As scary as some horror films are, there’s often a comfortable gulf the viewer can cross after the credits roll. They toss the popcorn bin in the trash or put on some music; perhaps say goodbye to friends, maybe head on to a shower and bed. And this process comes easier when the director or screenwriter have given us implausible or outright ridiculous scenarios and antagonists. I mentioned in my review for Black Water that one of the reasons that film succeeded is because it is based on real saltwater crocodile behavior. But you’d still have to travel to the southern hemisphere for a chance to face down such a beast. The Exorcism of Emily Rose gives us an enemy that could be lurking around every corner, and in this author’s opinion is.

That made the film terrifying for me, but Director Scott Derrickson seems to posit that the alternative is worse–facing this evil without the safety provided by having the Big “G” God on your side. There are scenes in Emily Rose that stand as some of the most harrowing I’ve seen in cinema. And it’s all inserted into a smart, compelling courtroom drama that sees Laura Linney and Tom Wilkinson playing an ambitious lawyer and a Catholic Priest on trial for an exorcism that seemingly went wrong. Read the rest of this entry →