AnythingHorror Central

New Horror Release: The Rite (2011)

Posted by anythinghorror on February 1, 2011 · 11 Comments 

I’m gonna go ahead and declare the exorcism genre officially dead.  It’s over.  Done.  It put up a good fight and even had a few attempted resurrections.  But after watching THE RITE it’s obvious that there’s just no more life left in this genre.  Now don’t get me wrong; THE RITE isn’t the worst exorcism-themed film I’d ever seen and I guarantee it won’t be one of the worst films of the year.  It’s not, in fact, a horrible film at all.  It’s just a very forgettable entry that doesn’t add anything new or fresh to the exorcism canon, and sometimes this is a worse crime.

The film focuses on Michael Kovak (Colin O’Donoghue) who grew up learning the family business which happens to be running a funeral home.  He hates this line of work so he enrolls in seminary school instead.  “In my family you either run a funeral home or you become a priest.”  We join Michael in his final year at school; this is when all the students take their final vows and enter the priesthood, but Michael has other ideas.  He sends an email to one of the higher ups at the school explaining why he can’t/won’t take his final vow.  Ever since loosing his mom at a young age Michael lost his faith and doesn’t believe in god.  But like he’ll encounter over and over again throughout this film, the priests at school won’t take no for an answer and Michael’s advisor convinces him to go to Rome for two months and take a class on how to properly conduct exorcism’s. Hey why the hell not, and the fact that his advisor essentially threatens to turn his scholarship he had at seminary school into a student loan he’ll have to pay back kind of closes the deal.  Aahhh yes, organized religion.  If you don’t believe then we’ll threaten, bully, bribe, or scare you into believing.  Oh yeah; and are we really supposed to believe this is a seminary school?  Where were all the young, hairless boys running around in tight bathing suits?? (Did that comment cross any lines?  Yeah?  Aahhh fuck it).

Michael & Father Lucas getting ready to exorcize Rosario.

Michael has a pretty sweet deal in Rome; free room and board and all he needs to do is go to that one class.  And to Michael’s credit he stays skeptical during this course and time and time again questions the priest-instructor about how one can be absolutely sure that a person is experiencing demon possession and not psychological problems.  He’s never satisfied with the answers he’s given and in a very telling scene summarizes the priest’s view:  “So the proof of the devil existing is the fact that he can’t be proven.”  I think this summarizes up religion nicely.  Sorry, sorry; I won’t turn this review into my own diatribe against religion.  Where was I …

Aahhh yes; of course his questioning the priest-instructor and the very beliefs of the church itself don’t get Michael kicked out but gets him even more privileged, insider info.  The priest-instructor “sees something” inside Michael [I’ll let you make up your own joke here] and sends him off to meet Father Lucas Trevant (Anthony Hopkins) who has performed more exorcisms than anybody.  Plus he has very radical beliefs and unorthodox methods (those kooky Jesuits).  The first day they meet Hopkins is performing an exorcism on Rosaria (Marta Gastini), a 16 year old pregnant girl who seems to have the devil inside her.  After witnessing his first exorcism Michael is even more skeptical and more convinced that Rosaria needs a shrink, not an exorcist.  But the middle part of this film plays out like every other fucking exorcism flick:  They present convincing evidence that at times points to the fact that the “victim” isn’t possessed and then turns around and drops heavy clues that she really is possessed by a demonic force.  This dance is getting old people; from THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE TO THE LAST EXORCISM and SEASON OF THE WITCH, they all follow this exact formula and it’s getting very tiresome.  Can’t someone come along and shake this sub-genre up and offer us a new take on it?

Come on now; every exorcism flick needs a really cool shot of the exorcist walking in the door!!

Then we’re presented with a slight twist where one of the main characters becomes possessed, and suddenly, as expected, the entire last reel becomes the obligatory, prolonged exorcism scene.  We all knew it was coming and I for one was dreading it because by the time it came I knew we weren’t gonna get anything new out of it.  The demon insults and bitch-slaps the people conducting the exorcism until finally one of the characters has what I call his “ROCKY Moment.”  A ROCKY Moment is that moment in a film when the character goes through the expected catharsis and becomes a better person for it.  In every ROCKY movie Rocky Balboa is in the ring getting his fucking ass handed to him when he suddenly remembers something his trainer said, or sees Adrian in the audience, or whatever and suddenly he’s revitalized, turns the tables, kicks ass, and beats the living cabbage outta his better trained and more skilled opponent.  I don’t wanna give away too much here but the character you expect has his ROCKY Moment, embraces and believes in god, and then kicks Ba’al’s ass back to the netherworld.  You see it coming a mile away and it was rather cheesy.  The character goes from being a staunch non-believer to sounding like a young teen who just got out of an intense bible camp and is all pumped up.  The message we’re left with is that the church is always right and based on this film alone it would have you believe that there are many many many MANY people out there possessed and in need of exorcists, not shrinks.  I don’t buy it; not for a second.

Did someone forget to take their anti-possession pill today?

The story itself is said to be “based on actual events” but I’m calling bullshit.  Possession is about as real as those lonely people out there claiming to be psychics or people claiming to have been abducted by aliens.  I’m not buying it and most rational people won’t either.  Putting the story aside, Hopkins and O’Donoghue put in some really strong performances.  Sure there’s times when I felt I was watching a clip from a Hannibal Lector movie, but Hopkins really puts his all into the role of Father Lucas.  The cinematography here is also impressive as the beauty of Rome is captured as well as the tone, atmosphere, and claustrophobia of the film.  Through Ben Davis’ cinematography he really captures the dichotomy of Italy.  But unfortunately ya just can’t get past this story.  It’s not a particularly bad story, it’s just one you’ve seen a dozen times.  And besides the typical odd body contortions, strange looking skin, and deep demon voices, there’s nothing new here in the way of f/x either.  This whole film just screams “Been there, seen that”!!  Did you really think Michael was gonna remain a skeptic at the end of the film?  Really?  Even after we get a pre-credit explanation that Saint Michael is the Saint who is constantly battling demons?  Come on, seriously; you need to go out and see more genre flicks.

Did I mention that this has Rutger Hauer in it? Well it does!!

THE RITE isn’t the worst film I’ve seen and isn’t even the worst exorcism film I’ve ever seen.  But its’ formulaic layout of both the story and characters as well as the inevitable ROCKY Moment is so choreographed and tedious that you can’t help but squirm in your seat, close your eyes, and wish, like so many altar boys have wished before you, that it would all be over quickly.  Like I said above, the exorcism genre is officially dead and it’s gonna take one helluva ROCKY Moment for it to have a comeback.  Skip this one.

My Summary:

Director:  Mikael Håfström

Plot:  2 out of 5 stars

Gore:  0 out of 10 skulls

Zombie Mayhem:  0 out of 5 brains

Reviewed by Scott Shoyer