The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) or, The Court Case Against Emily Rose's Exorcist

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A misty, chilling poster for Scott Derrickson's The Exorcism of Emily Rose

Rose is a possibly possessed young woman who dies during an unsuccessful exorcism. Now her Catholic priest exorcist stands accused of causing her death. - But what really killed her?

The Exorcism of Emily Rose is written by Paul Harris Boardman (Deliver Us from Evil (2014)) and co-writer-director Scott Derrickson (Doctor Strange (2016)), based on a true story. The story is told through a mix of choppy, flickering flashbacks of Jennifer Carpenter (Battle in Seattle (2007)) as the demonically possessed - or merely psychotic - Emily Rose with the post-death present plane, wherein we get Laura Linney (The Details (2011)) and Tom Wilkinson (Snowden (2016)) injecting integrity into the tale with fine performances.
The film surprises as more of a court room drama than the horror we are led to expect from the title and poster. SPOILER The ending is an incomprehensible misfire, as Father Wilkinson is found guilty but still simply gets to walk away. Still, The Exorcism of Emily Rose is fairly entertaining.

Related posts:

Scott Derrickson: 2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

Sinister (2012) - Derrickson's genuinly unpleasant horror

The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) - Unduly bashed sci-fi drama

Listen to a track from the film's soundtrack here

Cost: 20 mil. $
Box office: 144.2 mil. $
= Huge hit
[The Exorcism of Emily Rose premiered 1 September (Venice International Film Festival) and runs 119 minutes. The film is based on the story of German Anneliese Michel, who passed away in 1976 after 67 exorcisms at a weight of just 68 lbs. Comparisons of film and the real and disturbing story can be found here. Filming took place in Los Angeles and in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from November 2004 onward. The film opened #1 to a stellar 30 mil. $ opening weekend in North America, where it stayed in the top five for another two weeks (#2, #5) and grossed 75 mil. $ (52 % of the total gross). The film's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Catholic: Mexico with 7.1 mil. $ (4.9 %) and Spain with 7 mil. $ (4.9 %). Roger Ebert gave the film 3 stars, translating to one notch higher than this review. The same story has inspired a much greater German film by Hans-Christian Schmid, Requiem (2006). The Exorcism of Emily Rose is rotten at 45 % with a 5.5 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Exorcism of Emily Rose?

Dexter - season 1 (2006) - Manos Jr.'s blood-splatter show provides the cheap thrills it promises

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+ Best Miami Title of the Year

Michael C. Hall is James Manos Jr.'s Dexter

Dexter is Showtime's biggest TV series hit yet, which ended in 2013 after impressive 8 seasons. It is created by James Manos Jr. (The Sopranos (1999), co-producer), and master filmmaker Michael Cuesta (L.I.E. (2001)) is the most recurring director (with 5 out of 12 of the approximately 55 minutes long episodes) in the series' first season.

Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall (Six Feet Under (2001-05)) is a blood splatter expert with the Miami Police. But privately he is also a resourceful, socially inhibited serial killer.
Miami now gets haunted by a clinical serial killer known as the ice truck killer, who sends Dexter messages, while he in turn savors his hunt for this somewhat related, sicko subject.

Supplying the subplots that fill out the majority of the show we have:
Jennifer Carpenter (Faster (2010)), (who since married and divorced Hall in real life), as Dexter's clingy sister/co-detective Debra; Christian Camargo (The Hurt Locker (2008)) as Debra's creepy boyfriend Rudy; David Zayas (Annie (2014)) as co-detective Angel, who faces divorce from his beloved wife; Erik King (Oz (2000-01)) as the suspicious co-detective Doakes; James Remar (Sex and the City (2001-04)) as Dexter's stepfather Harry, whose 'code'/childhood teachings, about how Dexter should put his savage personality to appropriate use, Dexter refers to time and again; C. S. Lee (True Detective (2015) TV-series) as sex-crazed co-cop Masuka; Lauren Vélez (Ugly Betty (2009-10)) is good as the struggling boss Lieutenant Maria LaGuerta; and finally there's Julie Benz (Rambo (2008)) as Dexter's girlfriend Rita, whose ex-husband/co-parent causes disturbances for their tentative, new family.
The Guardian calls Dexter an "amorality tale" on the poster above, and that description is to-the-point; the show's title hero's several vigilante killings are in a way implicitly justified by the show and its audience as it moves along. - And perhaps due to this moral grey zone which Dexter rests in, the show has inspired several killers in real life, which you can read about here.

The main cast of James Manos Jr.'s Dexter season 1

The details:

Dexter is a glitzy, vulgar, gory and amoral entertainment injection, lighted and shot in a TV-trashy, cheap style, not necessarily cheaply made, but cheap in the sense of promiscuous or simple: Dexter's dense narration throughout the season, (about his childhood, actions, feelings, kills, personality, philosophy etc.) gets to feel like getting spoon-fed in the series' worst passages.
But besides sometimes being a bit contrived and convoluted, Dexter is also filled with game actors, at times smart writing and enthusiastically morbid, if sometimes overly disgusting, visuals, (as in episode 10, Seeing Red, in which SPOILER Dexter and Co. discover a completely blood-covered hotel room.) The show has some real Miami flavor and ambiance, which adds to the experience.
Dexter marks itself as entertaining television, but nothing much more than that, in its first season, which ends well, leaving us with the feeling that more mysteries, intrigues and cases await around the corner.

Best episodes:

Episode 11: Truth Be Told (directed by Keith Gordon (The Killing (2011-13)))
With guest star Margo Martindale (August: Osage County (2013)). The loop tightens, (and gets more suspenseful), as Rudy proposes to Debra, and Dexter finally learns the identity of the ice truck killer.

Episode 12: Born Free (directed by Cuesta)
LaGuerta suffers for her macho boss' mistakes, as Dex confronts the sociopath killer.

Related post:

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Watch an official promo for the first season of Dexter here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: None
= Uncertainty
[Dexter's first season won 2 Primetime Emmys; for Best Editing and Best Main Title Design.]

What do you think of Dexter? 
Over-all and season by season?