'Emily Rose' meant to be more than scary movie (real life exorcism)

Bluefield Telegraph ^ | September 9, 2005 | Terry Mattingly

[NYer]

NEW YORK - When it comes to real-life exorcisms, movie director Scott Derrickson has read the transcripts and studied stacks of tapes.

He didn't see heads spin 360 degrees or volcanoes of pea-soup vomit. He was, in the end, convinced that demons are real. The results went into "The Exorcism of Emily Rose," a chilling movie that Derrickson hopes will make believers think twice about what they believe and doubters have doubts about their doubts.

"The research phase was horrible," he said during press events preceding the Sept. 9 release of the film. But, he added, "I am glad that I know so much about it. That's good knowledge to have. As a writer, it certainly is. I also feel that for me, as a Christian, it is good to have that knowledge. But I will never do that again."

The movie was inspired by the story of Anneliese Michel, a German college student and devout Catholic who died during exorcism rites in 1976. Doctors said her seizures and visions were caused by epilepsy. Her family was convinced otherwise and their bishop agreed to allow a series of exorcism rites.

The ordeal eventually took her life.

State officials prosecuted the parents and their priests for criminal negligence, leading to a trial that divided skeptics and believers - then and now.

Derrickson and co-writer Paul Harris Boardman moved this story to the American heartland, changing scores of details. The result wraps a horror movie inside a courtroom drama, with Emily's story told in flashbacks. The big question: Is this a story of fatal abuse caused by superstition or an inspiring account of a battle with evil incarnate?

After weeks or terror, Emily writes a letter in which she describes a heavenly vision. In it, the Virgin Mary tells her that she can die peacefully or struggle on, enduring more pain but proving that demonic possession is real. On the witness stand, the family's priest reads this letter and emphasizes this passage: "People say that God is dead. But how can they think that if I show them the devil?"

The movie is light on special effects and heavy on scenes that blur - but do not erase - the lines between faith and science, the natural and the supernatural. "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" is not a film for moviegoers who avoid the sound of creaky wooden floor planks, the scratch of fingernails on plaster walls, the howling of hellish voices in ancient tongues or the crunch of insects between human teeth. Is this insanity or spiritual warfare?

The timing is good for a movie built on spiritual questions, admitted Derrickson. A studio executive read the script and gave it a green light days after the release of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ."

The key, said actress Laura Linney, is that the movie doesn't tell "people what to think or to believe." Instead, it shows how people with different beliefs view mysterious events in different ways. The cast and crew included people with a variety of religious beliefs, as well.

Linney plays a doubter who defends the priest. The prosecutor is portrayed as a progressive Christian, a Bible-reading modernist who is repulsed by this encounter with what he considers an ancient, irrational and dangerous form of faith. Similar conflicts are dividing many religious groups today.

The goal, Linney said, was to open up "one of the big mysteries: Where does evil come from? Is it stuff in our brains or is it something outside of ourselves? Some people have very strong opinions about it, one way or the other." She hopes this film "will cause both sides to re-evaluate and to listen to the other side," she said.

In the end, Derrickson said, he hopes moviegoers will dare to ask tough questions about good and evil, God and Satan.

"Right now, there is plenty of amorphous belief out there about God," he said. "Lots of people are saying, 'God is within us. God is a force. God is everything. God is everywhere.' They don't really believe in a God who makes demands, who judges, does things that make us uncomfortable. They're vague about evil, too.

"What we tried to do was make an entertaining movie that scared people. But I also wanted people to stop and think about all of that."

[NYer]

Terry Mattingly (www.tmatt.net) is senior fellow for journalism at the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities.

[NYer]

"I, Sister Faustina Kowalska, by the order of God, have visited the Abysses of Hell so that I might tell souls about it and testify to its existence...the devils were full of hatred for me, but they had to obey me at the command of God, What I have written is but a pale shadow of the things I saw. But I noticed one thing: That most of the souls there are those who disbelieved that there is a hell."
Sister Faustina's Vision of Hell

Catholic Ping - Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list

[Rebelbase]

Thanks, but I think I'll pass on this one.

[Slings and Arrows]

When do we get to see "Hillary! Rose"?
---
This-Is-Not-A-Ping-List ping!

[Freepmail me to get on or off this Not-A-Ping-List.]

[Bombardier]

In the end, Derrickson said, he hopes moviegoers will dare to ask tough questions about good and evil, God and Satan.

"Right now, there is plenty of amorphous belief out there about God," he said. "Lots of people are saying, 'God is within us. God is a force. God is everything. God is everywhere.' They don't really believe in a God who makes demands, who judges, does things that make us uncomfortable. They're vague about evil, too.

"What we tried to do was make an entertaining movie that scared people. But I also wanted people to stop and think about all of that."

Wow....a filmmaker who GETS it! I never thought I'd live to see THAT! Thanks for posting this article!

[martin_fierro]

The prosecutor is portrayed as a progressive Christian, a Bible-reading modernist who is repulsed by this encounter with what he considers an ancient, irrational and dangerous form of faith.

He's an Elder over at Our Lady of the Situational Ethic.

