Director Daniel Stamm has delivered one of the most uniquely effective and memorable horror films of the year with The Last Exorcism, a "fake documentary" that always keeps you on your toes until it pulls the rug from under you. Starring Patrick Fabian as a Minister who has made a fortune staging fake exorcisms until the day he runs across a girl who might actually be possessed, The Last Exorcism seriously deals with themes that are either rarely touched or used in an immature way in the genre. The film's director made waves on the festival circuit with a drama about a group of filmmakers looking to document a real suicide and he took the lessons learned on that film and brought them to an exploration on religion and Satan himself. Stamm himself is a fascinating interview subject, even very early in the morning. He's clearly pumped about his project and the kind of director who could talk for hours about his process and his themes. We only had twenty minutes but we made the most of it.

(Note: This interview is more spoiler-rific than most but the specifics discussed about the final scenes of the film have been removed so as not to completely ruin the ending. Having said that, there's still some discussion of the final moments that even without specifics may upset spoiler-sensitive readers. If you're one of those, please bookmark and come back after you've seen the film.)

MovieRetriever: Both of your films, to quote a character from A Necessary Death, "play with the boundaries of what is comfortable to document." – Suicide and religion. Why is it interesting to you to document uncomfortable things?

DANIEL STAMM: Because it's a hook, right? We see so much stuff that you kind of have to show people something that they haven't seen before; that's slightly out of their comfort zone. And in both films you have men who don't know what they're in for and pay the price in the end.

MovieRetriever: And it seems to me that you also have two people who have strong opinions that are then challenged.

STAMM: Which is, in the first case, that filming suicide is appropriate.

MovieRetriever: Filming anything is appropriate – that there are no boundaries.

STAMM: Right. And the other one is that there is no devil. That's true. And it's also two men who are in charge and are leading a team into disaster with their charisma.

MovieRetriever: And there's another thing …

STAMM: Did I make the same film twice? (Laughs.)

MovieRetriever: A lot of interesting filmmakers play with themes throughout their careers, so I don't think that's a problem. I've got one more – in both, the presence of the camera changes what's happening.

STAMM: Is that the case in Last Exorcism?

MovieRetriever: Well, there's death.

STAMM: (Laughs.) That's true. They would have survived if they hadn't been there. (Laughs.)

MovieRetriever: I guess maybe it's not exactly true.

STAMM: The camera is used for different things in Last Exorcism. It's all about making the viewer vulnerable. They are aware that there are 360 degrees around them but they only see this tiny square. And they have a representative in the film that could be attacked at any moment, which is what I kind of like about the ending, which I know is controversial – but when your cameraman gets killed, the movie's over. Some people say the ending is too sudden. Yes, it's too sudden because the guy gets his head chopped off. And in A Necessary Death it's more about how it has to feel real to be uncomfortable. The film wouldn't be as uncomfortable in a conventional style.

MovieRetriever: A friend told me it was halfway through before he realized A Necessary Death wasn't a documentary.

STAMM: That's the biggest compliment.

MovieRetriever: I recognized some of the actors in Last Exorcism but if I hadn't it has a similar believability.

STAMM: You recognized Cotton (Patrick Fabian)?

MovieRetriever: Yeah, from Big Love and a few other things.

STAMM: I had never seen him on TV but then I did some research and he's been on every single show in the world.

MovieRetriever: Let's jump real quickly to the end, which I was hesitant to spoil but you brought it up – people think it's controversial because it's too sudden?

STAMM: People either love it or have a problem with it. It seems if people have a problem with the movie, it's about the ending. The ending changes gears so drastically and it's … well, it's not a different genre, but in the last minute we realize what kind of movie we've been watching. The way we go there for 89 minutes was leading us away from it so it comes as kind of a surprise.

MovieRetriever: Some people don't like that.

STAMM: Some people don't buy into it.

MovieRetriever: Several people have asked me a question about the end – [specific question deleted for spoiler-sake.] How do you answer that?

