Michael Kovak (Colin O’Donoghue) is looking to get away from home and the business of his father, a mortuary. Thinking he can just run away, Michael joins a seminary school. After his schooling is over, Michael writers a letter to father Matthew for resignation, but instead he is asked to attend a class on exorcism in order to be absolved from his school loans. Michael reluctantly accepts and quickly lands in Rome. After Father Xavier (Ciarán Hinds) realized that Michael isn’t a believer he decides to send him to Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins), a Welsh Jesuit exorcist, but what Michael doesn’t realize is that he is about to see something that will shake his very foundation.
When I think about Anthony Hopkins in a movie, I often associate him with a horror film. He has always had this ability to portray creepy roles without a problem as if he was born to play them. He is a well-versed actor that regarding the role he’ll always give his best. I think some of the criticism the film received was either too harsh or just plain biased. It just seems that everyone went in expecting a horror film, hence why I mentioned Hopkins is almost a synonym of creepiness in films, but in reality the film is not horror.
I can’t tell you that I completely liked the film, I also can’t say I disliked it, let’s just say I found it interesting. The film is based on a book by Matt Baglio, The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist, and it loosely tells the experiences of Baglio when he investigated exorcism. In a world where religion and discussions about religion are often passionate and quickly get under fire, The Rite covers a very delicate subject, exorcism. The film does have a few scares and suspenseful moments in the first half of the film, but somehow it just goes downhill after that.
Anthony Hopkins is perhaps the best actor in this entire movie and that’s probably saying a lot of the rest of the cast. O’Donoghue never truly did anything with his character. The same look that we see him with in the very first scene he appears it is the same pale look we see throughout. There are no other expressions and no surprises from O’Donoghue, which is a shame. At the end of it all, many expect a horror film but is far from that since it’s predictable and the scares are too far apart and only very few in numbers.
The Rite arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p MPEG4-AVC encode framed at 2.40:1. The transfer looks great for a very dark film. The image is clear with colors appearing very natural. Black levels are deep and well reproduced throughout. Detailing is excellent throughout whether day or nighttime scenes the picture boasts good amount of details. The best part is the darker scenes do not overwhelm the picture details. There is a thin layer of grain to make the picture look gritty. There are no signs of any anomalies. The Rite looks good on Blu-ray.
The Rite arrives on Blu-ray with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio lossless track. Whether the film met expectations or not, Warner’s audio presentation is excellent. Dialog is clean and crisp. The surrounds help create a creepy soundstage. When the girl begins to talk with the creepy voice viewers will feel immersed as the sounds spread out taking advantage of the space. The bass also does a good job providing adequate support in creating a creepy environment. For what it is, the mix presented in The Rite sounds excellent.
The Rite: Soldier of God – Father Gary Thomas talks about some of his experiences as an exorcist. He also talks about the training received, where they train modern day exorcist, etc. Interesting piece except is way too short.
Alternate Ending – Nothing chilling about this ending.
Deleted Scenes
I have to admit that I was intrigued by the premise of the movie. I like Hopkins and the creepy roles he is always getting, however, The Rite just didn’t seem to fully satisfy. For the first part of the film I can say there’s some scares and thrills, but somewhere in the middle the writing just goes bland. It certainly didn’t help that the cast was bland as well. At the end of it all, The Rite was not a very good horror movie if that is what the filmmakers were intending. The Blu-ray looks and sounds great, so in that department Warner didn’t let down. I would probably recommend a rental at the very least.
