Imagine Father Merrin on trial for exorcising Linda Blair and you’ve got the basic premise of The Exorcism of Emily Rose.
I wasn’t expecting chills from this mostly court bound horror tale but it delivered them. What’s even more chilling is that it’s based on a true story.
Emily Rose (Jennifer Carpenter) is dead and Richard Moore (Tom Wilkinson) has been put on trial for her murder. Sounds rather clear cut doesn’t it?
The fly in the ointment is that Moore is a catholic priest and Emily died following an unsuccessful exorcism. Erin Bruner (Laura Linney) is an up and coming lawyer who has just won a case that the odds were that she’d lose.
The archdiocese wants her to defend Father Moore and she agrees to do it for a partnership in her firm. Ethan Thomas (Campbell Scott), the prosecutor for the state, opens his case strongly by showing autopsy photos of Emily Rose and blaming Emily’s conditions on psychosis and epilepsy and not demons.
The case seems to be going poorly for Erin, especially as the supernatural forces that appear to have possessed Emily Rose seem to be gearing up to attack Erin as well.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose seems to have a great deal of things going against it as it starts out being a courtroom drama – Matlock meets the Devil if you will. The tale is based on the real case of a German teen that died after an exorcism and the priest was charged with medical neglect.
The film transfers the setting to the United States, for another take on the same material check out Requiem (2006) that claims to be based more on the facts of the case than this film.
You would think that keeping the devil’s doings in the background for the start of the film would work against it; however, it only highlights the dread that builds on the screen.
The film starts off with an unseen Emily having suffered her fate and the facts of the case are built upon as they come up in trial and in flashbacks. Yet succeed it does and the format only adds to the anticipation and feeling of angst.
The prosecutor does offer up some plausible reasons why Emily Rose could’ve been ill and not under prosecution by the devil, but the filmmakers seem to think otherwise (though to play devil’s advocate most of these flashbacks are from Moore’s point of view).
If you’re on the side of the angels or playing for the other team the film is still chilling and one that you’ll want to queue up this Halloween.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (2.40:1). Special features include a commentary with director Scott Derrickson. The remainder of the special features is presented in standard definition.
Next is the 19 minute “Genesis of the Story” that explains the connection to the real life events and how the filmmakers came to make the project. The 12 minute “Casting the Movie” goes into how the cast came together.
The 19 minute “Visual Design” goes into the look of the film. Next is a 2 minute deleted scene with optional commentary from Derrickson. Finally, there are previews of other Sony products.
It may start off more as something for CourtTV, the film quickly shows us that the devil is down in Georgia (well, actually Illinois in the film). It offers some solid chills as well as some thought provoking filmmaking.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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