Review of Audrey Rose (1977) by Jon C — 12 Aug 2014

The poster tells you it might be another exorcism film.

That a girl may be possessed by a supernatural entity or demonic spirit.

But no instead it's an investigative drama trying to figure out the truth behind the puzzling case of this young girl.

We see a car crash take place at the beginning then cut to a loving family of two parents and their daughter in the city.

And a strange bearded man pops up every so often observing the child and this makes her folks very suspicious.

In comes Anthony Hopkins who as it turns out lost his family in a car crash (the same one from the opening) and during his travel to India he has come to the belief that his daughter's soul has inhabited another...Audrey Rose herself.

Audrey then starts having nightmarish dreams and screaming in terror and only the sound of Hopkin's voice can calm her down.

From then on the movie becomes a constant struggle of a sort of custody battle between the parents and Hopkin's character.

There's only bits and pieces of psychological horror but just like 'Exorcism of Emily Rose' it becomes more of a courtroom drama than actually scaring you.

That just doesn't seem to work here as much as it tries to be serious.

And at times it can be extremely preachy breaking down the concept of life, death, rebirth, and reincarnation.

This sounds like something you'd teach in a class lecture and not in a supposed-horror film.

Maybe it'll be fascinating to some degree but I really wish Robert Wise provided more chills because that's usually what he's best at.

This is fair but it really doesn't deliver on what the poster sells it as.