[SouthernBoyupNorth]

This Movie is bound to be disturbing to those who teeter on the brink of belief. I have no doubt that demons exist. Nor do I doubt that heaven exists..... I hope this movie makes people Think for once ... but that probably wont happen.

[xsmommy]

this is very heartening to read. just last evening, when the commercial for the movie came on the car radio, i remarked to my teenaged son that it sounded way too scary to me and that i didn't like movies about the devil because he is real and so many movies try to spoof him and make him seem not.

i recall very vividly the sermon from the pulpit when our priest spoke about the movie the Exorcist which had come out back then, and he said that the devil's biggest coup was when people did NOT believe in him.

i am gratified to read that this director gets it, and has the intent to show that he IS real.

[bobdsmith]

Well good luck to this director, but I had hoped that new Dawn of the Dead movie would make people understand that zombies really do exist. Unfortunately not.

[ScreamingFist]

"And I proceeded to where things were chaotic. And I saw something horrible: I saw neither a heaven above nor a firmly founded earth, but a place chaotic and horrible. And there I saw seven stars of the heaven bound together in it, like great mountains, and burning with fire. Then I said: 'For what sin have they been bound, and on what account have they been cast in hither?' Then said Uriel, one of the holy angels who was with me, and was chief over them and said: 'Enoch, why dost thou ask, and why art thou eager for the truth? These are the number of the stars of heaven which have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and are bound here till ten thousand years, the time entailed by their sins, are consummated.'"

[orionblamblam]

The previews show what looks like a young woman suffering from schizophrenia.

[dead]

The movie was inspired by the story of Anneliese Michel, a German college student and devout Catholic who died during exorcism rites in 1976. Doctors said her seizures and visions were caused by epilepsy. Her family was convinced otherwise and their bishop agreed to allow a series of exorcism rites. The ordeal eventually took her life.

Is there a reason that every review that looks at a movie from a Christian perspective has to tell me the ending?

[dead]

Well good luck to this director, but I had hoped that new Dawn of the Dead movie would make people understand that zombies really do exist.

I do believe. I do believe. I do. I do. I do.

(My senator’s Frank Lautenberg – how could I not?)

[general_re]

Zombies do exist...

[general_re]

My senator’s Frank Lautenberg – how could I not?

Well, then 14's for you too ;)

[Fatalist]

The movie is actually about the trial that took place after her death, so I imagine you find out early on that she died.

[Pyro7480]

LOL! What movie is that from?

[plain talk]

I'm sorry. Where is that in the Bible?

[dead]

Wow! That's a classic!

[dead]

OK. I hate it when movie reviews tell me the ending. Everybody ruined that Clint Eastwood chick boxing movie for me.

Hopefully this review didn't. It looks like a pretty spooky movie. There are very few legitimately spooky horror movies.

[general_re]

Cheers! ;)

[ScreamingFist]

Supposedly it's from the Talmud......

[Dark Skies]

The Book of Enoch (Source-The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament -- R.H. Charles Oxford: The Clarendon Press)

http://www.heaven.net.nz/writings/thebookofenoch.htm

[Caesar Soze]

The death of Anneliese Michel is a matter of historical record. Complaining about the ending being spoiled is like complaining about the ending of any other documentary or docudrama being spoiled. Of course, there is always the possibility that the director deviated from the historical record for dramatic purposes--perhaps, in his version, James Earl Jones shows up just in time to defeat the demonic Pazuzu.

[ScreamingFist]

The Book of Enoch

You're good....

[Dark Skies]

click on the link...pretty incredible stuff, particularly about the watchers and the interbreeding of the watchers (fallen angels) with the daughters of men.

[Steel and Fire and Stone]

"I, Sister Faustina Kowalska, by the order of God, have visited the Abysses of Hell so that I might tell souls about it and testify to its existence."

=======================================================================================================

My faith is based on God's Word the Bible. The Bible is a historically, verifiable document, 66 books, actually, by over 40 different authors, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and internally consistent as though it were written by a single author (which of course, it was - The Holy Spirit). Internally consistent means, in other words:

"For I [am] the LORD, I change not..." - Malachi 3:6

My Christian faith is not blind, but informed. Is yours? While demon possession is Biblical, Fatima and other Roman Catholic mysticism's are not, and are in fact contrary to what the Bible and Jesus Himself taught.

No offense to your own Catholic Christian faith intended, but adding non-Christian mysticisms into a public forum like this hurts the cause of Christ, and cheers antagonistic atheists (and their father Satan) everywhere.

FReegards .. SFS

[macamadamia]

"...the sound of creaky wooden floor planks, the scratch of fingernails on plaster walls, the howling of hellish voices in ancient tongues or the crunch of insects between human teeth. Is this insanity or spiritual warfare?"



Yeah, real scary. If this is the presence of evil then its kind of lame. Spiritual warfare is, IMO, a German soldier rejecting every decent impulse to do good by slamming shut the door to the gas chamber and turning a deaf ear to all the screaming. Spiritual warfare is the person who abuses or corrupts a child, the person who destroys their innocence. Or, the "medical expert" who says with a pleasant face that a fetus doesn't feel any pain. These are the ways evil manifests itself in the physical world. Voices in ancient tongues, strange sounds, cold rooms, etc. are just cliches, Hollywood tricks that trivialize real evil.

