beorhouse This one gets a 9 out of 10 only because the characters could have each been more developed. Other than that, what we have here is a mildly scary but very believable story of demonic possession. As I understand it, the Roman Catholic Church believes that demons are Fallen Angels despite everything the Bible and extracanonical texts such as the Book of Enoch have to say on the matter. In those books it is made quite clear that demons are half angel and half man--and in many cases half angel and half animal. Therefore, when we confront demons in our exorcisms, or anywhere else in life (and they are everywhere), we need to always remember that they are only half angel. Now, this isn't to wrongly downplay their power. All we have to do is to look around at the state of the world to see their works of evil designed to destroy humanity. In any case, this film shows the power of Christ over demonic forces. I wish the writer had not used Baal as the evil demon everyone is in conflict with, Baal being a Canaanite god whose name simply meant "Lord" and usually had a qualifier such as the Biblically infamous Baal Peor, or Lord Peor. Anthony Hopkins is, as always, brilliant. I've never seen him play a part that he has not form-fitted to suit him perfectly. Doctor, madman, and now priest, what role could not be suited for this genius? If you like films about exorcisms, this one can't be missed. Enjoy!

daniel-funk Well, there's movies that make you feel frightened, and there's movies that propagate some very fundamentalistic views of Christianity. This movie is of the second kind. I wonder what else but the money brought legendary actor Anthony Hopkins to star in such a predictive, superficial and stereotyped s***flick as this. Unbelievable. Just seen this on TV again and I was again surprised of how weak the dialogues - how ridiculous the whole script is in itself. In the end it is still portrayed (as usual, yawn) as if any of these things happened, and as if both of those priests have performed several exorcisms and still live happily ever after. Generally, no problem as long as a movie is well acted and scripted, but this is so stereotyped, so extensively based on religious faith in heaven and hell it makes me puke. On the other hand, movies such as the Exorcist Part II seemed so much more entertaining and still kept things more to the frightening part than this flick here - the Rite seems like some strange Hollywood styled film to make crazy and ancient practices socially acceptable and bring back some outdated "christian beliefs" regarding hell and heaven back to life in a very radical manner. Undeniably one of the most ridiculous movies on such topics I have ever watched.

Steve Van Kooten Before "The Rite" hit theaters, the marketing campaign had painted the film as yet another in a long deluge of demonic possession thrillers akin to "The Exorcist", which is unfortunate because, in reality, this isn't much of a horror film. There's a much closer kinship to something like "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" than "The Last Exorcism" or its ilk.The story features a young, troubled man, Michael (Colin O'Donohough), who joins the clergy to escape his father's influence by abandoning his family's profession as morticians. While studying theology, Michael is tapped to join an exorcism course in Rome where he becomes acquainted with a slightly quirky priest (Anthony Hopkins) that performs exorcisms on a regular basis.What is most damning to the movie is that it's an atypically literate, slow-paced film that seems less interested in thrilling the viewer as making them think about the legitimacy of exorcism and its connection to Christian faith. The movie is assisted by a reasonably strong cast and strong direction from Mikael Hafstrom, who has developed an interesting filmography with his Stephen King adaptation "1408" and his dumb-fun "Escape Plan". The story makes sense and never devolves into cheap scare tactics; the filmmakers obviously respected that audiences aren't totally stupid and could enjoy a film without explosions and green vomit.Despite being a refreshingly tempered and literate film, "The Rite" fails mostly due to two problems. The first is that, for all its logical discussion about faith and skepticism, the issue is shot down fairly quickly--and concretely--and never treated seriously as the film's dramatic elements begin to escalate. Michael brings up several obvious concerns about treating demonic possession, but is treated as if he has goat feces all over his face. Later, in the face of a possession, Michael looks incredibly stupid by continuing to limply insinuate a young woman is mentally ill despite hearing his friend's voice and vernacular coming from a woman who can't even speak English and needed a translator to speak with him. To put it bluntly, the main character is an idiot.The second problem is that the film doesn't try to scare the audience nor does it provide anything that is unsettling or even mildly chaffing. Considering the implication that demonic possession is real, the film's supposed attempt at building a tense final third fall flat; Hopkins can't even inject much intensity into the showdown between priest and demon.Genre fans will be enthused to know that Rutger Hauer has a small role as Michael's father and his performance is by far and away the creepiest thing in the film."The Rite" is a well-made film, but it lacks any punch thanks to a lacking storyline and listless performances by the principle cast.2 out of 4

ave-dragons Good film but the graffiti actually said , me that owns it now , and not, he belongs to me now ? The film was great , very well acted and was set in a stunning location , it was a bit slow in the beginning but when it finally got going we were in grossed in the film and Antony Hopkins was brilliant . we didn't actually go to the cinema to watch this film we rented it but I would have rather seen it in the cinema it would have looked better on the big screen . the acting by all was superb bay all the cast . good film well worth the rental fee and would like to own it to watch again .would I recommend this film , yes I would it is well worth a look ,if you are a bit jummpy this isn't that bad ,but there is a part that will make you jump ,but I will not spoil it .