emilyrose

THE FLICK: As a sub-category of the horror genre, “exorcism” is a tough idea to franchise. Unlike other creature features, the act of possession doesn’t allow for much innovation or variation. The cinematic experience has essentially been limited to a girl tied to a bed spouting vile invectives at a team of holy men; a challenging scenario to re-invent even by the most creative screenwriter’s standards. This spiritual showdown, however, is inherently dramatic, and ever since the original Exorcist dozens of Hollywood producers have been circling the carcass, picking at the flesh of Friedkin and Blatty’s text, in an attempt to replicate its success. The Exorcism of Emily Rose combats the pitfalls of familiarity in a two clever ways. First and foremost, writer/director Scott Derrickson’s film presents itself as a courtroom drama with a screenplay that could have been condensed to fit quite nicely into any number of procedural TV shows in Neilsen’s top ten. And secondly, it plays the old “based on a true story” card, backed up by a straight-faced presentation of the facts that avoids the more unseemly horror film clichés (although squeaky doors, mysterious shadows and jump scares are still fair game). The film begins with Emily Rose’s death, staged quite strikingly off-camera through a series of Bergman-like still life images of an isolated farm house and the numbed occupants therein, including Father Moore (Tom Wilkinson) who will soon face trial for negligent homicide allegedly caused during the rites of exorcism. Erin Bruner (Laura Linney), the hotshot attorney hired to represent the priest faces an uphill battle to clear her client, who insists on telling Emily Rose’s story during the trial. Her only recourse is to prove to the jury that demonic possession is possible -just as possible as the prosecution’s assertion of psychotic epilepsy. But Emily Rose doesn’t ditch the elements of a horror film entirely. Point in fact, Derrickson uses the possession sequence (and the bizarre visions Emily experiences leading up to the event) in flashback to propel the story, matching the intensity of the action in the courtroom. It still comes down to a girl tied to a bed, but there are some frightening diversions along the way, including a supernatural “stalking” of the parties involved in the trial. Derrickson balances a few “showy” shots with a reserved style that emphasizes class over crass exploitation. While Emily Rose isn’t a high point for either the courtroom drama or the horror genre, it does offer a much needed change of venue, proving that even the most familiar story can still be engaging with a little ingenuity and respect for the material. Case dismissed. THE FEATURES: The DVD arrives in both unrated and theatrical versions with an identical batch of extras. On the director’s commentary, Derrickson comes off as very humble and gracious towards those that contributed on the film while providing a few good anecdotes and inspirations. He also provides commentary for the single deleted scene included, which has Laura Linney’s character bringing back a guy from the bar for a botched one-night-stand. Three featurettes – “Genesis of the Story,” “Casting the Movie, and “Visual Design” – are fairly self-explanatory. You’ll hear how Derrickson and his writing partner got hold of the actual tape from Emily’s exorcism...how the film emulated the color palette of Italian horror films...and how co-star Jennifer Carpenter theatrical training (including bodily contortions) won out over special effects.