Have you ever wondered what would happen if you opened yourself up to the devil? In the new movie The Rite, which opens today and stars Anthony Hopkins
, viewers can find out the answer.I had the pleasure of being in the audience for this movie’s screening. During the opening scene - set in the embalming room of a mortuary - there were slightly graphic images that took over the screen that had me cringing. I immediately thought, “Great, it’s going to be one of those movies?”
Then the scene was over, and boy was I wrong.
The son of Rutger Hauer
's character, Michael Kovak (relative newcomer Colin O’Donoghue) comes from a family of funeral home workers. He leaves this life to escape to seminary - and then tries to ditch that world before taking his vows as a priest.
) forces his hand to go overseas to Rome to attend "exorcism school" (apparently the devil has been hard at work, and the Vatican has decided it needs more exorcists, so Kovak either has to give it a shot, enjoy Italy, learn about Satan - or pay back seminary student loans). While in Rome, yet another Father figure (Ciaran Hinds) sees potential in Kovak, but sends the skeptic to watch the work of Father Lucas, a very busy exorcist (Hopkins in scenery chewing mode). Lucas tries to convert Michael into actually believing and building faith, and Kovak plays sidekick and chief doubter on exorcisms involving a pregnant girl who spits up nails and a little boy haunted by a demon mule (with red eyes, natch).
The main message Lucas tries to impart is that the devil skulks quietly, preferring to be unseen, and doesn't always spit pea soup. And if someone is infested with demons, it can be a long process of multiple exorcising sessions before the beast goes bye-bye. Meanwhile Kovak chalks all the activity up to psychological issues.
Until he begins having his own experiences. What happens next is up to you to see. The film moves slowly, but maintains an eeriness about it throughout - although the ending is a big finish which gets somewhat over-the-top.
The symbolism is quite clear (nice for simple viewers like me), and the mentor/mentee relationship feels fresh and unexpected. With just the slightest amount of comedy, suspense, mystery - but not horrow - the viewer is kept on the edge of their seat waiting for the next move, and that is always a plus.
Aside from the storyline standpoint, I couldn’t help but notice the different eye-catching camera angles used. Not only that, but the acting was phenomenal. You can see how each actor and actress soaked themselves into the skin of their character in order for this movie to be successful, and it worked.
Although this movie is based off of true events in a non-fiction book by journalist Matt Baglio
, The Rite is trying to be the heir to timeless film The Exorcist
(even the actors vaguely resemble Fathers Merrin and Karras). While not as good (but far better than The Last Exorcism
and in the same evil neighborhood as Emily Rose
), The Rite is the closest modern parallel of the classic film with its own twists and distinctive plot. America’s obsession with demons and exorcisms continues with the help of this movie.
about the three cohabitating supers, I connected to the onscreen monsters.
and the five follow-ups, is the king of the modern zombie movement, then 
debuted as a monthly title. The celebrated title follows a growing, then declining, group of survivors from Kentucky to Georgia to Washington, D.C., as they attempt to survive and rebuild lives after the dead refuses to die. 
in 2005, where he was given the freedom to turn super heroes Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk and others into flesh-eating versions of themselves. On Oct. 31, the televised adaptation of The Walking Dead premieres on 
), and is perhaps the most eagerly anticipated show to premiere in the fall. 
was published in September 2003. Although previously an Emmy-winning comedy writer for Saturday Night Live, after Max Brooks wrote the critically-acclaimed bestsellers Guide and 
in 2006, he became known as an academic of the slow-moving undead. Far from being in the shadow of his father, comedy director Max Brooks, the 38-year-old is a zombie historian and lecturer who gives presentations on recorded living dead attacks throughout history, and offers suggestions on how best to survive an impending zomb-pocalypse. 
graphic novel and 
may have met its match in the new movie Atrocious. Although originally a Spanish film, the same producer as the Paranormal Activity movies (Jason Blum) and the producer of Insidious (Brian Kavanaugh-Jones) have picked up the rights to remake an English version of Atrocious to bring to the States, according to 
, 
and especially Paranormal Activity. The 75-minute horror film shows images from video surveillance that are similar images as the Paranormal Activity shots. By mostly spending time in a house, and involving a family dog that barks at an unknown presence is also comparable to PA.
