PLOT SUMMARY: Max and his friend Drew run a show called The Cleansing Hour where they perform fake exorcisms. But when they run into a real demon, they must reveal their sins to defeat him.
If you confess to your sins, will you be liberated or subjected to more punishments and problems?
THE CLEANSING HOUSE Movie Plot
In The Cleansing Hour, we meet Father Max performing an exorcism on a man. He identifies the demon, chants the rites and saves the man’s life with great difficulty. Or so it seems.
In the next instant, we find out that Father Max is actually the star of the show “The Cleansing Hour” and is performing fake exorcisms with the help of his friend Drew.
Clearly, both of them should have known better than to get involved in something that ridicules evil beings.
Because soon enough, the friends come across a real demon.
Drew’s girlfriend Lane willingly decides to help her boyfriend when an actor fails to show up.
Perhaps the real demon arranged it as well as the actor encounters an unsettling experience while looking for the studio.
Lane assured her boyfriend she will do a good job as she is a drama major and allows herself to be strapped onto a chair.
The rest of the crew comprises of a guy who is always high, a burly man, and his relative who has just joined.
As soon as the show starts, the crew member who is high, thinks he sees something strange and rushes off. Maybe he didn’t see something strange and saw the real demon possessing Lane.
Soon, Lane drops her head and sways and contorts her body.
Drew thinks his girlfriend is doing a great job until she looks up, and her eyes have changed color, and her voice is now harsh and heavy.
Max, whose target is to get more followers so he can get the verified tick, is also haunted by his childhood wherein he was made to endure his strict teacher’s punishments.
The friends are shown to have a close bond, where one tries to help the other recite verses and the other is ready to go to any lengths to stop the teacher from hurting his friend.
As soon as Lane is possessed she keeps asking for the feed to stay on.
She demands that no one leaves the premises and if they do they will be killed.
Max tries to perform an exorcism but is reminded by Drew that they have to use the right ritual in order to banish the demon. And of course, the demon refuses to give its name.
Max could have left and let the demon overwhelm Lane, but being a good friend, he agrees to even strip down in front of his loving audience.
But the demon isn’t satisfied toying with Max. It wants to reveal their sins.
THE CLEANSING HOUSE Ending Explained with Spoilers!
Realizing there’s no choice but to admit their falsehood, Max lets his audience know that the show is a sham and the exorcisms fake, but that they are dealing with a real demon now.
The audience, which includes a small boy, is shocked but their love for the host keep them glued. Though he does lose some followers.
The demon makes Drew reveal he has been stealing profits from the show as he was doing the most work. Max forgives him but tells him to pay back with interest.
The demon isn’t done yet. The friends are mentally tortured until Max is made to reveal he had relations with Lane before she met Drew and got engaged to him.
Drew is pissed off that Max still has the video of his girlfriend and him together. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew perishes and the burly guy is burnt to a crisp.
Max’s audience grows and he is elated though concerned that Lane might end up losing her life.
Max keeps taunting the demon so he can reveal clues. Drew finally manages to narrow down which demon it could be and finds the right chant.
But the task isn’t easy as the demon tries everything in its power to hinder the friends. In between, Lane makes an appearance and warns Drew to cut the feed.
The friends manage to say the chant and pull the plug. But the damage is done. Because even though the demon was sent away, the real devil makes an appearance through the burnt body of the crew member.
He looks into the camera before the feed is cut, hypnotizing the eleven million audiences.
People all over the world, start attacking each other. The little boy kills his mother then goes to kill his father who is the president of US.
What follows is utter chaos all over the world, but Lane is back, and Max is glad to receive his verified tick.
This was a truly engaging movie, with nice surprises and an important lesson: do not mess with things you have little understanding of. The boys were brought up in a religious school, yet they hide to play around with demons and pretend to vanquish them. Of course, the devil was going to be pissed off for being mocked online.
The acting was top-notch, the effects admirable and effective, and of course the story and its pace was great.
Scare scale: 4.5/5
So absolutely no one is going to say how this is a remake of Dark, Dreadful, Deadly's: The Cleansing Hour
ReplyDeleteHere's a thought. Was Max in on the entire plot? In the end, he only lost 3 fingers but smiled when he got his tick mark.
ReplyDeleteExactly what I thought, seemed he made a deal with the devil
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