DVD Reviews

The Rite – Blu-ray Review

By Patrick Luce May 30, 2011, 18:25 GMT

Inspired by true events, this supernatural thriller follows a seminary student (Colin O’Donoghue) sent to study exorcism at the Vatican in spite of his own doubts about the controversial practice and even his own faith. Only when sent to apprentice with legendary Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins), who has performed thousand of exorcisms, does his armor of skepticism begin to fall. Drawn into a troubling case that seems to transcend even ...more

Although it doesn’t come close to the scares provided by The Exorcist or even the moderate chills provided by The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Rite does manage to give a goose bump or two thanks to the performance from Anthony Hopkins and the use of its Rome setting.

Based on Matt Baglio's book The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist, The Rite was directed by Mikael Håfström (1408 and the underappreciated Derailed) and sees Hopkins joined by Colin O'Donoghue, Alice Braga, Ciarán Hinds, Toby Jones, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, and Marta Gastini. It also features a chilling performance from Rutger Hauer (who manages to be the creepiest part of the movie without even really seeming to try).

The film follows Michael Kovak (O'Donoghue), the son of mortician Istvan Kovak (Hauer), who is given the choice between two of the family businesses - being a mortician or becoming a priest. We are introduced to Michael as he is preparing the body of a woman for an upcoming funeral. The woman committed suicide and will go on to haunt Michael throughout the film.

It then jumps four years to Michael getting ready to become a priest – although he is not sure he truly has faith. The question of whether or not he believes forces him to send a resignation letter to the head of the school Father Matthew (Jones). Before he can leave the priesthood, Father Matthew is involved in an accident where a woman is killed. This spurs Father Matthew to recommend Michael go to Rome to attend the Vatican’s course on Exorcism.

It appears that there have been a growing number of requests for priests to perform exorcisms, but there are a shrinking number of priests who have the talent and knowledge to perform the ceremony. Michael agrees to go (more as a way to further put off the decision concerning becoming a priest), and is quickly at odds with the course instructor Father Xavier (Hinds).

Michael believes the possessed are merely in need of psychiatric care, and that the priests performing the exorcism do more harm than good. He also meets journalist Angeline (Braga) - who has a similar point of view to his own and is covering the course for an article she is writing.

So Michael can see first hand what he questions, Father Xavier has him go to the home of Father Lucas Trevant (Hopkins) - an exorcism specialist who is in the process of treating a possessed pregnant woman named Rosaria.

Father Lucas lives in a rundown villa that is covered in stray cats, and filled with dark creepy corners. The priest is also a bit of a quack compared to the straight and conservative Father Xavier. At first meeting, it is clear Michael finds Father Lucas comical and possibly slightly crazy. He also questions whether Rosaria is possessed or just in need of psychiatric care from the fact she won’t discuss how she became pregnant.

Father Lucas offers proof in Rosaria’s possession by having her guess what object he has hidden in a bag, but it does little to convince Michael – nor does round one of Rosaria’s exorcism. Michael’s doubt in Father Lucas’ powers is further diminished when he accompanies the priest to meet a possessed boy. The old priest puts on a show for the child and his mother, and leaves them thinking the boy is cured of his demons. Michael discovers the truth behind the exorcism when they return to the priest’s home.

The film’s pace picks up as Rosaria is hospitalized, and the demon’s hold on her takes a drastic cost. Michael (who is starting to be a little haunted himself) gets troubling news from home and is ready to leave when he discovers that Rosaria’s demon has found a new home in Father Lucas.

With Angeline by his side, Michael is forced to face the demon, his own questionable faith, and attempt to save the old priest. Unfortunately, this is where the film runs off the rails and loses any thrills its PG-13 rating could manage to build.

The Rite has all the ingredients to be a truly scary horror film, and maybe even come close to challenging the greatest of its gene, The Exorcist. A cute innocent girl possessed is scary, but a pregnant woman in the same condition just adds all kinds of chills to the exorcism scenes. Throw in a priest haunted by his family’s past and his own questionable faith, and it should have been incredibly disturbing to watch this movie in the dark.

Unfortunately, the film takes its great ingredients and squanders them by the time it finishes. It becomes just another wannabe Exorcist film that borrows from past films and doesn’t add anything to the genre.

Hopkins is clearly the best thing in the film (although Hauer was creepy with the way he enjoyed giving the dead women manicures in the flashback scenes). The actor makes Father Lucas a cheerful and funny priest at the beginning, and then lets aspects of his signature Hannibal Lector character creep in once the priest becomes possessed.

The film also benefits from its setting in Rome, dark mood, and the use of lighting. Father Lucas’ home is both cheerful and dreadful. The old priest keeps a pond of frogs, but is overrun by stray cats. His house is also filled with dark corners which will play with your eyes during the exorcism scenes.

Håfström does an excellent job of letting the Rome setting and the scenes set in the funeral home become characters in the film – which seem to add to the suspense of the various scenes. Opening the film with Michael preparing a dead woman just sets the tone for the movie and instantly makes the viewer a little uneasy.

The special features on the Blu-ray are light, but do add to the movie. They include a look at Father Gary Thomas (the Vatican-ordained exorcist whose life inspired the film) and a look at the actual Exorcism Academy. There are also discussions about real-life exorcisms and eyewitness accounts. The Blu-ray includes an alternate ending that is anything but "chilling" (as the Blu-ray case claims) and was rightfully cut.

The Rite is a very entertaining thriller, but I couldn’t help but be a tad disappointed that it didn’t live up to its potential. Although it could have been hampered by its PG-13 rating or the fact of the genre’s overexposure lately, The Rite failed to deliver the thrills or scares that it could have. Instead, it is entertaining but easily forgettable.