The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)

   
Directed by: Scott Derrickson

Written by: Paul Harris Boardman & Scott Derrickson

Starring:

Laura Linney .... Erin Bruner
Tom Wilkinson .... Father Moore
Campbell Scott .... Ethan Thomas
Jennifer Carpenter .... Emily Rose
Colm Feore .... Karl Gunderson
Joshua Close .... Jason
Ken Welsh .... Dr. Mueller
Duncan Fraser .... Dr. Cartwright
JR Bourne .... Ray
Mary Beth Hurt .... Judge Brewster

Release Date: Theatrical: September 9, 2005

 

 

Rating:

 

A preacher named Father Moore (Tom Wilkinson) is about to be sent to prison of a murder he claimed he never committed to a young college student named Emily Rose (Jennifer Carpenter) as he claimed that she was possessed by a demon.
He seeks help from an attorney named Erin Bruner (Laura Linney) to prove his innocence. She tries to find evidence as she too witnesses some strange events surrounding her as both her and Moore wake up at 3 in the morning as it the the demonic witching hour plus strange events start to happen.
Bruner, Moore and Emily's witnesses claim her strange behavior's as she was once a happy person who had faith in God and was enrolled in college but then she starts seeing strange events that only she could see. Plus she starts eating insects, throwing herself around, speaking foreign language as well as clawing her wall.
The people at court just claim that Emily was having seizures and is mentally ill. Erin is forced to stop the court case or her job is jeapardised by Moore convinces her to carry on with it to find out about Emily's death.

 

A nice beginning that involved Father Moore outside of the house in a snowy day with good camera shots around the house. There's also perfect takes on the family looking upset and gloomy too.
We have a terrific discussion between Erin Bruner and Father Moore in a jail cell with him being very firm and serious towards her and getting to the point along with good close up shots on the two of them.
There's numerous great scene's with Moore in court getting straight to the point along with another lawyer having a dispute about the possessive case. All of this looked powerfully done.
There's a nice shot on Moore near a staircase encountering some evil moments with him not feeling well along with a nice shadowy figure in the hallway.
We see a nice dark shot on Emily Rose crouching on the ground and eating spiders and then turning around viciously towards her sister and getting upset.
We have a nice shot on Emily crashing out of a window and running towards a barn.
There's a nice intense moment with Moore trying to talk to Emily in the barn with nice close up shots on her shouting obscenities and speaking latin to him intensely along with the nice demonic expressions along with the horses going wild in their kennels and kicking open their doors as well as a good shot on a horse kicking her father in the head which was good and fast action paced.
We spot a good jumping moment with Erin outside trying to talk toDr. Cartwright with him choking on his words and then looking frightened. Next, we spot a car crashing in to him. This scene was delivered this very well.
We have a good close up shot on Erin pouring some scotch into a cup and drinking it along with her getting teary as well as Karl Gunderson coming in and scolding her.
I loved a scene with the attorney who tried to make Moore guilty.
We spot a nice shot on Emily walking outside in the snow and lying down on the ground near a tree with the mist surrounding the area.
Bottom line is that this film was very well done and based on a true story showing good darkness to the plotlines and interesting effects too. I jumped out of my seat a few times whenever Emily was possessed with the intensity on her behavior as it looked incredibly disturbing along with some of the violent actions too you spot here and there.
It had nice scenery for a scary movie too which many of you will agree with me. Sometimes the courtroom scene's were a bit of a drag at times but it picks up when we see the flashbacks whenever a witness comes up and explians the story on what Emily was doing. It goes to show that evil spirits exist if you really believe that this happened as many people who witnessed this seemed to know what they were talking about too.

The acting was great as I enjoyed Laura Linney's (Erin Bruner) performance very much as she had a great straight forward getting to the point attitude and good emotions too. Yep she lived to play a sharp lawyer in the film.
Tom Wilkinson
(Father Moore) had the perfect looks and right attitude as a preacher and performed very powerfully in his role and was extremely convincing no matter what he did. There was never a dull moment with this actor.
I especially enjoyed Jennifer Carpenter's (Emily Rose) performance when she behaved possessively as Emily Rose along with her extreme intensity and acting like Satan himself. She put everything she had into her character and made it all come to life which wasn't an easy task. We have many moments with her getting into hysterics and acting crazy in her room or in a cafeteria as well as walking out in the hallway of her room with nice dark shots. We also spot some great blocking with her bending her body on the ground which looked intensely performed. Was fantastic with her running around and acting crazy as well as her possessive talking and facial expressions. I think that she can outdo Linda Blair.
Campbell Scott
(Ethan Thomas) had a good seriousness to his part as the scumbag lawyer trying to make out the possession was a scam as he reminds you of those tpyical closeminded people that are out to make your life miserable.
Colm Feore
(Karl Gunderson) brings his character across well too as the boss of Erin Bruner with his strict and stern attitude. My feelings were really nervous watching his performance hoping you'd never want to make him unhappy with your job
.

We have some great echoey piano playing which sounds very sleek and smooth as well as some deep orchestral playing too. There's also good screeching sounds during the possessions too which suits the film very well all composed by Christopher Young.