The Exorcism of Emily Rose

I wasn’t sure about watching The Exorcism of Emily Rose because I had heard mixed things about it. Luckily I was warned ahead of time that it was more a courtroom drama than a true horror, otherwise I may have been disappointed. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose is about Emily Rose (duh), a girl who is off to college and away for the first time from her overtly religious and somewhat stifling family. She begins to have visions, auditory and olfactory hallucinations, body spasms; you name it, which lead her doctors to believe that she is suffering from epileptic seizures and some psychological disorders. Her medication doesn’t help, and her symptoms get worse, which leads her back home to the help of her family priest. She thinks she is possessed, and her priest and her family decide on an exorcism. She doesn’t live through it, which is where we are at the beginning of the movie. The priest is brought into court and accused of killing Emily Rose. The movie focuses on the trial, and tells Emily’s story in bits as the trial progresses.

The cast is just outstanding in this movie. Laura Linney plays the defense attorney, an agnostic who discovers more about faith than she expected while defending Father Moore (played by Tom Wilkinson, who I have loved ever since seeing him in In the Bedroom). Wilkinson shows Father Moore to be compassionate and selfless, with his true motives out for all to see. Campbell Scott plays Ethan Thomas, prosecuting attorney, picked for the fact that he is a churchgoer, and yet his faith doesn’t allow him to see what Emily Rose stood for or allow for the idea that she might have been possessed at all. Jennifer Carpenter (from Dexter) plays Emily Rose in the flashbacks, and she is very effective in what she is given. She’s scary, tormented, excited, and hopeful; she’s able to fit whatever the part calls for.

Overall, I liked The Exorcism of Emily Rose, but I probably wouldn’t have if I had gone into expecting a big scare fest. It has its moments of creepiness, but it really is more of a drama than a horror movie. It’s a lot like The Exorcist in that way. Sure, there are some creepy, make your skin shiver scenes (think the spiderwalk), but overall it’s giving you a message and making you feel for the characters and their story. Just like your gut clinches for Regan, you hurt for Emily Rose.

Rating: 4 Purrs for a scary movie with real drama and characters