Review of The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) by Isaiah R — 02 Dec 2009

37 % Tomatometer.

Consensus: Loosely based on a true story, The Exorcism of Emily Rose mixes compelling courtroom drama with generally gore-free scares in a ho-hum take on demonic cinema.

I would agree with this consensus on a few levels, but I think that this movie is better than a " ho-hum take on demonic cinema".

The story is about a young woman named Emily Rose who was believed to be possesed by the devil. After an attempted exorcism, Emily dies. Her parish priest, Father Richard Moore(played by Tom Wilkinson), who performed the exorcism is accused of negligent homicide. He is determined to tell Emily's story to the court, not caring of his punishment. In court, his lawyer Erin Bruner ( played by Laura Linney) tries to convince the people of the jury that the priest's story is valid by bringing in eye witnesses of Emily's behavior and religion specialist to prove that Emily Rose was not murdered, but died of supernatural causes.

( Sounds pretty cool right?).

Jennifer Carpenter's acting is good in this film. She is pretty convincing as a possessed young women. I screamed JUST A LITTLE at some parts of the exorcism scenes( I was a scaredy cat back then :O ) because it is a little disturbing to watch this innocent woman go through this scary situation. I think the cast was chosen wisely becuase they were all good in this film, so that's another plus.

This isn't the SCARIEST movie ever, nor the best, but it is a pretty good thriller/court-room drama film that is very good with it's subject matter, and when a film makes me scream like a little girl, I think it deserves some credit :P .