With a great cast and historical credibility, The Exorcism of Emily Rose potentially could have been a great film had the filmmakers understated its supernatural aspects instead of cranking up the sound and cheapening the entire project with formulaic teen horror genre elements.

Director/screenwriter Scott Derrickson too often reverts to his roots (Hellraiser: Inferno and Ghosting) to incorporate heavy handed cliché jolts—like sudden cat screeches or deliberate focus on the "witching hour"—ad nauseum. The barrage occurs so often that they now elicit far more laughter than terror, as adults (and sophisticated teens) are insulted by the stock formula. Horror Film Screen Writing for Dummies, anyone?

At least Derrickson only references The Exorcist without copying William Friedkin's classic to the point of parody, but comparisons are inevitable since again we have a naïve girl who is overtaken by evil forces, goes into contortions, and spews venomous epithets in obscure languages. While writer William Peter Blatty references several case studies in that fictionalized treatment, The Exorcism of Emily Rose is based specifically on the 1976 case of 24 year old German college student Anneliese Michel, who died during her exorcism.

Constructed much like a docu-drama, Derrickson takes a number of liberties with the actual story. Originally recognized by the Catholic Church as an official case of demonic possession, the Church retracted its declaration after Michel's parents and the priests were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to prison. While this sounds like the fodder for a study of the Church's ambivalence and lack of conviction, that's not the story that Derrickson explores.

Set in the winter in an undisclosed rural setting, the narrative begins with the arrest of Father Moore (Tom Wilkerson) at the scene of Emily Rose's (Jennifer Carpenter) death—her isolated family's dilapidated farmhouse. The story is then framed around the courtroom, profusely flashing back to tell Emily's story during testimony and private client-lawyer sessions.

Posing as a contest between Faith and Science, Derrickson's screenplay pits secular against the spiritual sides ironically and simplifies the case as the state vs. Father Moore. Representing the state is church going and relentless "bull dog" prosecutor Ethan Thomas (Campbell Scott) while defending the priest is agnostic lawyer Erin Bruner (Laura Linney) hot off a spectacularly successful case. It proves to be a contrivance that works far better with Bruner in creating “reasonable doubt” on behalf of her client than it does for Thomas, who chucks unforgivably brutal and intolerant lines at the defendant.

And that's primarily where the project fails to deliver adequately. A potentially interesting and profound situation is simplified into little more than melodrama, in which the only character that demonstrates any kind of growth is Bruner. The film comes close by using her as the primary protagonist, yet holds back from fully committing to Linney's character; after all, they have a horror story to tell and hope to attract teens to the most shocking exorcism scenes since The Exorcist. Instead of having enough faith to rely on the drama inherent with the courtroom conflicts, Derrickson cheapens the project with banal tricks that fool no one. The irritating soundtrack lamely attempts to mimic overbearing auditory hallucinations, and one death is so predictable and carbon copies a notable Final Destination demise that the audience titters profusely.

Indeed, the climatic scenes with Emily growling, using brute force, and contorting her body (all without pea soup or CGI) are suitably intense, and are actually more convincing than Friedkin's classic. But the film as a whole comes off more like a chintzy adaptation of The Exorcist I instead. And that's an utter shame because any project with the acting power of Tom Wilkerson, Laura Linney, and Campbell Scott should be well worth seeing. Their talents unfortunately have been exorcised from the surviving cut, leaving only an empty shell that promised so much more.