STAMM: I don't. (Laughs.) It's always something that people know they have to go through and so we thought "Why not just not even touch on it"? We've heard every explanation but none of them really make sense. I kind of like questions like that. It's like how open can you make an ending like that? It was a tough balance to strike.

MovieRetriever: How much research did you do into the actual practice of exorcism?

STAMM: A lot. We read everything there is to read. Watched everything there is to watch also to avoid doing the same thing. The Exorcist is such a classic and people remember it off the top of their heads and so you don't want to repeat anything. Again, it's a balance because, to a certain degree, people expect certain things from an exorcism movie but then you want to tell a completely original story with completely new characters.

MovieRetriever: What's your religious background?

STAMM: I wasn't brought up in any.

MovieRetriever: Do you think the film might turn off those who were?

STAMM: I don't think so. I would be surprised. The Exorcist is one of the favorite films of The Vatican. We were careful. It was important that it work for believers and non-believers because that's the question throughout the movie and the ending is open enough that it could go either way.

MovieRetriever: Well, I read the ending as something of a slap at organized religion.

STAMM: But then you have to assume that all organized religion involves worshipping Satan.

MovieRetriever: Well, maybe you do.

STAMM: (Laughs.) I always like that about the script. Louis strikes us as such a fanatic and he pushes all the right buttons for us to distance ourselves that we jump to conclusions. But he really only has her safety in mind.

MovieRetriever: What was the most technically difficult element of the production?

STAMM: Creating the scares. In a conventional movie, you have all these different angles and you can cover everything and create rhythm in editing. We had to make it work in camera in that one frame, so you have a much smaller toolkit.

MovieRetriever: Speaking of tools, the previews give away SO much that I have to admit that I kept thinking "That shot would have been more effective if I hadn't seen it. And that one. And that one." And I've been telling people to see the movie but turn away from the previews. How do you feel about that? Is it a necessary evil?

STAMM: That's exactly what it is. What good is it if no one goes to see the movie? And it's funny because the previews only show stuff from the last half hour. But I think Lionsgate knows what they're doing and they know their audience. It's the age-old filmmaker dilemma – you kind of have to get over yourself.

MovieRetriever: I remember when previews didn't include the last 20 or 30 minutes and now they'll give away the last shot.

STAMM: Yes. But then there are those who do it so well. I watched the Shutter Island preview and I was like "I'm not going to see this movie because they've told me everything." And then an hour in I'm like, "I have NO idea what we're going to do from here." It was brilliant. So it can be done.

MovieRetriever: Eli Roth was Executive Producer. Some people might be curious to know exactly what kind of involvement he had because sometimes people put their name on a project, toss money at it, and walk away.

STAMM: This is the opposite. Eric Newman of Strike Entertainment had developed the script with Andrew Gurland and Huck Butko and the concept was always "fake documentary." They had tried to get money together for awhile and then Eli read the script and loved the script. Then the money appeared. Studio Canal said "If Eli Roth is on-board …" and the money was there. So, the two writers were going to direct but they had committed to The Virginity Hit. They were shooting the same time in New Orleans. Strike was looking for a director and has seen A Necessary Death.

MovieRetriever: How? [It's only played festivals and not been given a DVD release yet.]

STAMM: A writer that I had studied with at AFI overheard them talking about needing a director for a fake documentary and we had just won the AFI Fest and he said, "Watch this."

MovieRetriever: Wow.

STAMM: Just one moment.

MovieRetriever: The right person being in the right place.

STAMM: It was so fast. Two days later I had the job. Eli was involved in script rewriting and then when we were shooting he wasn't on-set because he was doing press for Inglourious Basterds and then he became VERY involved in post-production. He was there almost every day and he brought in his makeup effects people and his composer.

MovieRetriever: What films or filmmakers inspired this film specifically or your work in general?

