The Rite

I find the exorcist genre in movies to be an interesting one. It is a genre that has many ideas to it and can be really scary and dark if done right but also a genre that can be quite lacking if not done right. With the exorcist movie, The Rite, I really came into this with low expectations. It is interesting no doubt. The cast is good and has been around and they know what they are doing. It is also orginal and if put in the right hands, it could have been a good exorcist film. There are worse exorcist films out there no doubt but this one could have been so much better.

Anthony Hopkins is the exorcist priest in this and his performance is really good even though his character is very unlikable. Colin O'Donoghue is also excellent as an ex-seminary student who is witnessing exorcisms. He handles many of the religious questions in a way I liked voicing many questions and concerns. The film does lack many secondary characters with only Alice Braga and Rutger Hauer mentionable.

This exorcist film is unique in that it uses the Vatican as it's setting. This is a good idea and includes many cool sets. It also uses English well as a second language pretty well at times which is a nice change of pace for a horror film.

So if the setting and cast are above average, what is wrong with this? Well, the plot is a problem. The plot that sets up O'Donoghue well as someone learning the exorcist field but then wanders off in the later acts not knowing what to do with this idea. It also contains a rip-off from 1973 movie The Exorcist with a young teen being possessed with a demon and the plot only really picks up during the last couple of minutes of the film with not much supporting it before.

The Rite is a dry horror movie with not a lot of purpose or direction to it. It is really a cookie-cutter movie type movie for this genre with not much to recommend to it.

2/5