Witnessing a fatal accident affects badly on a seminary American student, affects badly on him and leads him to lose his faith, so his mentor advices him to go to Italy, in order to have an exorcism course, that will help him regain his faith, but upon his arrival, incidents come to climax, as he finds himself the next victim to an evil spirit.
A run-of-the-mill chiller that spends an inordinate amount of time flirting with unconventional scare tactics before sacrificing all of its ingenuity to become the latest in a long line of "The Exorcist" clones.
Despite an impressive cast (excluding the excruciatingly dull O'Donoghue, a newcomer from Ireland), "The Rite" is the sort of misfire that Hollywood has long buried in January.
Although Hopkins shines when his evil-infused priest exhibits low-level nastiness, his climactic exorcism scenes don't ring true and aren't very frightening.
