Exeter ... Gory laughter

EXETER is a horror film for the MTV generation. I thought it'd be another film about creepy antics in an abandoned asylum, which it is, but it turned out to be a rather enjoyable one, filled with gore and humour.
    For example, the attractive white teens who invade the asylum perform a do-it-yourself exorcism on one of their friends when he is possessed by an evil spirit. They look it up on the Internet and make do with straps and holy water.

   Even though they realise that the site is probably a spoof, they perform the ritual earnestly.
  Another incongruous scene happens when the main protagonist tussles on the floor with a possessed woman in ... a bubble bath.
   Yet another absurd scene occurs when one of the youth accidentally kills himself when he falls on his axe.
   A fat boy exclaims that he's been stabbed in his leg with a spoon.
  A woman attacks a spirit with ... a frying pan.
  A guy goes hunting for evil spirits dressed in his underwear.
   Amid the blood flows big doses of laughter.
  We have church volunteer Patrick (Kelly Blatz) helping Father Conway (Stephen Lang) clean up the abandoned asylum, which was bought over by the church a few years ago.
   Conway sees a kindred spirit in Brad, who's clean cut and is applying to go to  university. Patrick  lives in a trailer park with his puny brother Rory (Michael Ormsby).
    Patrick's fat friend Brian (Nick Nicotera) pushes the idea of having a wild party at the asylum, much to Brad's consternation, but he's no match for out-of-control teenage hormones. Their recklessness extends to them destroying the asylum's corridors by playing bowling, with a bowling ball.
   Patrick makes his moves on mysterious dark-haired beauty Reign (Brittany Curran) with the egging of blond hunk Brad (Brett Dier), who is with blonde girlfriend Amber (Gage Golightly). Amber's biggest contribution to the film is to remove her purple bra in a game of strip poker.
   Things go awry and our teens, who are trapped at the asylum, go looking for a possessed friend, with the evil spirit flitting from one person to another.
  Patrick and Reign find a file on an interesting patient, which could explain the weird happenings a the asylum. Voila, there's also a videotape around, and the duo just pop it into a VCR, which is functioning perfectly although it's been unused for an irresistibly long time.
  It's all in good fun, with lots of shrieking and deadly fights.
 
2½ stars out of 5