Scares. Without a doubt.
Cast: Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Campbell Scott, Jennifer Carpenter
Director: Scott Derrickson
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Storyline: Did the devout 19-year old Emily Rose die because of
demonic possession or because she stopped medical treatment?
Bottomline: The perfect date movie
For every two dozen attempts Hollywood makes in manufacturing horror, it succeeds once or twice every year. ‘Exorcism of Emily Rose’ is among the rare horror flicks that succeed in spooking you out, even if it’s just a little.
Though based on the true story of Anneliese Michel, the epileptic German girl who died in 1976 believing she was possessed by demons, the movie dramatises and even heavily fictionalises incidents that, at least, momentarily make you believe that evil exists.
While the Church had declared that Anneliese was not really possessed as she believed, here the writer-director goes the extra yard to convince you about the supernatural.
But what is most fascinating about this horror yarn, apart from its super slick technical brilliance, is the intellectual content that’s rather hard to find in the genre.
If Robert Zemeckis’ ‘Contact’ was about the conflict of science versus religion, Derrickson’s tale here attempts to be a more balanced conflict between doubt and belief. Unlike Eleanor Arroway (Jodie Foster in Contact) who was an atheist, Erin Bruner (Laura Linney) here
is agnostic.
So when you see the whole story of Emily Rose through the eyes of an agnostic, you tend to get involved in the tale with the right mix of doubt and logic. You begin reading up on the true story of the ‘Exorcism of Anneliese Michel’. And, you begin to think of the possibilities. That is where ‘Exorcism of Emily Rose’ succeeds.
Apart from the doses of intrigue, there are moments guaranteed to scare you. College girls shrieked, held each other tightly and giggled at every jolt of horror unleashed upon them. The others tried hard to laugh out loud just to ensure that they don’t get sucked into the tale. The fake laugh in the audience is evidence that the movie does have a pretty neat scare quotient.
With the neat blend of horror, science, logic, scares and thrills, the movie is perfect for the date.
Watch her hold you tight. Put your arms around and enjoy.
(That last line was chopped at the desk because apparently, when I said ‘Enjoy,’ they thought I was talking about the girl … I meant the movie!)
MADRAS INK. 
Hee hee…damn.
But seriously I agree with you. I saw the movie alone cos I don’t scare easy. Went home(my roomies were away) and slept and woke at some point, and I swear I had the same 3am experience of Emily Rose and the lawyer, only I didn’t have the guts to investigate…the house could have gone up in flames but I refused to move till I saw the sun rise…Shudder Shudder…Ugh…Bleah…Blah
” incidents that, at least, momentarily make you believe that evil exists.”
are you kidding me man?!!? of course EVIL exists! momentarily? nope. we are perhaps aware of it only at moments. but you don’t need exorcism of er to tell you evil exists. much evil exists in the world, thambi, much evil.
cheers!
ramya
Ha!
@ ramya:
much evil exists eh? where you talking about sagaro’s skull or was it abt sudish 😛
@ sagaro:
chill da din notice it …and tht was a typo ….must have been sudhish
@Mark:
I generally dont like people talking about my face :p
late review. watched the movie ages ago.
I awoke at exactly 3 am around the time I viewed this movie because of a demonic attack. When I could finally speak, I cast out the demon in the name of Jesus Christ. As I was praying aloud, my headboard made a loud groaning sound for about 5 seconds (yes it terrified me). I have been casting out demons everyday since, because they have been keeping me awake at night. I can feel their presence in my room and certain physical sensations manifest. (Hence, I have not had much sleep lately). However, this type of demonic activity (that often results in making me momentarily paralyzed and speechless) has happened to me several times during my life. I KNOW that demons exist and I KNOW that they will enter my life to try to cause me harm if I give them a foothold (or if someone else curses me). I believe I gave a demon (or more) a foothold by watching that movie. In saying all of this however, I further believe that people could never fully understand my experiences without having experienced a similar demonic attack themselves. Even my husband could not understand all of my demonic experiences until he encounted a demon himself, a few years back. He always believed what I said to be true — however he could not rationalize my experiences. In my opinion, the existence of demons and their behavior can only be rationalized when a person firstly acknowledges and believes in God and the Holy Trinity. I believe that ‘good and evil’ are two sides of the same coin — to believe in one is to believe in the other.