Review

When Catholic Priest Father Moore is indicted for negligent homicide following an unsuccessful exorcism, lawyer Erin Bruner is called on to defend him. The Prosecution calls in Ethan Thomas as their heavy weight, and we are ready for a courtroom shoot out.

During the case we’ll find out exactly what went down with the exorcism of Emily Rose, and the pertinent question is was she possessed or just slightly deranged? High drama, some scary moments, and some outstanding performances ensue. The power of Christ compels you to read the review ….

Right up front l am going to say this is the best “exorcism” movie l have seen since William Friedkin made it impossible to sleep for weeks after seeing his seminal masterpiece The Exorcist. Actually Friedkin has induced nightmares for me over a number of years, mainly due to the fact that some muffin might be making yet another sequel with James Earl in a locust suit. Pure eee-vil right there folks. Luckily Emily Rose strays from The Exorcist sequel schlock van before Richard Burton, showing all he needed to know about being a Catholic Priest he learnt from Rod Stieger, puts it into first gear and totally ruins his rep.

Scott Derrickson’s film takes a slightly different approach to the whole exorcist angle, by setting the movie after the fact. The exorcism has already happened, it didn’t work, and we’re in court trying to piece together the facts via flashbacks and testimonies. Emily Rose has already faced her personal demons, either figuratively or in reality, and Father Karras wasn’t on hand to win it for the good guys. But before everyone marches down their local DVD store figuring this is all new and unique, John Farris already covered the same ground with his rather good novel Son of the Endless Night.

Scott Derrickson goes didactic, regardless of his claims of being impartial, this is Catholic propaganda

Derrickson has his movie working on multiple levels. Firstly the movie is a courtroom drama, and a damn realistic one at that. The Writer and Director dispense with the hi jinxes we would normally associate with movie length courtroom battles and goes all out for a realistic setting. For anyone who has sat through courtroom proceedings this is the real deal. Forget mini skirted monstrosities like Ally McBeal, Barry White doesn’t get a look in.

Secondly the movie asks us to believe the defence is maybe under demonic attack themselves. Erin Bruner continually awakes at 3am smelling something burning, and has to contend with all manner of shadowy effects. You’ll get the whole 3am thing when you watch the movie. Spooky stuff! Derrickson has his scare tactics on during the movie, both in the present, and very much in the flashbacks from multiple character viewpoints.

And finally we have the failed exorcism itself, events leading up to it, and the immediate consequences to all involved. We get to meet Emily, her overtly religious fundamentalist family, and get the true horror of her descent into either madness or demonic possession depending on your personal viewpoint. Hey it’s a movie, whether you believe in “the devil made me do it” or the whole thing being the result of co-eds having a real bad time with tequila shots is up to you, but remains immaterial in the context of viewing a movie end of day.

Derrickson has the mood and styling absolutely correct with this movie. We have some all out scary atmosphere going down with the supernatural happenings, and some tight and hard hitting drama happening in the courtroom. What Derrickson doesn’t do is rely on special effects to drive his film; this is very much a mainstream horror movie made with a 1970s approach. Yes it’s scary in parts, but no we don’t have the wham bam sound effects, CGI over indulgence, or indeed blood and gore prevailing as in other horror output recently. For mine, there’s something to be said for going serious with a horror flick. Derrickson knows how to make the realism portrayed work for him. I was digging into the whole concept and was to some degree disturbed during a number of scenes. Derrickson will have you checking his dark corners, hoping the characters don’t see anything at the windows, and generally getting behind his characters. We surely hope Erin and Father Moore come through this one, that’s not guaranteed. Been sometime, and a lot of horror movies under the bridge, since I got right behind the antagonists in a scary flick to be honest.

Derrickson and writer Paul Harris Boardman ask us to make our own mind up about whether or not Emily was in fact possessed; they present an alternative notion of an epileptic/psychotic condition via the prosecution. Flashbacks are seen from both faith and science angles. But the underlying feeling is that they want you to believe the demonic angle. I’m not buying totally into the movie makers asking the audience to make their own minds up here, one of the criticisms of The Exorcist was surprisingly that it was a Catholic propaganda movie, Emily Rose can be accused of this even more so. About all that was missing was a Priest questioning his faith, and of course a statement from the Vatican. Actually I don’t totally believe in the “catholic propaganda” angle in the first place, generally brought up by U.S Fundamentalists, but at least Derrickson is saying “in your face fundo” here.

There is certainly enough on show to make us sceptical about the whole possession angle. Emily is from a deeply religious background, has huge faith in the church, and has led a sheltered upbringing. Overtones of Carrie White’s mom are simmering just below the surface here. Enough medical evidence is presented to at least make us doubt she is possessed and maybe is suffering overtly religious delusions. Unfortunately, and what makes me think the Director and Writer had fixed agendas, both Father Moore and the agnostic Erin also experience some “supernatural” happenings.

