For a film that twiddles with the horror genre this must be among the more refreshing Hollywood efforts after a throng of half-nosed Japanese remakes.
Yet, for all its production histrionics it ultimately sucks, and sucks rocks, because one never relates to it -- which is of course a blessing given the grotesque world it is about -- but I mean relate to it in a way that would make us care about any of its characters and consequently the film itself.
Thematically, it straddles between a kooky courtroom drama and a pandering ode to The Ring/Dark Water crowd. Our eponymous Emily Rose has already succumbed to the devil -- literally, we are led to believe -- thanks to a priest who meant to exorcise her. The film is thus split into a legal trial and some flashbacks detailing a somewhat labored version of what may have led to her death/murder.
This sets us up for a plush serving of all the standard-issue thrills one expects from such endeavors: a disheveled protagonist clutched by evil spirits, hectic sound bursts, strange eye colorations, sudden 360-degree cranial rotations, leaden-footed testimonies, and that inevitably sweaty closing from the defence attorney.
One soon wonders what the ’’Based on a True Story’’ moniker really accounted for. To the extent that the real life trial may have led to some seminal litigation pitting medicine against theology, it might be true in a WMDs-in-Iraq sort of a way. But there is precious little here to engage true horror fans, with the possible exception of some convincing acting. I have never paid attention to Campbell Scott before but found myself respecting him in this venture. Linney is rather different here from her spate of softie roles as well, she rises to the occasion with a passion.
Too bad that the occasion never seems to warrant much rising to. It fares decently for a venture with ace cameramen and predictable imagination, but that is clearly too sparse a reason to recommend a film for theatre or a rental. Anyone but ardent horror fans should do well to catch it when it hits a channel near you.