Delayed Reaction: The Exorcism of Emily Rose

What I Guessed It Was About: This is basically the same thing as The Exorcist except that I remember the girl's name.

How I Came Into It: I only ever heard about Jennifer Carpenter's impressive work in the demonic scenes. The rest of the movie has been largely forgotten. That's not a good sign.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) Jennifer Carpenter is indeed quite freaky in this. I know a lot of it's done with effects. The end result still deserves some applause though. I like Laura Linney and Tom Wilkinson in this. They play the beats of the story as well as needed. The movie does a good job avoiding making an opinion about what happened. The characters have a bias. The movie doesn't.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: This is more of a courtroom drama than a horror movie. I wasn't prepared for that and it would play better had I been prepared for that. A straightforward narrative would have to pick a side (possession or disease), so I understand why they didn't do that. But, the horror elements end up muted by knowing how it ends and the legal proceedings stepping on the surprises.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend