The Exorcism of Emily Rose

Scott Derrickson wrote the screenplay with Paul Harris Boardman. Derrickson regards himself as a believer and Boardman as a sceptic, and he wanted that split written in so the film would not have to choose between the religious reading and the medical one. He also declined the usual possessory director credit. The case behind it is real. In mid 1970s Bavaria a young woman was given 67 exorcism sessions across roughly ten months; she had been diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy, and she died. In 1978 two priests and her parents were convicted of negligent homicide and received suspended sentences. The film reduces those four defendants to a single priest and softens the ending: the jury returns guilty, then asks that time served stand as the sentence, and he walks out. Most of the moments in which Jennifer Carpenter bends her body were done in front of the camera rather than in visual effects. The film took best horror film at the 32nd Saturn Awards, with Laura Linney and Carpenter both nominated. Three in the morning recurs as a marker. A good fit if you want the fright material cross examined and the verdict treated as part of the explanation. Not for anyone who will be bothered that the real case had four defendants and a different ending.