The Exorcism of Emily Rose

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There will be some minimal spoilers in this review so if you don't want any of the plot or the characters revealed do not read on.

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The Exorcism of Emily rose is being hailed as the first truly frightening movie of 2005. Based on a true story of an exorcism that was tape recorded, reviewers and critics alike are saying that this movie will make your skin crawl, your stomach turn and your hair stand on end.

The movie takes form of a person reciting what their part of the story is. Flashbacks are the main driving mechanism of the film. The lead is played by Laura Linney, you may recall she was Truman's wife in "The Truman Show", who does a reasonable job digging for the truth until the flashbacks kick in. Other notable stars in the film are: Tom Wilkinson, Juntao from "Rush Hour" and Shohreh Aghdashloo from "The House of Sand and Fog".

The movie was entertaining though not as creepy as was advertized. The crowd seem to like the style and there were a few screams that rang out every once in awhile. I would have liked to see more of the rituals, the demons and the evil but it was a good mix of horror and drama( screaming in fear and screaming in disbelief.) Though the film falls back on trade mark horror movie achetypes, spine tingling pizzicato violin background music, then silence, then a big thing out of nowhere with a crash of noise. The cinematography was on par with any horror flick so there isn't anything to complain about. My one big disappointment with the film was the lighting and some of the effects shots. The poorly lit scenes lent to a poorly described fear and the film lost a bit of the mood.

With its categorical flaws accounted for, I liked this movie because it was entertaining, not novel but worked well in the genre and it never got bogged down with the usual horror movie slow parts inbetween scary bits, which is remarkable.

I give this film a 5 out of 10, nothing spectacular and nothing really bad.

Pros:
True story
pretty freaky
Good social comentary

Cons:
Lighting made scenes hard to recognize
Linear plot with suspiciously convenient pop up evidence