STAMM: One guy I always go back to is Lars von Trier. It's the intensity of the emotions. To me, he's making horror movies. It's just that there are no creatures. He creates moments … it's like the unfunny version of The Office. You cringe and you just can't take it anymore. He does the dark version. It's masterful. I don't know if that turns people off … I don't know if it's a great marketing campaign for The Last Exorcism. (Laughs.) "Inspired by Lars von Trier …"

MovieRetriever: It will certainly bring in some people. The fact of the matter is that some people may associate Lionsgate horror more with Saw and you'd grab a whole different audience if you start referencing Zentropa and Antichrist. (Laughs.) They may not have a lot of money, but they're loyal.

STAMM: I still haven't seen Antichrist. I don't want to watch it on video for the first time.

MovieRetriever: That is a horror film. Straight-up. The closest he's come to actual horror in my opinion. But I agree that they're all … unsettling.

STAMM: My favorite is Breaking the Waves. That woman … every time it screens somewhere … I will travel four or five hours to see it on the big screen. And every time I think "This time she's going to make it." And I'm devastated at the end every time. I don't know how he does it.

MovieRetriever: The casting for a project like this is crucial. Get the wrong girl for Nell and the whole thing falls apart. How did you find Ashley Bell and what did you see in here that made you know?

STAMM: It's funny because when I came on-board, Strike said, "The crucial character and the one that's going to be tough to find is Cotton." I thought, "I'm not sure." I knew Cotton can do all of this extroverted stuff but the whole movie is based on if Nell is possessed or crazy so we will have our eyes on HER. And then I put off casting for Nell because I was worried and the second girl we saw was Ashley Bell. She just NAILED it. I saw a tape of her and I noticed that I had stopped breathing. She's so intense. She can be very fragile but there's some darkness that I don't know where it came from. She can do 30 takes and every one of them is spectacular. She was brilliant. We did an exorcism in the audition and she just went up the walls. The energy. She's got something that makes you protective of her.

MovieRetriever: Yes. Even as she's, for lack of a better phrase, losing her sh*t, you worry that there's a fragile girl in there, which is essential to keeping the mystery alive.

STAMM: Which is why we avoided special effects. If you see her head spin, then you would know one way for sure.

MovieRetriever: How much improv do you do and how much do you stick to the script?

STAMM: It's pretty close to the script but we do a lot to get there emotionally. It isn't their words but they've gone through the emotions to make them feel like their words.

MovieRetriever: I noticed in the first film that all the characters share the same name as the actor and several in this film. Explain that technique and why not all in Last Exorcism?

STAMM: It was important to me to do all of them but I couldn't get away with it. Eli would not have this girl called Ashley in the South or a Pentecostal Minister called Patrick. We had discussions and I lost those two. If you name them with their names then they don't have anywhere to hide. They can't build up an artificial persona. It kind of hinders you if you give them something to hide behind. If you get addressed by your real name, it's harder to run to.

MovieRetriever: How far does that extend? I assume they don't go back to a cushy trailer with bottled water?

STAMM: They don't. I was actually fighting to have them all stay together on the plantation. The insurance company wouldn't [go for it]. It would have been a real experiment. It was hot as hell and it stank … to put the actors in there for four weeks …

MovieRetriever: It would have been very Lars von Trier.

STAMM: Yes. Getting them to the breaking point. I like to run things 30 times until they get angry and pissy at me and that translates to the screen. They stop acting. They act for the first 5 or 6 takes and then …

MovieRetriever: It becomes more instinctual.

STAMM: Yes and you get great moments there.

MovieRetriever: Do you have any advice for upcoming filmmakers? Just do it?

STAMM: Yes. A Necessary Death didn't cost anything. We shot on tapes that had been previously used on borrowed DV cameras. A lot of people who are coming out of film school are making the mistake of waiting because they want the money. They don't shoot another frame probably ever. We came out of film school and said, "No matter what, let's just shoot something." And that's how A Necessary Death happened. Focus on the resources you have and just make a film.

MovieRetriever: It's interesting. I've been doing this for years and regularly ask this question and the last few years I've heard a number of young filmmakers give that answer – just DO IT. It's interesting how much that could influence the market.

STAMM: Right. It's a real digital revolution.