Law and Order: Paranormal Investigation

AKA: The Exorcism of Emily Rose, directed by Scott Derrickson

Starring Laura Linney, Tom Wilkonson, and Jennifer Carpenter

RT: 121 minutes

A lot of horror movies throw you into a dark forest or creepy house and leave you there, relying on creepy scores and jump scares to keep you interested. There are some, though, that stand out because of the action outside of the scary situations. These types of movies keep my attention more, because I’m allowed to not just breathe, but to see the world that takes place around the scary shit. This puts the whole scenario into perspective, and allows the viewer to imagine it taking place in the real world.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose is one such movie. More courtroom drama than horror movie, we get a view of the messy aftermath of so many other exorcism movies… Mainly, what happens to those involved when the exorcism goes horribly wrong. In this case, Father Moore is put on trial for negligent homicide. To ratchet up the drama, the prosecution puts a devout Christian on the case, while the priest gets the Agnostic. It could have been a gimmick for gimmick’s sake, if it hadn’t worked so well.

Campbell Scott (The Amazing Spider-Man) plays the mustachioed Ethan Thomas, the prosecutor. He sometimes comes off as laughable, but he handles the role well and provides a measured counterpoint to Tom Wilkonson’s (Batman Begins) Father Moore. Ethan goes after Father Moore like a rabid pup in an attempt to defend his religion from someone he sees as responsible for a girl’s death. Father Moore, on the other hand, has no interest in being acquitted; he only wants to tell Emily Rose’s story. That requires him to turn down plea deals which could save him serious prison time.

Those two actors do well. So did Laura Linney (The Truman Show), as the Agnostic defense attorney assigned to defend Father Moore. She handled the role well, and shows growth over the course of the movie… the only character that does.

It was Jennifer Carpenter’s (Dexter) Emily Rose, however, that stole the show. She wasn’t in the movie a lot, but when she was it was clear that it was about her. Fans of Dexter know Carpenter as the hot-headed sister Debra Morgan to serial killer Dexter. They also remember that she could go from foul-mouthed badass to foul-mouthed emotional wreck in the blink of an eye. She does it again here, staying mainly extremely (and understandably) upset and terrified.

So, to the plot. Emily is possessed, her health takes a turn and she’s on the verge of death. An exorcism is attempted, but fails. Emily refuses another attempt in the hopes that her death will help others.

There’s also a doctor that feeds pigeons and dies. He was at the exorcism, and when he decides to testify on Moore’s behalf, he gets hit by a car (Devil’s Advocate, anyone?).

This was my first time seeing the movie, and I think if I’d seen it even six months ago, I would have hated it. Hated it because it wasn’t a horror movie. It was a courtroom drama that happened to include an exorcism. In fact, it’s similar to The Exorcist in that regard. But I think I've grown as a person over the course of the past half year.

Horror movies that attempt to be more than what they are billed as are often maligned for not having enough gore, or enough scary parts (and there are plenty of creepy and intense parts of this movie), when in reality they just succeed at providing a fantastic balance between the horrors of the supernatural and the mundane of real life.

So what happens to Father Moore? In this case, you’ll need to watch to find out (it does sort of jump the shark when it comes time for the verdict and/or sentencing), but it’s a damn fine film despite that.