The Rite: Wrong in so many ways

When Michael, a Catholic priest in training, begins to question his faith, he is sent to The Vatican in order to attend a special class on exorcism being taught by the church. Once there he is introduce to Father Lucas, a man intent upon showing Michael the true power of the devil.

The "exorcism" film really begins and ends with the classic which started the entire sub-genre, The Exorcist. In that respect, it is hard for any new film which deals with the same subject to match or even surpass what most people consider to be one of the best (and scariest) films of all time. The Rite had a chance to at least match The Exorcist due to its seemingly compelling storyline as well as the acting prowess of its star, Sir Anthony Hopkins, however it falied to be anything more than a substandard by-the-numbers supernatural thriller which did not even thrill. The story of Michael was never interesting enough to follow or take seriously, this was due to the pedestrian acting of Colin O' Donoghue (who played Michael) as well as the second-rate directing by Mikael Hafstrom, who simply recycled all of those ideas and plot points from films like The Exorcist and failed to introduce anything fresh or exciting to the sub-genre. Perhaps the most disappointing part of the movie was the performance of Hopkins for it felt like he channeled Hannibal Lector for half of his time on screen. His act got so tawdry at points that the audience could not help but feel as if the man who made fava beans famous was in the film for nothing more than a nice paycheck.

The Rite was wrong in so many ways that it never came close to being half as good as the movie it was trying to imitate.

Grade: D

The Unborn: Creepy kids and a beautiful lead don't always make for a good film.

In The Unborn a young woman named Casey starts having bizarre dreams. In them, she is haunted by a creepy little boy and other weird creatures and images she does not quite understand. As she tries to discover the reasons for her restless nights she uncovers a hidden family secret that could forever alter her future.

Writer/Director David Goyer's tried to build the film around a believable/sympathetic character in Casey (played by Odette Yustman) and a religious myth in the "dybbak" which was haunting her dreams. Toss in some Nazis (yes, I said Nazis) and an exorcism and the film would seem to take of itself right? Well, not really. The rest of the characters were little more than humdrum by-the-numbers stereotypes one would expect to see in a film like this that failed to do anything but take up space (or be victims). Goyer also forgot to make the story original or even halfway interesting. Plot lines that should have been explored further were jettisoned in favor of more shots of Yustman in her underwear (not that most men would complain) or of her trying to convince people she was not going crazy. If he really wanted to blow an audience away, Goyer should have focused more upon developing those supernatural elements he had in the film instead of using them as nothing more than a crutch to prop up lame action sequences that seemed out of place, such as the ending.

Unfortunately, his attempt to make a new Exorcist for the 21st century failed to consistently deliver the thrills or chills one might have expected in a supernatural thriller, and The Unborn failed to be anything more than a half - realized attempt at supernatural chicanery.

Grade: D+