DVD Artwork
Scott Derrickson knows his shit, this is the man behind the most underrated installment of the Hellraiser series, Hellraiser: Inferno, I don’t want to get to far into reviewing that movie, but it has a tone and a presence that truly “feels” like Clive Barker’s work. That “feel” really translated well into The Exorcism of Emily Rose. The film virtually oozes dread. When it isn’t devolving into MTV style messiness (which it thankfully doesn’t do that often) the film is beautifully shot and luridly colored.
Emily Rose (Jennifer Carpenter, Ash Tuesday) is dead. On trial for her death is Father Moore (Tom Wilkinson, Batman Begins, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). He is accused of negligent homicide for advising her to desist in her medical treatment because of her supposed possession. His lawyer is a hot shot, Erin Bruner (Laura Linney, The Mothman Prophecies), who sees this case as her opportunity to move up the ladder to full partnership in her firm. Half court room drama, half flashbacks told from the various perspectives being expressed, the film unfolds much like a really cool episode of “Law and Order”. Is Emily the victim of Psychotic Epilepsy, or is she possessed by the spirits of Judas, Nero, and Belial. This movie makes the bold move of letting you decide for yourself.
This is less a straight horror film than a drama. It smacks of the seriousness that is evident in movies like The Exorcist III. Instead of going for the full on assault of your senses that an exorcism movie can be (like the original Exorcist), the film goes for dread and suspense instead of jolts and shocks. The scenes that reveal Emily’s frame of mind when she is being “attacked” by the demons are colored in a nauseating way that harkens back to Argento’s films (something that Derrickson sites as inspiration in one of the featurettes, along with the paintings of Francis Bacon). Those scenes are then replayed from the perspective of the medical experts, the colors toned down, the dread gone and replaced with analytical thought. It makes you think on the reality of good and evil, God and the Devil, and that is the clearly the intention of the film.
There is a lot more theological thought in this movie than I had anticipated from a PG-13 movie (though I did watch the unrated version on DVD). Honestly there is just a lot more thought in this movie than I expected. The courtroom setting of the bulk of the plot allows the viewer to think about the situation from all of the perspectives that it can be looked at, and that makes for some interesting viewing.
The special features on the DVD are pretty sparse but they are informative. There is a cut scene that is one of the best cuts I think a director has ever made; the scene sucks. There are also three featurettes. One details the “Genesis of the Story,” going lightly into the true story of Anneliese Michel, the true story inspiration for the film. It is also interesting listening to Derrickson talk about how he intentional wants the film to inspire thought, something that is a rarity in American filmmaking right now. One featurette talks about “Casting the Movie,” and how they cast it more like a drama than a horror film. Lastly there is one about the “Visual Design,” where Derrickson talks about wanting to mimic Argento’s use of color to inspire dread. And the costume designer talks about the efforts that were made to make the film have a “timeless” look.
This is movie dares to do something that many horror movies aren’t doing right now. Make you think. The power behind the “Satanic Panic” films of the ’70, like The Omen, Rosemary’s Baby, and The Exorcist, is that they force people to contemplate something that they don’t normally think about. In a world that is full of real life killers, the scares of the typical slasher flick are a little too easy to accept and blow off. We don’t to often hear about the girl two towns over that died during her exorcism. It is that type of mystery that makes movies like this so effective, and honestly for me really creepy.