[applpie]

So typically when a person becomes possessed they have opened themselves up to a demon through occult practices, drugs, some kind of perversion, or whatever? What was the case with this girl? how did she become possessed?

[ScreamingFist]

pretty incredible stuff, particularly about the watchers and the interbreeding of the watchers (fallen angels) with the daughters of men.

Indeed. I read much of it years ago, some of that old time religion......

[dead]

The death of Anneliese Michel is a matter of historical record. Complaining about the ending being spoiled is like complaining about the ending of any other documentary or docudrama being spoiled.

She’s not exactly a household name. Prior to the making of this movie, I'd wager you could ask 200 people on the street to tell you what happened to Anneliese Michel without finding a single person who knew what you were talking about.

You could make a movie about any lesser known historical figure (say Gen. Jose Ignacio Paua, a Chinese general in the Philippine revolution) and most people wouldn’t know how the story was going to end. Unless some movie reviewer told them.

But anyway, somebody said that this movie is a flashback that tells the viewer she died up front, so this reviewer is not guilty of any reviewer crime.

[Dark Skies]

...a German soldier rejecting every decent impulse to do good by slamming shut the door to the gas chamber and turning a deaf ear to all the screaming.

Very evil, indeed. But that is human evil. There is another kind, also, of the spiritual (non-corporeal) realm. And of course all kinds of evil have a common source. Just as the source of all good is God.

[StAthanasiustheGreat]

Where in your bible does it say one can only use Scripture?

How do the writings and teachings of Catholic Mystics harm Christianity and assist Satan.

I tend to think that you hate Catholicism. Read the Early Church Fathers, they are much closer to Catholicism than your "Biblical" Christianity. I do not want to start a flame war, but comments of your ilk need a response.

Would some of the other defenders care to interject.

[diamond6]

I remember reading that in her diary and it gave me the chills, because there are so MANY who don't believe in his existence.

Chilling!

[teenyelliott]

Haven't seen it in years, but I remember The Serpent and the Rainbow being pretty doggone creepy. It's about zombies, voodoo and Haiti.

[orionblamblam]

> If this is the presence of evil then its kind of lame.

Agreed. If the goal of the Greatest Foprce OF Evil In The Universe is to mess with one girl... pretty weak. Now, if Satan was converting all the college students to the Green Party.... *THAT* would be true evil.

[teenyelliott]

There are very few legitimately spooky horror movies.

Have you seen the Ring? Grudge?

Both seriously scared me.

[Dark Skies]

What was the case with this girl? how did she become possessed?

I don't know in this case. I think that in the lives of the possessed there is often some kind of childhood trauma (like sexual abuse) that starts the process. Anneliese Michel (the person Emily Rose was fashioned after) was said to also suffer from grand mal seizures. I don't know if that may have been a factor.

Ultimately, however, you are correct in that the person being possessed must in some way give his/her permission.

[highlander_UW]

I do not want to start a flame war, but comments of your ilk need a response.

Would some of the other defenders care to interject.

Your actions appear to contradict your words. You say you don't wish to start a flame war, but then you ping half a dozen people and request their interjection. Looks like an effort to start something to me.

[ScreamingFist]

Would some of the other defenders care to interject.

The homogenized religions of today have no room for demons or fallen angels, doesn't fit the template. In my book, angels aren't some "cupid looking" do gooders, they are the Warriors of God, powerful, vengeful and not a sight for mortal eyes. Kicking demon butt isn't a job for cupid.

[MarineMomJ]

Someone correct me on this if not true.

I thought that God didn't allow the devil to make a possessed person die.

[Hoodlum91]

Thanks for this. I had planned to see it this weekend and was having second thoughts.

Now I can't wait to see it!

[A.A. Cunningham]

You rely on an abridged, heavily edited version of Sacred Scripture taken from the Catholic Church. That is a historically verifiable fact.

[hoppity]

I thought this movie was about Hillary and Vince Foster.

[Landry Fan]

I didn't know that. I thought it was random and the victim was helpless. But, I haven't read much about this topic b/c I didn't want to scare myself silly. Creepy, creepy, creepy.

[dsc]

"adding non-Christian mysticisms"

Could you do me a favor and go back through the thousands of notes in dozens of threads where we've thrashed that out before?

That way you will at least be familiar with the arguments arrayed against you.

[NYer]

My faith is based on God's Word the Bible.

So is mine and that of ALL catholics. That said, please prove to me, from the Bible, that the Bible is the only rule of faith.

[dsc]

"She hopes this film "will cause both sides to re-evaluate and to listen to the other side," she said."

Ummm...why should the side that's right waste time listening to the side that's wrong?

[dsc]

Are those passages the whole thing, or does the Saint go into more detail in her diary?

[orionblamblam]

> Ummm...why should the side that's right waste time listening to the side that's wrong?