Review of The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) by Jiana W — 02 Nov 2009

Not a bad movie. I think, though, that this marks the last scary film I'll watch in a very long time seeing as I saw two scary movies within 2 weeks, both related to demons.

The cast is terrific. Laura Linney is pretty much B.A. as the skeptical Erin Bruner, a lawyer hired to defend Father Moore who is on trial for neglectful homicide of Emily Rose. Weird things start happening to Bruner as she gets closer and closer to discovering the truth of this case, particularly at 3am ("the witching hour"). The demons are out to keep her from going on with the case, and the one doctor whose testimony she needs is haunted by the same demons and is terrified. Campbell Scott is a certified d-bag as the prosecutor. Really. He's a big d-bag.

The movie wasn't particularly scary. It was slightly creepy, but the creepiness factor was a bit overtaken by the courtroom drama. Her possession wasn't the main focus, really, so that helped with things.

Jennifer Carpenter was great as the tormented Emily Rose. All that screaming and writhing was just insane. You felt more sorry for this girl than afraid of her which I think was the intent.

The movie is based on a true story. How much of it is true, I'm not entirely sure. But the film seems to be more interested in opening peoples' minds to the possibility that these kinds of things (demonic possession) is real. They don't need to convince me. As a Christian, I already believe in it. But as for people who think it's all hokum, there's a lot of questions that need to be answered concerning the oddity of this case. As someone once said, "The greatest trick the Devil has ever pulled is convincing people he doesn't exist.".