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Amazon.co.uk Review
Anthony Hopkins is a veteran exorcist who shows a novice the tricks of the trade, so to speak, in The Rite, a decidedly sober supernatural thriller about demonic possession that stands in stark contrast to the gymnastic pyrotechnics of The Exorcism of Emily Rose and The Last Exorcism. Colin O'Donoghue is the new-minted priest with a truckload of familial baggage (as a boy, father Rutger Hauer showed him his mother's corpse shortly before preparation in the family's funeral business) and a sincere crisis of faith. His adviser (Ciarán Hinds) ships him off to Rome, where he studies under Hopkins, who treats the dismissal of evil forces like a not particularly strenuous therapy session. But when a young pregnant woman turns up with a nasty case of the Devil inside, the tables are quickly turned, and O'Donoghue is forced to ply his training in an actual confrontation with demonic forces. Director Mikael Håfström has an extraordinary visual eye for malevolence in architecture, and his pacing and restraint in delivering full-bore shocks are admirable. Unfortunately, the result is somewhat stillborn, never quite fulfilling its promise as a thinking person's exorcism film, and instead hoping that meaningful glances and mounting shadows will suffice as atmosphere. Hopkins is also restrained in his performance, which works in its early stages--his post-Silence of the Lambs roles have hinged so often on operatic rages that one forgets what a subtle actor he can be--but falters in his later scenes, which require him to deliver the film's central chills. The Rite is a notable effort that simply doesn't translate beyond the page. --Paul Gaita
DVD Description
The Rite is a supernatural thriller that uncovers the Devil’s reach to even one of the holiest places on Earth.
Inspired by true events, the film follows seminary student Michael Kovak (Colin O’Donoghue), who is sent to study exorcism at the Vatican in spite of his own doubts about the controversial practice and even his own faith. Wearing his deep skepticism like armor, Michael challenges his superiors to look to psychiatry, rather than demons, in treating the possessed.
Only when he’s sent to apprentice with the unorthodox Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins)--a legendary priest who has performed thousands of exorcisms--does Michael’s armor begin to fall. As he is drawn into a troubling case that seems to transcend even Father Lucas’s skill, he begins to glimpse a phenomenon science can’t explain or control…and an evil so violent and terrifying that it forces him to question everything he believes.
Inspired by true events, the film follows seminary student Michael Kovak (Colin O’Donoghue), who is sent to study exorcism at the Vatican in spite of his own doubts about the controversial practice and even his own faith. Wearing his deep skepticism like armor, Michael challenges his superiors to look to psychiatry, rather than demons, in treating the possessed.
Only when he’s sent to apprentice with the unorthodox Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins)--a legendary priest who has performed thousands of exorcisms--does Michael’s armor begin to fall. As he is drawn into a troubling case that seems to transcend even Father Lucas’s skill, he begins to glimpse a phenomenon science can’t explain or control…and an evil so violent and terrifying that it forces him to question everything he believes.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
The RITE was one of these `based on true events' horrors, that turned out to be a little under-whelming... OK a lot under-whelming.
If you're expecting anything as scary as The Exorcist or The Omen, you can forget it. The film was a pretty mediocre watch from start to finish, and the horror was anything but horrifying.
The scenes of possession were nothing new, and had all been done (much better) in other films about possession, and even Anthony Hopkins' performance was well below par for a man of his acting ability.
The film itself was a slow ride heading towards one final set piece which - admittedly was good... well, slightly above par; but it wasn't enough to justify the two or so hours I'd wasted before hand.
All in all - it was a completely acceptable watch. Just not very scary and a bit flat throughout.
The BluRay extras too, were a little disappointing, with a short 10 minute film explaining events that lead to the script being written... except it didn't really explain anything at all. The topic would have made for quite a nice documentary I think, and this was another missed chance by the producers.
I give this film 6 out of 10. Watch it on TV by all means. But don't buy it...
Also, it's worth pointing out that although this is a triple play pack (Blu Ray, DVD & digital DL), the digital download has a expiration date on it. It's only meant for people buying the film close to the release date, so if you're thinking of buying this now and hoping to download it to your iphone or media player or something - you could well be disappointed.
Disappointed. A word that I find synonymous with the film. In the end, The Rite turned out to be all wrong.
If you're expecting anything as scary as The Exorcist or The Omen, you can forget it. The film was a pretty mediocre watch from start to finish, and the horror was anything but horrifying.
The scenes of possession were nothing new, and had all been done (much better) in other films about possession, and even Anthony Hopkins' performance was well below par for a man of his acting ability.
The film itself was a slow ride heading towards one final set piece which - admittedly was good... well, slightly above par; but it wasn't enough to justify the two or so hours I'd wasted before hand.
All in all - it was a completely acceptable watch. Just not very scary and a bit flat throughout.
The BluRay extras too, were a little disappointing, with a short 10 minute film explaining events that lead to the script being written... except it didn't really explain anything at all. The topic would have made for quite a nice documentary I think, and this was another missed chance by the producers.
