The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)

A lawyer takes on a negligent homicide case involving a priest who performed an exorcism on a young girl.

Director:

Scott Derrickson

Writers:

Paul Harris Boardman, Scott Derrickson

Stars:

Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Campbell Scott

3 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Laura Linney	...	Erin Bruner
Tom Wilkinson	...	Father Moore
Campbell Scott	...	Ethan Thomas
Jennifer Carpenter	...	Emily Rose
Colm Feore	...	Karl Gunderson
Joshua Close	...	Jason
Kenneth Welsh	...	Dr. Mueller
Duncan Fraser	...	Dr. Cartwright
JR Bourne	...	Ray
Mary Beth Hurt	...	Judge Brewster
Henry Czerny	...	Dr. Briggs
Shohreh Aghdashloo	...	Dr. Adani
Steve Archer	...	Guy in Bar
Arlene Belcastro	...	Praying Woman #2
David Berner	...	Karl's Crony #1

Storyline

When a younger girl called Emily Rose dies, everyone puts blame on the exorcism which was performed on her by Father Moore prior to her death. The priest is arrested on suspicion of murder. The trail begins with lawyer Erin Bruner representing Moore, but it is not going to be easy, as no one wants to believe what Father Moore says is true.

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Plot Keywords:

priest | lawyer | exorcism | trial | college | 

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Taglines:

What happened to Emily?

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic material, including intense/frightening sequences and disturbing images

Details

Official Sites:

Gaumont Columbia Tristar [fr] Sony Pictures

Country:

USA

Language:

English Syriac German Greek Hebrew Latin Aramaic

Release Date:

9 September 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel

Filming Locations:

D Block, Buchanan Building, University of British Columbia, Robson Square Campus - 800 Robson Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$947,701 (France) (9 December 2005)

Gross:

$3,055,982 (Brazil) (30 December 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Screen Gems, Lakeshore Entertainment, Firm Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min 122 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There were two dolls constructed for this film. The first was where Emily Rose would lock her limbs. The other was during the dorm scene where she is on the floor in a twisted position. The director ultimately never used a doll in the dorm room scene because he found out that Jennifer Carpenter is double jointed, and decided that the positions she was able to contort herself into were more unsettling than what could be accomplished with the dummy. When Emily starts to bend over backwards in the church, Carpenter wore a harness to make the effect more inhuman.

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Goofs

When Erin Bruner is awakened at 3 am by the exorcism tape playing, she goes to push stop. But when the tape player is actually seen, the reels are not turning, therefore when she presses the stop button, the reels remain unchanged.

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Quotes

Emily Rose: one, two, three, four, five, six. one, two, three, four, five, six. Trick or treat, I give you treats and tricks! ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SSSIX!

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Crazy Credits

Opening statement: This film is based on a true story.

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Connections

Spoofed in A Haunted House (2013)

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Soundtracks

"Prelude, Op. 3, No. 2 in C Sharp Minor"
(1887)
Written by Sergei Rachmaninoff

User Reviews

Not without its flaws, but a cut above most horror films

For the most part, films which were intended to frighten the viewing audience usually succeed in instead producing involuntary laughs. So it was nice to see a 'horror' film that not only has a brain for a change, but actually succeeds in being frightening. It may help that the film is allegedly based on true events, which gives credibility to the storyline, and prevents the movie from having those annoyingly gaping plot holes. And indeed, the heading "Based on a true story" doesn't come off as a glaring lie. There are indeed events happening in the film which are questionable as to whether they actually occurred in real life, but the beauty of 'Emily Rose' is that most of the film is retold by various characters, so the events described are as the character perceived them. In this way, the film doesn't distance its audience by declaring that "well, demons were in the film which was 'based on a true story', so demons must actually exist".

But in many ways, 'Emily Rose' is different from almost every past horror movie in the sense that it doesn't make really obvious attempts to frighten its audience. Instead, director/co-screenwriter Scott Derickson seems content to make us think. There are several questions raised in the film regarding religious beliefs and the public's general perception of them, but these are all handled in an objective and impartial manner. And as for the scare factor, since the filmmakers aren't overly obvious in trying to scare the audience, the film actually is frightening at several points - again, unusual for a horror film. The frightening events regarding Emily Rose's exorcism are all the more frightening as they don't seem horribly staged and predictable. (although the cheesy demonic animation, as shown in the trailer, could have been done far better) It's true that composer Christopher Young seems unable to resist the horror movie cliché of having horribly over-dramatic music which builds to a climax at the most frightening moment, but for the most part the movie is able to surpass the usual horror clichés.

It helps of course that the cast all deliver quality performances, the obvious standout being Jennifer Carpenter as Emily. Her possession scenes are nothing short of incredible, the sheer torment she seems capable of portraying is utterly captivating. Laura Linney also shines in the lead, giving a powerful and affecting performance as the attorney of the convicted priest who performed Emily Rose's exorcism. As said priest, Tom Wilkinson also manages to impress, delivering a quietly effective and very human performance. My only complaint is that the characters of Campbell Scott and Colm Feore were really badly written, coming off as the typical antagonistic figures, and nothing more. Both give satisfying performances, despite their one dimensional characters, especially Feore, who has always been talented at taking terribly written characters, and giving them life and personality nonetheless.

So The Exorcism of Emily Rose may not quite be the very best of its genre, but it certainly proves to be one of the more intelligently made ones. The director seems to have for once taken that extra step, and put aside the endless thrills and shocks in favor of making us think a bit. There are some cheesy effects, such as the demonic visions, but there are some genuinely frightening parts, especially the actual exorcism scene, mainly due to the chilling and captivating performance from Jennifer Carpenter as the title character. The principle cast members, Laura Linney and Tom Wilkinson also give strong performances, bringing many layers to their characters. Quite the quality piece overall, and one worth seeing.

-8/10