User Comments:
Not without its flaws, but a cut above most horror
films,
20 September 2005
Author:
pyrocitor
from Ontario, Canada
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 clich� 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 clich�s.
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.
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