I give this film 6 out of 10. Watch it on TV by all means. But don't buy it...
Also, it's worth pointing out that although this is a triple play pack (Blu Ray, DVD & digital DL), the digital download has a expiration date on it. It's only meant for people buying the film close to the release date, so if you're thinking of buying this now and hoping to download it to your iphone or media player or something - you could well be disappointed.
Disappointed. A word that I find synonymous with the film. In the end, The Rite turned out to be all wrong.
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This film is physically and, as you would expect, metaphorically dark. A young, sceptical novitiate priest with a troubled childhood is posted to Rome to learn the arcane arts of exorcism.
He soon meets the voice of experience played by Antony Hopkins and sees some "real" exorcisms. Hopkins' performance and the movie generally have been panned by the critics but I think that is pretty unfair. I was reasonably gripped for the whole of the running time and Hopkins' "large" performance is perfectly reasonable in the context of this film.
This isn't The Exorcist or even The Exorcism of Emily Rose but it is a very workmanlike movie which is more conspiracy thriller than occult horror, and none the worse for that.
He soon meets the voice of experience played by Antony Hopkins and sees some "real" exorcisms. Hopkins' performance and the movie generally have been panned by the critics but I think that is pretty unfair. I was reasonably gripped for the whole of the running time and Hopkins' "large" performance is perfectly reasonable in the context of this film.
This isn't The Exorcist or even The Exorcism of Emily Rose but it is a very workmanlike movie which is more conspiracy thriller than occult horror, and none the worse for that.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
When I went to see the film, I was reading Matt Baglio's book the Rite, and didn't know the movie was based on the book, it was a pleasant surprise, though the movie is in many ways different from the book, especially the book is more into the exorcism procedures and cases without a straight story.
The movie is dark and eerie, yet there is a kind of serenity throughout the film; the towering personality of Anthony Hopkins could be the reason. He managed Father Lucas Trevant, the legendary exorcist brilliantly, even in his wildest moments. Director Mikael Håfström steered the Rite into a steady progressing path with subtle humour, he is trying to be faithful to Baglio's book and trying to tell an engrossing story where the hunter became hunted. Colin O'Donoghue's young skeptical priest Michael Kovak is also great, he is the son of Istvan Kovak - a brief appearance by Rutger Hauer, the other side of the story is Michael's struggle with faith.
Unlike Exorcist and a host of Hollywood horror movies, the Rite is more like an intellectual exercise which means no pea soup. Enjoy the film, it's a film you can go through despite the dark ambiance and subject matter.
The movie is dark and eerie, yet there is a kind of serenity throughout the film; the towering personality of Anthony Hopkins could be the reason. He managed Father Lucas Trevant, the legendary exorcist brilliantly, even in his wildest moments. Director Mikael Håfström steered the Rite into a steady progressing path with subtle humour, he is trying to be faithful to Baglio's book and trying to tell an engrossing story where the hunter became hunted. Colin O'Donoghue's young skeptical priest Michael Kovak is also great, he is the son of Istvan Kovak - a brief appearance by Rutger Hauer, the other side of the story is Michael's struggle with faith.
Unlike Exorcist and a host of Hollywood horror movies, the Rite is more like an intellectual exercise which means no pea soup. Enjoy the film, it's a film you can go through despite the dark ambiance and subject matter.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Non Believer to Believer
People seems to be disappointed with this movie because they were expecting very scary movie and they didn't get one. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ryan
not a patch on Lecter
I was really disappointed with this film. It's cover blurb compared it to Hannibal Lecter but it is nowhere near as good. Read more
Published 2 months ago by spook
no no no!!!
How many horror films of the modern day are they going to make that are awful , as usual this is another so called true event film which i am starting to think they say this just... Read more
Published 2 months ago by warrior84
Nothing really new in this film
I had wanted to see the film for a while and wasn't really expecting much to be honest. The thing that surprised me about the film was the performance of the young priest in it,... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Sean
Wonderful concept for a movie-but the movie turned out awful
Oh dear. Promised so much but delivered so little and the best part of this movie is Anthony Hopkins who hams it up as an exoricst but, in the last third of the plot, desperately... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Faydra
Lickety Split
"The Rite" is a movie about exorcism in the Catholic Church and the twist that this film has is that it is based on a true story. Read more
Published 3 months ago by L. Davidson
Excellent acting... film could've been better...
All the actors in this film are terrific... Colin O'Donoghue is very believable and a great character, Anthony Hopkins (one of my favourite actors) is, as always, absolutely... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Endlessly
Awesome! Loved it
This is a fascinating movie on the edge of my seat, an interesting relationship between the main characters a must buy for Hopkins fans.
Published 4 months ago by Thelma L. Workman
True story? Hmmm.......
While Anthony Hopkins is okay (ish) in this and there are a few nice shots of Rome, one can only think this got a cinematic distribution because of the True Believers who see this... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Kentspur
watch this film
i really liked this film definitely worth recommending if you like demonic possession and a hole lot of it !! Read more
Published 6 months ago by natasha burns
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