Review of The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) by Jimg. — 09 Sep 2005

I really wanted this movie to be scary. I wanted to return home at night and feel I had to turn on all the lights and keep my back to the wall. Alas, it was more of a comedy than a horror flick. Some great talent (Linney, Wilkinson, even Carpenter) did the best they could, but instead of letting us share in the potentially terrifying uncertainty supposed to develop in the mind of defense attorney Erin Bruner (Linney) we are left to little screams of "boo!" at predictable places along the way.

The "real life" story gets lost in a fictitous world where dormitories and jails are incredibly poorly lit (how convenient) and where on character scared in the dark bothers to turn on a single light.

Instead of considering the plausabilities, as Bruner does in her closing arguments, the team that put this yawn together resorts to parlor tricks. What could have been a psychological thriller primarily because of its tie to a true story ends up a boring laughable cliche of a movie.