skybrick736 At the time of reviewing The Exorcism of Emily Rose in 2017 its really curious to see what exorcism movies have become the past decade. Excluding a couple of handful of 1990's religion-driven horror movies, there weren't any shocking exorcism scenes like there was in The Exorcist. The possession sub-genre changed when The Exorcism of Emily Rose, along with a couple of Exorcist prequels, hit theatres and really spurred a flurry of possession related movies. The film is also a trendsetter by the fact this it used jump-scares at unexpected moments, which has become a very popular ploy for filmmakers. Jennifer Carpenter being twisted up like a pretzel was still unsettling to watch even after all these years. Carpenter as Emily Rose did a terrific job playing the distressed young woman helpless to the demos possessing her. Veteran actor Tom Wilkinson plays Father Moore, a unique role for him, but he also succeeds in making the film better as well as the main lead Laura Linney who did put together a solid performance as the ambitious, tough as nails lawyer. The film did slow down in some of the court scenes and there are some eye-rolling pieces of dialogue and plot-points but the problems were sporadic. The Exorcism of Emily Rose is an enjoyable movie, still creepy in parts, and its really a shame that more critics didn't get around to seeing how suspenseful and interesting the film was.

hnhovitz I wish the movie poster and the title of this movie had been different, as it limits what the movie is, what to expect, and sets those looking to be scared up for disappointment-unless you're easily spooked. Whether you're an atheist or devoutly religious, whether you do or do not believe in the spiritual or the demonic doesn't matter. This movie is an examination of faith vs. facts, facts vs. possibilities, and whether any of us can make room for reasonable doubt about the good in people. Compelling and with solid acting from start to finish, with its share of unsettling moments. While I did hope for more scares, and while I did predict certain plot elements, it didn't take away from my experience of the movie. If you like police or crime dramas, or better yet, if you believe that maybe it's time to admit that we simply can't and don't know many things for sure, watch this one.

GL84 During the trial for his events, a lawyer tries to help her client, a priest, seek the truth about what happened to the young woman who died under his care while performing an exorcism to cure her of a demonic possession and eventually lets the truth about it be known.This wasn't anywhere as bad as it could've been. The film is really split into two halves here with this one being basically helped greatly by its really good possession and shock scenes. The opening scene that sets her up to becoming possessed is one of it's best sequences, as the long hallway and the unearthly voices floating around give it an unearthly feel while the first scene in the classroom where she sees a demonic face appearing in the window through a cloud of mist and turns around to see a student's face turn into a distorted demon's face giving off an unearthly roar makes it quite shocking. Running out into the rain and seeing more demonic faces give off the same unearthly roar is a bit clichéd, but it still helps to sell the mood while the finale in the church giving this a quite creepy conclusion. The different manners of how she's become afflicted are quite memorable moments with the frenzied bug-eating, speaking in tongues or just contorting her body into such impossible positions that it really becomes obvious something is wrong with her, and the long, suspenseful and chilling exorcism is the film's selling point, coming off with any number of creepy ideas and scenes in such a drawn-out style is one of the best scenes in the film. Otherwise, beyond the shocks and the exorcism, there isn't much else to like about it. Therefore, everything else in it doesn't really work which is only relegated to the courtroom battle drama. It's marketed as being a supernatural possession film, and the best moments come from those scenes, but the fact that the majority of the film is a courtroom battle with the supernatural elements coming in the form of flashbacks is a real misstep and is likely to confuse those coming in expecting the other kind of film. It's not that they're boring or anything, it's just that it's out of nowhere that it becomes that way, and it can be a disappointment. The fact that these are slow and really long don't help matters, extending this out far longer than it should. This could've easily been an hour and a half, or maybe a little longer, but the two hours running time forces it to keep the courtroom antics going for no reason other than to extend the running time. A few extraneous scenes could've been snipped as well, including the introductory scenes at the bar that repeat information we already know and also keep the running time going, and most of the time simply elicit a feeling of wanting to move along and get to the good scenes. These really harm the film.Rated PG-13: Language, Mild Violence and intense demonic and spiritual themes.

persian-belle Not a horror film, but an excellent film.A debate between science and religion In my opinion, this film is one of the great ones. Of course that depends on your philosophy and beliefs. I am an agnostic, meaning I am not at all affiliated with any religions but I like to keep an open mind about the those phenomena that are still unexplained to humans.I am also a fan of science and well-read in psychiatry and clinical psychology. While definitely not a fan of any man-created religion, I do keep an open mind about what could be on the other side.As a horror film fan, I had been waiting to watch this film. I admire Shohreh Aghdashloo (although she was given a small role here) and didn't know Jennifer Carpenter at the time. I was at first disappointed because I was expecting typical horror entertainment. However I realized that although there are a few creepy scenes, these are mostly realities that many schizophrenics have to deal with often. Many of them live this in their crises when they hallucinate, become delusional, etc. It's such a patient who is the most scared, not those who observe her. The film shows us how scary it is for her.Now the question remains, whether this is a mental illness or has roots in "Evil", as defined by the Christian tradition. During the entire time the viewer is searching for this answer, and at the it remains open-ended, thus giving much credit to science and psychiatry (explaining that in this modern age there should be medical intervention) but at the same time leaving the door open for the paranormal.I admired Jennifer Carpenter after this film. She usually does not play the role of the typical Hollywood glam girl who are dime a dozen. This girl can act. If you have seen the Dexter series, you will know what I mean. All the actors are great. All in all, a very deep film and has you wondering after it has ended, if at all.