshola @katieclaireobrien and @elliegracepomeroy directed by @jordanmckittrick
Watch for our upcoming interview with Jordan next month!
About Carl the Exorcist
When young priest, Father Carl, gets called by a terrified family to help their possessed daughter, he enlists the help of his spiritual doula friend to perform a good, ol’ fashioned exorcism. The only problem? Neither of them knows what they are doing!
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