Yeah, I really paid attention to the plot and acting at the age of 8.

During the first viewing, if I had to give it a grade, it would be a pure F for dissapointment and complete boredom.

Watching it five years later, I did see the performances, the story, and I liked the score. Doesn't change the fact that I thought it was average.

Oh well. In true Bugs Bunny fashion, I'll hide behind the $700 million adjusted gross and all the Oscar nominations.

My point is that there are old horror movies that still work nowadays. The Exorcist isn't one of them.

Also, funny that you dismiss nowadays horror movies after hyping the heck out of White Noise and The Amityville Horror.

THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE - 8/10 (B+)

A great dramatic thriller with an interesting plot and fascinating characters. The standout scenes were easily the flashbacks. Jennifer Carpenter gave the film's strongest performance and the scenes that featured her were both creepy and effective. The exorcism scene itself was the best scene in the film. I wasn't really scared by this movie, but it did have some disturbing images and geniunely creepy moments that will stay with most moviegoers.

The courtroom scenes weren't as interesting as the flashbacks, but they were still solid. Laura Linney and Tom Wilkinson both gave excellent performances in the lead roles. Linney was especially great and made her character very believable. Campbell Scott was hugely annoying as the prosectuor though. He was driving me insane! These scenes of the film also seemed to drag on occassionally and seemed to continue for longer than they needed to.

I also hated how they tried to sell every aspect of this as a true story. Especially at the end when they had the description of what happened afterwards, trying unbelievably hard to get the audience to believe that Emily Rose was a real person. It kind of annoyed me since I knew beforehand that the story in the film itself was fictional. This didn't take away from my enjoyment of the film though.

Overall, it was a great and disturbing movie with excellent performances and a fascinating story to tell. Highly recommended.

By the time i hit 12 i never have gotten afraid by a film,it just dosent work anymore,mostly because i know its fake and just a movie,there is no reason to get afraid,i can still apreciate a very well made horror film with a good story,but to actually get scared?No,not anymore,what can really creep me out is a documentry on true events.As for this Shutter film,i wont get scared watching it,but if its a well made film with a great story than i will give it high marks.

The only "old" horror movie that vaguely scared me was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I'm more interested in the characters and replay value once the thrills die away.

That too, especially the replay value. The Exorcist still doesn't score there. The original TCM is more disturbing than scary, I think.

An engrossing and intense film. That exorcism was some of the scariest shit I've ever seen. One of the best films of the year.

A

B+

Entertaining flick. Jennifer Carpenter was fantastic. The excorsism parts were creepy.

Finally, a well made and intelligent horror film. It certainly is more of a courtroom drama as other have observed but it certainly has its share of very creepy moments.

The production is nearly flawless. The acting and writing are both quite strong. The exorcism scenes are well done and while they serve there purpose, to scare, they also show enough respect to the victim in question. One of the best thrillers of the year.

A

Effective on both ends (drama and horror), but far too forgettable.

Grade: B

HELL YEAH!!! fantastic movie, Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson and Jennifer Carpenter did a great job with there roles!
i didnt find it scary at all, hell i dont find any movie scary anymore ....but it was very well done. Definitely one of my favorites of this year!

A

PS. The Exorcist is a masterpiece dammit! , but not scary....

Average movie. The movie never really scared me and Jennifer Carpenter really got on my nerves with her constant screaming. But it was somehow interesting but I just expected much more than I got. Oh Laura Linney is a really beautiful woman. B-

I thought it was really well done. I liked the courtroom scenes, and the scenes with Emily were really chilling. I thought all the actors were great especially Jennifer Carpenter and Laura Linney. I was satsified with the ending, and I thought it was a great mix of drama with some horror elements thrown in.

B

[/quote]

I don't think I mentioned this before: last year I went to a midnight screening attended by a bunch of teenagers who'd never seen it before. The film got a better reaction than Saw II's opening night crowd.

I don't think I mentioned this before: last year I went to a midnight screening attended by a bunch of teenagers who'd never seen it before. The film got a better reaction than Saw II's opening night crowd.[/quote]

Either horror fans who felt obliged to react posively.

Or they have bad taste.

Or Saw II is really bad (haven't seen)

...
...
...

Or their taste is just different from mine.

B-


This movie is just never sure whether it's a horror film or a courtroom drama. It succeeds at both a little bit, but none of the parts is flawless. I thought Tom Wilkinson and Laura Linney did fine jobs, but nothing outstanding. Jennifer Carpenter was adequate. What was really well-done were the exorcism scenes. Those were really intense. Other than that, the movie has a slow-ish pace, but isn't really boring. Overall, it's not nearly as good as some made it out to be. What pissed me off the most, actually, was how they changed and mistreated the true story, but, well, it's Hollywood. It's a decent flick, but I'm not sure I want to see it again.

Solid horror drama with some excellent exorcism scenes unfortunately dragged down by rather drab courtroom scenes. It's understandable the trial should be the centrepoint of the movie, but by making it so boring and paint-by-numbers, the filmmakers force us to focus on the interesting, meaty stuff - the scary flashbacks. And, since they're so well done, why not? All of the flashbacks, from the hauntings through the possession to the actual exorcism, are so well executed and topped off with a great performance by Jennifer Carpenter that it makes up for the courtroom scenes. It is unfortunate, though, because there's an interesting philosophical debate going on in the trial - faith vs. science - one that ultimately become silly with the Virgin Mary nonsense. Also, the film should have left the final decision - faith or science - ambiguous, but the scenes with Laura Linney being haunted - totally ridiculous and not scary - undo any chance of this. Some great visuals and solid performances by Carpenter and Tom Wilkinson do make it all worthwhile, though.

IMO, this was an underrated movie that got a little unnecessary criticism for not being scary enough. Although it's not a horror the entire way through, it succeeds as one. It also manages the drama side well. While it isn't perfect, it is a good movie.

B-

Good Points

Scared the shit out of me. Damn Catholic upbringing.
Carpenter is one for the future, what a scream.
Alway nice to see Linney in action despite her slightly empty role

Bad Points

The courtroom scene with the dippy exorcist women is painful to watch. GO TO ACTING SCHOOL WOMAN
The fact it has the cheek to claim its based on a true story. Loosely tied to 5% of an incident in Germany would have been closer to the truth.
Some of the scare scenes are horribly cliched and telegraphed.

Overall

C+

a poor attempt at making a horror film for a non-horror-crowd. an insult to connaisseurs of the horror genre, like myself. in its "genre" parts it rips off classics like the exorcist (besides the more or less obvious parts, it was especially the clock-stopping motif, which was already one of the rather heavyhanded moments in the otherwise great exorcist - this shit film makes a full blown drama out of it), jacob's ladder (scary faces on passerbies!), suspiria (I swear they stole that movie's lighting scheme for a few seconds when emily rose runs through the rain in her nightgown, which in itself is a ripoff of suspiria's opening sequence) to no good effect, and the courtroom scenes are so indescribably bad that I shook my head several times during the film, and I only do this when I watch really really bad movies.

if you like this movie, you are a moron and certainly no real horror fan.

F

Don't you agree with trixster, who regards this movie as a solid and worthwhile horror drama?