If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Fresh and Exciting

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The bravery of not avoiding things so as to not escape the potential of mockery is the cowardice of avoiding nothing not so as to escape the impossibility of maturity Avoiding nothing is not avoidanceEscaping impossibility is accepting possibilityAccepting possibility is impossibilityImpossible maturity is immaturityCowardice is acceptance not so as to be immatureCowardice is acceptance so as to be matureCowardice is acceptance creating maturityAcceptance creating maturity is not creating maturityCowardice is creating immaturityBravery is not creating maturityBravery is to not be responsible for maturityBravery is to be responsible for immaturityImmaturity is the bravery of responsibilityMaturity is the bravery of no responsibilityNo responsibility is no concernNo concern is no elsewhereEvolution is the bravery of no elsewhereElsewhere is the cowardice of evolutionEvolution hurts itself by indulging in elsewhere

Not a horror film, but an excellent film.A debate between science and religion In my opinion, this film is one of the great ones. Of course that depends on your philosophy and beliefs. I am an agnostic, meaning I am not at all affiliated with any religions but I like to keep an open mind about the those phenomena that are still unexplained to humans.I am also a fan of science and well-read in psychiatry and clinical psychology. While definitely not a fan of any man-created religion, I do keep an open mind about what could be on the other side.As a horror film fan, I had been waiting to watch this film. I admire Shohreh Aghdashloo (although she was given a small role here) and didn't know Jennifer Carpenter at the time. I was at first disappointed because I was expecting typical horror entertainment. However I realized that although there are a few creepy scenes, these are mostly realities that many schizophrenics have to deal with often. Many of them live this in their crises when they hallucinate, become delusional, etc. It's such a patient who is the most scared, not those who observe her. The film shows us how scary it is for her.Now the question remains, whether this is a mental illness or has roots in "Evil", as defined by the Christian tradition. During the entire time the viewer is searching for this answer, and at the it remains open-ended, thus giving much credit to science and psychiatry (explaining that in this modern age there should be medical intervention) but at the same time leaving the door open for the paranormal.I admired Jennifer Carpenter after this film. She usually does not play the role of the typical Hollywood glam girl who are dime a dozen. This girl can act. If you have seen the Dexter series, you will know what I mean. All the actors are great. All in all, a very deep film and has you wondering after it has ended, if at all.

College freshman, a scholarship student living in the campus dorm, dies after being treated for epileptic-like seizures and violent self-inflicted behavior not medically but spiritually, by a priest who believed she was possessed by a demon and who now stands trial for her death. An awful lot of very talented people worked on this baleful freak-show, all to no avail. Written by Scott Derrickson, who also directed, and Paul Harris Boardman, the story is loosely based on an incident that occurred in Germany, but the usual horror movie clichés are intact: a door opening and closing in a storm, 'scary' shots of feet walking down corridors (to heighten suspense), a pencil case moving by itself, squeaky floors in nearly every house, Emily Rose freaking out during a test in the classroom (complete with a stormy sky outside), the unfortunate girl eating spiders (like Renfield in "Dracula"), as well as a defense lawyer who is 17 minutes late to court because a demonic force shut off her electricity! Embarrassingly silly and derivative stuff that an earlier generation would have roundly dismissed as garbage, yet audiences in 2005 went for it. NO STARS from ****

I remember watching this movie a few years ago and I got absolutely creeped out yet loved it back then (Hey! Don't blame me I was just a kid then).Recently I popped it in again and re-watched it. And I was really happy that my choice a few years ago wasn't bad (lol!). Because this movie is an absolute gem amongst horror.It steers clear from typical horror movie because it doesn't follow the usual "build-up-halfway-throw-everything-after-half-time" strategy. The movie is based around a true controversial story. It's unusually is a court drama-esque horror which accounts the case of manslaughter of the eponymous girl against a priest. Dealing with faith vs doubt, it highlights a lawyer's internal conflict on being doubtful yet defending a priest. The horror in this case is shown throughout the movie. It is overall very intelligently made.But the unusual setting or the plot isn't what makes this movie great. The strong performances by both leads (Laura Linney and Jennifer Carpenter) is what sets this cut above the usual horror movies out there. Linney does well here, her character's internal conflicts on what to believe, her agnostic approach to defending a priest are carried out great but Carpenter is the true hero of this movie. A naive girl being possessed by multiple demons, her demonic countenance, her bloody contortion, deserves an award based on how well they were done. Her performance will scare you out, so be warned.The performances, the screenplay, the directing, everything works on this movie's favour. While it could've done better with a shorter length, you won't regret using up your 120 minutes on this movie, because it's spectacular. 9/10