2008 Woodie Awards
A New Type of Horror:
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Jen Vazquez
Issue date: 9/23/05 Section: Tempo
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From the mid '70s through the '80s, American culture was mesmerized by horror film. This was the age of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Amityville Horror, Poltergeist, and Carrie. These werefilms that defied the thought that evil lives solely inside monsters like vampires and wolf men, and suggested instead that true evil lies within human beings and our neglect and discard for one another. An overwhelming amount of movies hit the screens depicting people hurting other people in horrific, graphic, grotesque and immensely bloody ways. Religion played a large part in some of these movies. Clergy would appear and cast judgments on those who had done wrong and attempt to correct the situation. Still other movies downplayed the role of religion as a redeemer and yet included the same warning: all your actions have consequences.
Today we are seeing another resurgence of horror films. But this time, the job of the horror filmmaker is much more difficult. Today we have Xbox and Playstation and a million different games and gaming systems that allow us to view incredibly violent and graphic death scenes everyday. So what scares us? Certainly not the violence which we see so often.
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The Exorcism of Emily Rose" came out Friday, Sept. 9. It has been widely attended by audiences across the country. Those who walk into the theater expecting a repeat of the 1974 film "the Exorcist" will be sorely disappointed. This film adds much more depth to the horror genre. It is based off the real life story of Anneliese Michel and approaches the subject from a logical viewpoint.
The real Emily Rose was named Anneliese Michel and didn't go quite so quickly or so quietly as in the film, which is saying a lot. Michel started her affliction in 1970 and died in 1976. Like the movie representation, Anneliese at first believed she had epilepsy and underwent medication. She also chose to stop medication, but not under her pastor's orders. She too heard voices, saw demonic faces, and self-mutilated, as well as beat her family. She refused to eat and would instead consume spiders and her own urine as the condition worsened. Finally, an exorcism was approved when Michel began to literally tear apart religious icons in her own home. For ten months an exorcism was performed three times weekly. Over 40 tapes record each exorcism rite, none were completely successful. Her official cause of death was starvation. Two years after her death, her parents and the two exorcists involved were put on trial for negligent homicide. They were found guilty and sentenced to six months in prison with probation. Michel's grave is a site for pilgrimage and rosary-praying for those who believed her to have fought demonic spirits for six years.
