This movie, directed by Scott Derrickson (“The Day the Earth Stood Still”, (2008)), is another in the long line of “Based on a True Story” horror movies (a couple others that come to mind ar “The Amityville Horror” and “A Haunting in Connecticut”) which, while telling a provocative story, loses out to other masters of horror that have done it before, and much better than he has.

This film is based upon the story of a young girl that was killed shortly after having received an exorcism from a priest (Tom Wilkinson) and the subsequent trial and investigation into the death thereafter. The movie is mostly told in flashbacks, a plot device that, while good for stitching together a storyline, can easily leave the viewer confused in a muddled storyline that leaves you caring less about the characters and more about where the hell in the timeline the flick is currently in.

Interesting fact from our friends at Crackle.Com about this flick:

Just like in the movie, those charged were found guilty (although the sentencing played out differently) and there was indeed a tape made of one of the exorcisms, which, for the morbidly curious, is available here. It’s long, and in German, but creepy none the less. Also, Dr. Richard Roth, a medical doctor who attended one of the exorcisms, implied that he thought there was an evil presence involved, but in reality he did not meet the business end of a Buick. Of course the exorcism and trial became internationally famous and even wound up as lyrical fodder for Johnny Rotten’s band, Public Image Limited, and their song Annalisa.

For however real or not real this story is, if you like your horror mixed with a little police procedural with a tinge of courtroom drama. Check it out!