A priest becomes involved in executing exorcism on a young girl which later becomes a homicide case as the prosecuting lawyer decides that she has an illness called schizophrenia and should be medically treated.
There's no green vomit and nobody's head ever rotates a full 360; we stay in the natural world and never enter a movie world, and that makes the movie a lot better.
Derrickson's film has been overtaken by bland characters, cheap shocks, kindergarten theology and a pace so plodding that viewers will be left wondering whether it is just Erin's watch that has mysteriously stopped.
As courtroom drama, The Exorcism of Emily Rose works effectively; as a scarefest, it misses the mark. But the performances stick with you, particularly that of Linney, who has an elegant steeliness.
Looking Closer
September 21, 2007
It avoids gratuitous gore and the shocks that provide the backbone of most horror films. ... [Derrickson's] more interested in the spiritual questions at hand.
