Exorcism of Emily Rose, The (Blu-ray) (2005)

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General		Extras
Category	Horror	Audio Commentary-Director Deleted Scenes-With Optional Director's Commentary
Rating
Year Of Production	2005
Running Time	121:45
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Scott Derrickson
Studio Distributor	Shock Entertainment	Starring	Laura Linney Tom Wilkinson Campbell Scott Jennifer Carpenter Colm Feore Joshua Close Kenneth Welsh Duncan Fraser JR Bourne Mary Beth Hurt Henry Czerny Shohreh Aghdashloo Steve Archer
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	Christopher Young

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Emily Rose (Jennifer Carpenter) was a pretty teenager who died a few days after Father Richard Moore (Tom Wilkinson), with the permission of Emily and her family, conducted an exorcism to free her from possession by the devil. The civil authorities believed that Emily had an extreme and unusual medical condition and that Father Moore through negligence had contributed to Emily’s death and so charged him with negligent homicide. In the subsequent trial the prosecution was led by Assistant DA Ethan Thomas (Campbell Scott), a deeply religious man, while Father Moore was defended by Erin Bruner (Laura Linney), an agnostic who took the case only to further her career.

     The Exorcism of Emily Rose is based loosely upon events which occurred in Germany in the 1970’s with the location changed to the US. It is principally a courtroom drama, with flashbacks to the events described by witnesses so that we are never quite sure that what they are describing is accurate, or all of the truth. The focus of the story is not on the exorcism as such but on the trial of Father Moore and the character of the agnostic Erin Bruner, who is forced to re-evaluate her beliefs as she defends a priest who is in absolutely no doubt about what really happened and only wants to tell Emily’s story. In these roles both Laura Linney and Tom Wilkinson give intense and believable performances. Both are experienced actors: Linney has been nominated for Oscars three times, the first for You Can Count on Me (2000), and she is still going strong appearing recently in Mr. Holmes (2015); Wilkinson, also twice Oscar nominated, has 120 credits listed on the IMDb, including The Full Monty (1997).

     This was the first feature of co-writer / director Scott Derrickson and he directs without fuss, walking a fine line between radically conflicting views as to the cause of Emily’s death. If more time is given to the possession angle this is because this is a film and as Derrickson explains in his audio commentary, people pay their money to see possession sequences! In compensation, the prosecution and Assistant DA Ethan Thomas are allowed some compelling arguments so in the end it is left to us to examine our beliefs, and our faith, to decide if Father Moore is guilty. The Exorcism of Emily Rose is an intelligent and compelling film about faith, belief and ideas which allows the story and actors to take centre stage. The courtroom scenes are well handled, the demonic sequences are tense and scary with the usual bangs, the exorcism sequence is intense, loud and frightening. The conclusion is both melancholy and touching, leaving it open as to what really happened.

Video

     The Exorcism of Emily Rose is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, close to the original 2.35:1 ratio, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     Set almost entirely in a dark courtroom, prison cells or in winter exteriors, The Exorcism of Emily Rose utilises a sombre colour scheme of greys, greens and browns, but with bright, unnatural colours during some possession sequences. Detail is sharp, the blacks are deep and shadow detail is very good. Skin tones are natural, brightness and contrast is consistent.

     Other than a couple of tiny marks I did not notice any artefacts.

     White English and English for the hearing impaired subtitles are available.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The feature audio is English Dobby TrueHD 5.1, plus there is the English audio commentary (Dolby Digital 2.0).

     With so many courtroom scenes the rears and surrounds were not overused but they came to life with sharp, loud noises, bangs and demonic voices during possession scenes, thunder and rain and music. Dialogue is always clear, centred and easy to understand. The sub-woofer added appropriate bass to demonic scenes and the thunder.

     The original score is by Christopher Young, an experienced composer with currently over 120 credits including both horror films such as The Grudge (2004) and more mainstream fare like The Shipping News (2001). He certainly knows what he is doing and his score for The Exorcism of Emily Rose is ominous, atmospheric and effective at enhancing the impact of the visuals.

     There are no lip synchronisation issues.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Director’s Commentary

     Co-writer / director Scott Derrickson is an interesting speaker who provides an intelligent commentary on both technical and non-technical aspects of the filming including his influences, who include Ingmar Bergman, Dario Argento and Akira Kurosawa, the deliberate ambiguity of the screenplay, his intentions, the colour palate of the film, the cast, visual effects and CGI, camera moves and angles and the differences between the original theatrical release and this extended version. Well worth a listen.

Deleted Scene with Director’s Commentary (2:35)

     One scene involving Erin, only partially completed. The director explains where the scene fitted into the film and why it was cut, quite rightly as it feels false.

    The US Region A Blu-ray of The Exorcism of Emily Rose has a wide range of audio and subtitle options, includes the audio commentary and deleted scene and adds three featurettes on the genesis of the story (19:48), casting the movie (12:23) and the visual design (18:48) which would give it the edge.

     The Exorcism of Emily Rose is a hybrid horror movie and courtroom drama which manages to be scary, thought provoking, compelling and ambiguous, leaving the cause of Emily’s death open. I enjoyed this one a lot and a great cast including Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson and Jennifer Carpenter doesn’t hurt either.

     The film was released on DVD some years ago and was reviewed on this site here. That Region 4 DVD release included the three featurettes mentioned above which are now unfortunately omitted from our Blu-ray.

     This HD Blu-ray release certainly looks good and the lossless audio is impressive. The commentary is a good one so fans of the film, or those who enjoy horror films or the courtroom genre, could do far worse than give The Exorcism of Emily Rose a try.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall