Movies: 18454 | TV Series: 3282 | Added today: 0 | Storage: 65882 GB

| Genres: | ThrillerHorrorDr |
| Starring: | Rutger Hauer, Toby Jones, Anthony Hopkins, Chris Marquette, Alice Braga, Torrey DeVitto, Maria Grazia Cucinotta |
| Director(s): | Mikael Håfström |
| Available Quality: | DivX, DVD, Hi Def, iPod, Hi Def, Hi Def |
| Country: | USA |
| Year: | 2011 |
| IMDB Rating: | 6 |
An American priest travels to Italy to study at an exorcism school.
Visitor Reviews: (20)carlytay4991 17 May 2012
Personally, I liked this movie a lot. I believe it portrayed a goodview of the exorcism. It was a interesting movie, that kept myattention the whole time. It had some weird twists and turns and didmake me jump once or twice. I would recommend this movie to people. Thereviews that people put on here and what the critics say are wrong. Seeit! Anthony Hopkins did an excellent job as a priest and he kept myattention throughout the whole movie. I believe that this movie doesnot make an exorcism look fake, such as a lot of other movies do. Ithink some people do not like this movie because they have seen "TheExorcist", which makes you think that people heads will spin around andthrow up green stuff, when in reality or in this movie, it shows youthat that movie is fake, and this is what it is really about. Go seethis movie, you will like it.
17 May 2012
This movie is worth watching, it had potential, it had its moments, but suffered from self-inflicted wounds that were easily avoidable. The lead actors were fine, the writing was not. You would expect Hopkins to contribute a good performance and he did, the young priest was good as well. Without speaking a word, his facial expressions perfectly conveyed his skepticism and frustration with the old priest. These scenes were very well done, unfortunately those were his best scenes, the writing was such that his spoken lines were typical shallow Hollywood cynicism and rarely advanced the story. Internal conflict and self-doubt within the minds of the characters is realistic and result in good drama. But there is a difference between a conflicted character, and a cynical character. Realistic conflict gives life to the story, cynicism creates exasperation in the viewer (or reader). The young priest did not quite cross over into cynicism, but he was close, and in my mind the movie suffers from this and never fully recovers.....although it tried. This movie couldn't make up its mind - it didn't take itself serious enough to deliver a convincing outcome. The first 3/4 of the movie was typical Hollywood skepticism and levity about God and Christianity. During this time they threw cold water on their subject and characters, including plenty of ill-timed "wit", and then tried to "pull a rabbit out of the hat" in the end. It was forced, awkward, unsatisfying, and entirely self-inflicted. In otherwise good movies, the ill-timed use of "wit" has caused more damage than any other blunder (this includes books as well). I'm not against it, and if used correctly it is fine, but in a supernatural drama, a subject so somber and serious, where you are trying to build up to a dramatic climax, every instance of "wit" and levity should be scrutinized VERY closely, and probably eliminated unless there is a noticeable contribution to the story. (I did laugh at the cell phone scene in spite of myself.)A example of the proper use of wit and humor is the classic "Jaws". There was plenty of humor, wit and oddball characters, which all fit naturally within the story and were perfectly believable. Worth watching. I love Hopkins. But plenty to complain about.
jason24691 16 May 2012
To be honest i never heard of this film,(or i just didn't pay anyattention to it as it wasn't promoted well) until it came on skymovies. basically its about a trainee priest who doubts his own beliefuntil he meets, a welsh exorcist in Italy. Who makes him believe.This film could of been one of the scariest films of all time, it hadthe potential, but its nowhere near scary, but it is very interesting,with a strong cast (antony Hopkins is superb), it delivers, and itain't hollywoodised which i like, as American films on the subject cansometimes be over the top, to me god and Satan is on the same par asaliens they probably haven't visited us and don't exist, but its alwaysthat, what if? that makes sci fi and horror films interesting.Go watch this film you wont be disappointed.
codyiden 16 May 2012
The Rite stars Anthony Hopkins as an exorcist who eventually becomespossessed himself. The relatively unknown Colin O'Donoghue stars as ayoung man struggling to decide whether or not he wants to become apriest, Alice Braga is a young classmate taking the same classes asO'Donoghue, Ciaran Hinds is the class instructor/priest and RutgerHauer appears via flashbacks as O'Donoghue's father.Hopkins totally steals the show by using his experience and toO'Donoguhue's character, unorthodox methods to perform his exorcismsand later when he becomes possessed he tears through his lines withferocity. O'Donoghue is an excellent actor whose character isstruggling with his ideas of religion and his disbelief of theexorcisms and later his attempts to perform an exorcism himself he mustsummon the belief in order to do so. Hinds and Hauer both do very wellin their small roles and Braga (who was underused in my opinion) alsodoes great with her role.Overall the film is probably one of the best exorcist films in recentyears and one of the best horror/thrillers of the year.
zzoaozz-994-637879 16 May 2012
This movie took my breath away. The acting was superb from the childrenup to Sir Hopkins. This movie presents its subject matter withoutprejudice or condemnation. The Church is not the bad guy nor is itpowerless and in so many movies. Some of the hows and whys are leftdeliberately vague which adds to the realism. The scenery is gorgeous,the filming skillful and careful balancing the beauty of the locationwith the way shadows can make the ordinary seem ominous. Vivid andintense are the words that best describe this movie. I could watch itover and over. It is not a rip off of the Exorcist nor does it use anyof the shock scenes that movie made famous. Anyone who likes realisticand unrelenting supernatural terror will love this movie if they justgive it a chance.
mdspittl 15 May 2012
The Rite movie poster makes you think this movie centers around AnthonyHopkins character but he is clearly there just for marketability. Themovie is about Michael Kovak, a mortician turned priest who doubts theexistence of anything in his life. He is sent to the Vatican to studyexorcism as the number of them increase across the world and his priestthinks it can jump start his faith. It can be tricky having asuspense/horror movie rated PG-13. You can't go over the top withlanguage or violence and usually in PG-13 horror movies you get teencampy garbage films like Prom Night. Since this movie was directed byMikael Håfström, I had reasonable expectations since he has done goodmovies like 1408 and Derailed. The movie lacked direction and awarenessof what it wanted to be. It started like a religious/exorcism moviethen moved to a psychological thriller which picked up the movie'sintrigue midway through. By the end though it switched back to where itstarted and totally lost me. What I was most disappointed in was thelack of seriousness. In the movie's most climatic scenes in the end,the audience in my screening was laughing when you should have beencringing. The same thing happened in the beginning of the firstexorcism. You have a tense situation and Anthony Hopkins answers hiscell phone in the middle of it which drew chuckles from the drones ofaverage movie goers who don't realize that the movie is failing. Itmade me withdraw my interest and I lost respect for the rest of themovie. Anthony Hopkins again trying tried to channel his legendaryHannibal Lecter but it fell very flat. The script was weak and Mr.Hopkins needs to stop taking roles that remind us of that character.Overall, I didn't have great expectations, but it still was very flatand brought nothing to the table. It was a halfhearted effort by alegendary actor and a movie filled with cheap, gotcha scares. Doyourself a favor and exorcise this from your list of movies to see thiswinter.
13 May 2012
As far as I'm concerned there are two gems of the "exorcism" genre."The Exorcist".And "The Exorcism of Emily Rose".I really wanted to see "The Rite" but it got slammed so bad by the critics that I just decided to wait for a rental.....I'm glad I waited.Here is what I liked...Hopkin's is amazing as usual.The other priest was interesting to me as well.The whole "crisis of faith" is always an interesting topic and I think the film would have been served well by staying in this vein instead of going down the usual "shock" road.The acting from everyone was excellent.The direction, pacing, score were all done well.What ruined this film for me was...The first half was excellent.The second half dissolves into a bunch of spiritual, horror same old, same old that we've seen too many times already from superior films.The second half of the film tries to take itself seriously but fails in its execution.If the film had just retained that cynical, emotional crisis tone throughout this film could have been a great thriller.Sadly, it was horror....just not horror that was new or innovative.Been there, done that.To summarize...Brilliant Hopkins.An interesting first half.Worth a rental for horror buffs just don't expect anything ground breaking.
12 May 2012
This review is from: The Rite (DVD) A more thoughtful and intelligent film than was the similar "Exorcist". The "possessed" people depicted undergo physical contortions, to be certain, but none beyond the capability of the human body i.e. no heads spinning around. Therefore the viewer is still free to interpret the events as non-demonic psychological and/or physical phenomena. Nevertheless, because of the degree of contortion and vocal changes, the viewer is led to "believe" that the unfortunate individuals in question are truly demon-possessed.As both the exorcist-supremo and ultimate victim, Hopkins does his usual good job. Still this film misses the genuine creepiness that I suspect the directors hoped to create.It is interesting, however, to view the subject of present day "demon possession" and supposed exorcism in light of the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Amazon offers a fascinating book, "Malleus Malificarum" [Hammer of Witches] which I have reviewed on Amazon. It was written by two Catholic clerics and Inquisitors in the late 1400s and is an exhaustive study of how to identify--and punish--witches, warlocks and the demon-possessed. Yes, demon possession was regarded as a terrible problem back in those days and the 'therapy' wasn't exorcism. It was interrogation and oftentimes torture accompanied by burning at the stake. Purifying flames were considered a more certain cure of demon possession than was priestly incantation.
Catharina Einarsson 12 May 2012
This movie was quite alright to watch for free on your computer, but ifI had gone to the cinema and payed for it I had been disappointed. Itis not good enough as a horror movie. There were a few moments when thedemon followed the young priest to his hotel at night, that were a bitcreepy in the good old style of horror... but that was all. The exorcism act scenes were embarrassing to watch, as they always are,if you are not a believer in such things. Also, we have seen the samethings happen in so many exorcism movies by now, that it is gettinghackneyed. It is not possible to vary this theme much. What still makes this movie fairly good are a) that we get to see some of the procedures that morticians use withdead bodies. This was interesting as it is something you very seldomare allowed to see b) that it addresses the issue about adult children's bad consciencefor not being there for their old parents. This is very common inreality too, and something many people can recognize c) the ending was _very_ good, when it turned out that the youngpriest, who in the beginning had been skeptic and even wanted to leavethe church, had really taken his vows (I presume..?), and had decidedto stay on and work as a Catholic priest after all. Stories about youngpeople developing and finding their place in the world are always nice- and important, somehow!
Steve Pulaski 12 May 2012
Boy, has the horror genre fallen victim to some duds in the lastdecade. Do a quick skim through the genre within the last few years,and you'll find all its been exposed to is exorcism films, sequels,remakes, torture porn, and b-movie slop. The Rite is another one of thefamed films based on exorcism, and it does almost nothing to boost thegenre up, and its only purpose is for high-schoolers to show theirdates so they can get really close and cuddle.Exorcism films haven't been done right since the seventies gem we allknow. Everyone since has been pretty much banking on its success, andjust overloading the screen with senseless chaos of a woman with longblack hair over her face running up the walls like a bat out of hell.While The Rite has none of that, surprisingly, it still manages to bean uneventful "horror" film even with the supernatural star AnthonyHopkins who just barely saves this film.The Rite is based on a true story about a seminary student namedMichael Kovak (O'Donoghue) who went to study exorcism at the Vatican.He is doubtful on his own faith, and the highly criticized practice ofexorcism. He meets the legendary Father Lucas (Hopkins) who guides himthrough the process, and soon, Kovak becomes a believer in thispractice.I don't feel like digging any deeper into a plot I wasn't really allthat concerned about. The first forty-five minutes is dull, andnoneventful. It's compiled of slow, Catholic dialog, a bunch ofbiblical lines, and an occasional fail of a jump scare. The PG-13rating doesn't even try to hide the fact this movie is nothing morethan an extremely toned down rehash of the original Exorcist filmbecause in this day and age, almost no horror film is good enough forR.When we finally get some action, around the fifty minute mark, it's thesame "devil-voice-in-a-human's-body" we've heard before. Maybe thiscould've been scary in 1984, but in 2011, this is about as hold as thegenre itself. There is no suspense anymore. Even if this is a truestory, which it is, it was probably a lot scarier in real life, than itcould ever be on film. We see blood come out of the mouth, variousyelling, the awkward steps on hardwood floor, the big speakershuttering bang followed by the dull, quiet, breathless noise. We getit all.Mikael Håfström, the director, was the camera-man for 1408 as well.That had the same creepy atmosphere this has, it just didn't goanywhere fast. I'd take 1408 over this any day, because at least thatwas taken in with a fresh manner.Anthony Hopkins, like I said, barely lifts this movie off the groundbefore it becomes unwatchable. After an hour, it completely lost myinterest. When you see a movie about exorcism, unless you love religionor believe in a practice like this, you're completely bored. I don'tbelieve in it. It's like all religion - a mind control. A senselessmind control for people who take every phrase of The Bible too literal,and jam it down each other's throats.The Rite does have an eerie atmosphere and a some good, darkcinematography, but that's it. This is not a horror film by any means.Nothing classifies this as scary. It's more of a suspense film, or aheavy drama. If this film hadn't marketed off of Anthony Hopkin's name,I can honestly say, it probably would've made about forty million less.Starring: Colin O'Donoghue, Anthony Hopkins. Directed by: MikaelHåfström.
sweety2011 11 May 2012
this film separates from other films about exorcism because it goesinto depth about real exorcisms through the observations of thejournalist Matt Baglio who wrote the book entitled The Rite: The Makingof a Modern Exorcist, and the experience based on that of Reverend GaryThomas. A novel that explores the misconceptions of what exorcism isabout, from disbelievers in demons/the devil, least of all inpossession by them, who takes a course at a Vatican university, one asrequested by his bishop, the other studying in journalism, and who bothchanged their view on exorcism altogether. however, just because theydid this doesn't mean one should make judgment against them in anegative way, because that's not what it's all about. nor is it aboutbelieving, or glorifying god. there've been many exorcisms in the past,and Baglio was present in over twenty of them. it's simply about astory of how these people came to believe in this evil taking the formof demonic possession. however despite this, it is rare to find a filmthat explores what real exorcism is like for priests dealing with them.how one interprets that is up to the individual to decide. often novelsare better than the film, but does that mean the film deserves a poorrating? certainly for this film, i believe not. it's really good forwhat it is.onto the film, it isn't a horror movie as much as it is suspense. it'sabout a young male, Michael Kovak (Colin O'Donoghue) who originallyenters a college for the education of the priesthood to get a freecollege degree. after his ordination, he writes a resignation letter tohis superior Father Matthew (Toby Jones) due to a lack of faith he hashad since childhood after the loss of his mother. however, FatherMatthew recommends he go to the Vatican City instead and take a coursein exorcism and that if he still wants to resign after that, he's freeto leave, despite Father Matthew believing the priesthood to beMichael's true calling after an experience he saw him in. in Rome,Michael meets a woman named Angelina (Alice Braga), who he later learnsis a reporter writing her piece on exorcism, as she believes in thesupernatural/demonic possession after the experience of her brother athis age of nineteen. Father Xavier (Ciarán Hinds) teaches the class,but upon seeing that Michael is a skeptic, tells Michael to see FatherLucas (Anthony Hopkins) to see if that will change his mind. FatherLucas has a demon-possessed young pregnant girl, a 16 yr old by thename of Rosaria (Marta Gastini), where it is later discovered that herfather raped her, and that it was the cause for the demon to possessher. that demon also takes shape of a mule. Father Lucas blames himselffor her later death, and suddenly the same demon who had killed Rosariaenters him. before this, mysterious things start happening, like theincident with the frogs. and the incident with the bracelet that keepscoming back to Michael. and the knowledge of a little boy aboutsomething that hadn't happened yet. there are flashbacks of Michael'slife with his father (Rutger Hauer) and a weird phone call Michael getsabout him. from then it's about whether he believes. throughout thefilm he doubts, as he tries to convince himself of an explanationbehind every situation he encounters.what perhaps some people would not like is that it feels as though themakers are more leaning towards it being real, and perhaps don'tapprove of the ending. Anthony Hopkins is great, but it's Marta Gastiniwho shines in her role. Colin does well for his role. i don't thinkthis is a film that will change one's mind in demonic possession norrestore faith/reconnect with the church, and it will certainly be adisappointment to people who love watching films about exorcists, butfor those who don't set expectations, perhaps their opinion about thisfilm will vary
Alvin A 10 May 2012
I enjoyed the story and I'm glad to see movies using special effect to tell a story rather than movies made to use special effects. Most of the negative reviewers went to see a special effects movie and obviously were not into things like multi-layered characters or story telling. It is a real spookey, horror story that doesn't move as fast as the movie The Exorcist but that does not slight either film. Anthony Hopkins was fasanating and had so many levels to his character and his role went from being a heartbroken priest to, well, Satan with an intensity that was truly frightening. And the other Priest presented a truly deep insight into human feelings and questions re the church, the supernatural vs. mental illness. This movies is a good horror film, suspenceful and edge of your seat. If they had thrown in a big handful Spielberg/Lucas type effects we'd be talking blockbuster. I'm glad they didn't. I rated this movie a little high to help counter the usual foolish reviewers who are writing reviews without seeing the movie based on their personal prejudices. Please think about doing what I do do and report such reviews as "abuse". I really care about the honest opinions of the public much more than most professional critics.
04 May 2012
This review is from: The Rite (DVD) This was perhaps one of the worst movies we have purchased. Not the content! It was impossible to see anything. We thought the filming was done in the complete dark. The audio was great, but the rest was nasty. We even returned the first cd thinking it had a flaw. Well, the second was not any better. Complete waste of money for a movie that was so hyped!The Rite
04 May 2012
Because you're mineAntony Hopkins was really possessed with playing the part. Colin O'Donoghue spends most of his time walking around looking confused. Alice Braga is too cute for the part and almost distracting from the spooky scenes.The story itself is just the old rehash of belief and disbelief. Of a coming of age story for many involved. Parts of the dialog are tongue-in -cheek as they make reference to the original exorcist movie. Lots of spooky ambiance and not an over done sound track. It is the acting and actors that give the good rating to this presentation. Remember the possession is nine tenths of the law.
Atlas007 01 May 2012
Simply put, the movie, based on true events, depicts Catholic Exorcismsin which shows the Church fighting evil rather than showing theCatholic Church as being evil. It's no wonder it got poor reviews fromthe Left wing media and non believing reviewers. They love to show theChurch as evil and that God does not exist. It is a wake up call tothem, knowing that this story is based on a true story of good versusevil with the Catholic as the good.The acting was very good headed by Anthony Hopkins who always does apremium acting job in everything he does. See it...you won't be sorry!
Ben Brown 01 May 2012
The movie centres on Michael Kovak (O'Donoghue) who works with hisfather in the family business as a mortician, but decides to attendseminary school and become a priest as per family tradition. During histime at the school, he suffers a crisis of faith and resigns hisposition, but after witnessing a fatal car crash and Kovak giving ablessing to a dying woman, his head teacher sends him to Rome to studyexorcism, under the tutelage of Father Xavier (Hinds). When heconstantly doubts the methods and facts surrounding exorcism, Kovak issent to see Father Lucas (Hopkins), who shows him exorcism from a morepractical perspective which makes Kovak question his beliefs and whatis indeed real.The first half of the film explores Kovak's struggle. The movie isquick to establish Kovak as a man in conflict, struggling with thedecision to work at his family's mortuary business or to become apriest (which is stated in the movie as being the two jobs their familydoes), but it is his character's doubts about his own beliefs thatprovide the central theme through not only this part of the movie, butthe entire movie in general. The pacing of this part of the movie andthe development of O'Donoghue's character moved a bit too slowly for meand most of the scenes showed Kovak arguing with his teacher duringclasses. The film however picks up when Anthony Hopkins' charactermakes his appearance and Kovak begins to see exorcism in practise. The second half of the film follows Lucas, with Kovak in tow, as heconducts exorcism sessions. Despite several instances where thesupposed possessed person does and says things they can't possibly knowor do, Kovak remains the doubter even when he begins to experiencestrange phenomena himself. The finale is one of the best parts of thefilm, where Kovak must put aside his doubts if he is to save a friend.O'Donoghue's character is developed a bit more in the second half buthe was still a bit bland in comparison to Hopkins, whose characterdevelops nicely and was much more interesting, providing the audiencewith a creepy performance reminiscent of Hannibal Lecter. The scenes and dialogue between Hopkins and O'Donoghue are brilliantlywritten, with O'Donoghue constantly questioning exorcism practises andHopkins delivering a calm and logical response from the religiousperspective. O'Donoghue himself provided some excellent counterarguments based on science and medical fact and it is this battle ofbeliefs between Hopkins and O'Donoghue that provide the bestentertainment. The mood of the whole film is very sombre. Most scenes are shot eitherat night or are very dark and dismal. The film also draws on usingdream and hallucination sequences to add that surreal element and theuse of close-ups showing the demonic presence in victims were also verywell done. OVERALL The Rite is a good film that can sit proudly as one of thebetter films about exorcism. Anthony Hopkins once again delivers astellar performance in one of his better roles in years. Although themovie starts slowly, the tension builds right through to a fantasticfinale and may even make the watcher ask themselves what they trulybelieve. A definite watch.
01 May 2012
This review is from: The Rite (DVD) Mi esposa y yo siempre hacemos un intermediodespues de 45-50 minutos de pelicula.Sin embargo, esta pelicula nos capto laatencion desde el inicio ...Aun, comienza un poco lento ... pero yadespues se convierte en muy intrigantever el desarollo del cuento ...El actor principal es de mis favoritos y aqui se destaca.
Awais Agha 01 May 2012
After a long time I saw such a movie generating such a deep detailsabout exorcism, I admit I have been a very big fan of exorcism films,and I like them. This has nothing to do with religion or some spiritualinset. I just feel that these films are better made than else horrorfilms and apart, demonic possession is not a lie. It exists.The moment when Father Kovek was exorcising Father Lucas, the belief hegrew and stuck and defeated "Ba'al" was the belief he grew in God. Iwas totally involved that moment even if I had delusions before. Iadmit, this film is more than being perfect. It has been made soperfect, so admirable and as I read on IMDb message board, that Hopkinsis Hopkins, yes he did an outstanding performance.This is a worth seeing film, i have been watching so much horror films,and I still say that "the exorcism of Emily rose" was the mosthorrifying and master-piece, and after that the exorcist series, butthis film has created its place in that list.I recommend this film to all to see it, it is absolute perfection.There might be flaws, as I didn't notice them but flaws can beneglected too.
ptb-8 30 April 2012
This abysmal Catholic Church propaganda is a sham horror film: it isjust religious babble pretending to be a horror film... and I warn youagainst spending any money seeing this hoax. Tedious no-scarepsychobabble with expensive star does not make a proper exorcism film.It is actually laughable, and the biggest scare is when a kitten leapsat a window. About half way thru you realize this is either going toget going well or just plateau... well guess which: THE (tedious) RITEis nothing of the sort and just because it is well shot and has goodproduction values, it is still a con, pretending to get horror buffsinto the cinema and then giving them a lecture on God. It is dishonestand a dull film with dull young actors and one main star who must justlaugh at these scripts he then walks through and collects $5m. What adisgrace.
CanadianViewer 29 April 2012
I must say "drea_me_3000" has made an excellent review but hiscomparison with the "black Swan lesbian sex scene" make me feel like hedefinitely missed the rhythm that this scene has created while savingto break that loop because she "the white swan" absorbed the passionthat was created by her trainer to deliver in her presentation and itwas the point where a hidden evil finds a physical way to get into hermind to unlock her depressed timely demands related to her mental andphysical needs. Anyway, The Rite is one of an excellent horror moviethat helps me more to satisfy my inner self that was stuck intojuggling type of horror movies. However, the film casting was good andthey did a good job, the script was fairly written, the cinematographywas good, but The Rite delivers The Right exorcism film that is indeeda worth seeing.