MovieChat Forums > The Last Exorcism (2010) Discussion > Cotton saying it was Abalam in the begin...

Cotton saying it was Abalam in the beginning

posted 10 years ago by C_Clop
8 replies | jump to latest

I'm just wondering something. If Cotton didn't believe in demons in the beginning of the movie, how could he have guess it was Abalam who was possessing the daughter when he showed the book to Louis?

Was it a lucky guess? "So here's huh... Abalam. There, he's the demon in your daughter."

Or did he manage to pick up clues, like how Abalam is a "defiler of young girls", so the story fitted with Nell?

Since he didn't believe in demons, he could have literally said it was any random demon.
Thoughts?

[–] michaeluk26 10 years ago

He picked that demon specifically because he had that thing that made the water bubble and get hotter, which was that demons "calling card" you could say. Remember the book said that demons sign was a change in temperature. So he chose it on purpose, but also randomly in the way that he did not know that that specific demon would actually be possessing Nell as he does not believe in them.

You are right, he could have picked any demon. I guess we are supposed to believe it was fate.

Haters gonna hate

[–] C_Clop 10 years ago

Ah ok, I didn't recall that part wehre he talked about the change in temperature. It makes sense that he chose this demon originally.

Yeah, maybe it's only a lucky guess (aka fate) that it was in fact the right demon.

Thanks for the clarification

[–] wakedemons3 10 years ago

You must have watched a different movie. Nell wasn't possessed, derp. She was pregnant and psychologically traumatized.

Are you not entertained?!

[–] essex9999 10 years ago

No, I think you must have turned the film off 10 minutes before the ending. Watch the whole thing next time, and you'll understand.

[–] essex9999 10 years ago

What makes you think the demon really was Abalam? That line was part of the same scene where Cotton (and the audience) are set up to believe that Nell is mentally ill, not possessed. She had heard him use the name, so she repeated it back on purpose. It was one more thing that made her possession look suspicious.

[–] C_Clop 10 years ago

I don't quite remember how it went, but I think she mentions the name when she's really possessed in the barn scene. We can all agree she was not faking, right?
The demon named himself in that scene. That was what made me think it was really him.

Of course we could argue that she was "faking" in that scene, but honestly I don't see how people can think she was not possessed. There's a reasonable doubt through the movie, but after the barn scene it's not really an option anymore, in my opinion.

[–] essex9999 10 years ago

I agree that she was really possessed.

You're also right that demon-Nell says the name "Abalam" in the barn scene.

I didn't mean that Nell herself faked the name. I meant that the demon, whoever he, she or it was, said the name "Abalam" because it realized that Cotton would think Nell was just repeating something she had heard. It wanted Cotton to think Nell was faking, so it said things like "blowing job" and "Abalam." Who knows what its real name was?

[–] rubixgirl 10 years ago

Pastor Manley says Abalam before he throws the baby in the fire. I think Pastor Cotton just picks a demon that best fits the situation and unknowingly names the actual demon that possessed her.

Also if there's any doubt that it was actually possession that is clarified in the sequel.