Review of The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) by Hans M — 20 Feb 2010
The problem I had with this movie are the cheap scares that saturate it. I think it winds up trivializing this story, which could have been more creepy and, at the same time, more respectful to the true story that inspired it.
During the scary scenes, I could have done without the exaggerated camera angles, that cliche cloying hyper violin grinding and the annoying music stings that are beyond cliche in horror movies. Sheesh. Why make a horror movie that is supposedly trying to go beyond the same old horror movie by falling back on the tropes of the same old, boring horror movies. If you're going to break the rules, go all the way. No wonder this half-assed attempt at making a movie that was supposed to go beyond the genre ended up getting these ho-hum reception.
If there was something redeeming about this movie it is the quality of the acting. These filmmakers got lucky with the casting of Tom Wilkinson, Laura Linney and even Jennifer Carpenter. Also, the few special effects were quite amazing and unnoticeable (I had no idea some scenes featured puppets standing in for Carpenter). The old-school effects should shame those movies that lean on digital effects used to stand in for people, which stand out nowadays like the cheap props of 70s and 80s B-movies.
This review of The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) was written by Hans M on 20 Feb 2010.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose has generally received positive reviews.
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