The filmmakers may claim they are presenting both sides of the argument, but one side is definitely more weighted than the other.

There are two major underlying concepts that help raise this movie above the average Hollywood outing. Defence Attorney Erin Bruner is an agnostic who re-examines her beliefs during the course of the trial, very much in the “you may not believe in god, but he believes in you” mode. By movie’s end Erin still hasn’t made her mind up, which thankfully avoids any trite conclusions. Prosecution Attorney Ethan Thomas on the other hand is a religious man who has to denounce the Priest’s belief in god. There may be a slight catholic cynicism toward differing religious sects shining through there, as Thomas is a Methodist. Wonderful switch of roles, l was smiling as Erin went through the testing of her beliefs, and Scott showed some sympathy on occasion towards the Priest even as he did his level best to get a conviction.

Father Moore for his part wants to tell Emily’s story regardless of personal cost. This is the whole crux of the matter, and leads to a major flaw in the movie, (we’ll get to that shortly). Moore faces not only the physical trial but also the spiritual trial for his soul. In his eyes dark forces are moving to stop Emily’s story coming out. Simply wow!!!! Both his defense and the local diocese want Moore to take a plea bargain, the Priest is having none of that and wants to get the word out in the face of all manner of opposition.

To a couple of issues l had with the movie, since I didn’t rate it a perfect ten. Firstly Father Moore calls in medical help during the exorcism in the form of the doomed Doctor. How then is the Priest on trial and not the medical expert? Equally why is no one else who was present also being indicted? Doesn’t add up in my mind and was slightly distracting.

I’m not even going to go near the whole “mother of god” and the real reason behind Emily’s tribulations. That was one piece of the jigsaw that simply did not fit, felt out of place, and had me rolling my eyes. Come on Boardman at least give us something believable there, let’s not blow things in the bottom of the ninth innings with bases loaded. And there goes the argument that the Director is allowing the audience to make it’s own mind up by the way. An unnecessary element to the movie that takes away some of its overall impact.

I am simply stunned by the performances in this movie. Laura Linney (Erin Bruner) nailed her role, had me believing, and is a multi faceted character. I would have liked to have seen more emphasis based on her internal struggles with the events than we’re shown. Linney can act the crowd applauds. Tom Wilkinson (Father Moore) was equally high on the awesome scale of things. A dramatic heart felt performance with a lot of power in places. Wilkinson brings across the Priest’s struggle to be heard, and the hint of trauma caused by not saving Emily. The script threw some dodgy lines at him, but he does his best to carry that weight all the way through the movie. Jennifer Carpenter (Emily) deserved an Oscar for best supporting actress here, and simply because this is a “horror” movie was robbed of a nomination. There’s no use of prosthetics anywhere to help her out, Carpenter is contorting herself into those weird angles. She handles everything superbly and had me believing in her ordeal.

There are a number of supporting actors doing fine jobs, with Campbell Scott (Ethan Thomas) standing out as the hard nose prosecutor. You get the sense of internal struggle as he seeks to prove what he believes isn’t reality.

Christopher Young throws down a score, which is both chilling and effective. I was digging his vibes throughout and he had me squirming with some chills at stages. Dude, awesome work get a raise for your next move my man.

Derrickson has presented a movie full of style, ideas, and surprisingly energy. I was glued to the tube from whoa to go, and dug his handling of the complex cross-pollinations going down. Whether you are dialing in for the courtroom drama or for the “scary” bits the Director has you covered, and will turn that frown upside down. The movie resonates but is a tad one sided in the final resolution.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose tells us it’s based on a true story. That story being the death of Anneliese Michel during an exorcism in Germany. As the movie is set in present day rural United States l would take the true story angle with a grain of salt. Michel’s death and the reasons for it are well documented on the net so do a google if interested.

The movie cost $19 million to produce and earned $144 million at the Box Office World Wide to have Sony all smiles end of day. North America returned $75 million and Australia once again were off the pace with $2.68 million (AUD).

This movie mixes courtroom drama with horror themes and wins on both counts. One of the more believable courtroom show downs l have seen recently, and some truly disturbing horror scenes add to the total package. I would recommend going to catch this one. My faith is restored in the studios being able to handle mainstream horror movies in a respectable fashion. Post MTV audiences are going to by and largely hate this one, l applaud the audacity of the film makers in achieving an engrossing movie which asks you to question your beliefs and thoughts. If there are demons then there must be a god in Christian mythology, Emily Rose announces that with trumpets blaring. It’s up to you to take what you may from this movie. Congratulations to Derrickson, an awesome cinematic experience, which will no doubt provoke long debate.