The Secrets of Emily Blair

I am an enormous fan of movies about possession, films about possessed young ladies and exorcism are, for some reason my thing.

I hated this movie, I finished it, but barely, it annoyed and disappointed me at the same time. The reason I titled this review "YOu will not like this movie," is that it seems reasonable that if I don't like this one, you won't either.

The first half of the movie wasn't too bad but after that it just spiraled into oblivion and you just wanted the film to finish quickly. I got the impression that they may have run out of budget and hence the choppy dialogues and scenes at the end.

Ellen Hollman was the better actor but Will Kemp's acting (her fiancé) was sub par. It's a shame that Ellen Hollman couldn't lift up the whole film with just her acting alone which I thought was good. It was weighed down by the bad scripting and acting from the other cast.

I would watch the first half of the movie with some interest but the second half, just let it run it's course while you are having dinner or chatting with friends.

Besides the bad acting from a few of the actors, the movie was "eh." It started off like any normal horror flick with a few intense sequences and creepy camera angles. But after about 25 minutes, you just stop caring about the characters. They don't react the way a normal person in their situation would and it was kind of annoying.

You know those movies where you expect someone to react in a way and they do the complete opposite? That's kind of how this movie was; just OK.

The makeup team did a great job with the character Emily; she didn't look like the same person by the end of the film.

Overall, this movie could have been a lot better if they worked with the story a little more and had better direction given to the main actor and priest. Other than that, Emily's character was done well.

I must admit, I had zero expectations from this one. Another exorcism film, sadly (or better yet ridiculously) trying to live up to The Exorcism of Emily Rose (I mean come on, even her name). Many such attempts have failed in the past few years, and all I wanted was to enjoy an exorcism film I haven't yet seen, in hopes that it wouldn't bring the level down too much. I'm happy to say I've been very pleasantly surprised!

The film starts as one might have expected. Nothing remotely innovative, original, or impressive. A cookie cutter story of a kindhearted nurse becoming possessed. I was a little annoyed that they cast an eye-candy-and-nothing-more, and half-expected her to do very poorly. My sincere apologies to Hellen Hollman for that terrible misconception, as nothing could have been farther from the truth. After all the possessed women we've seen on screen, she still managed to be impressive, both as Emily and her "demon-self".

On that matter, while the story felt slightly forced and in no way compelling, the cast made everything right. First of all, seeing Colm Meaney as a priest about to perform his first exorcism in a Horror film? Nothing less than a treat! Not his best performance ever, but not at all below standards (and high ones for that matter). Will Kemp and Adrian Paul were excellent as well as concerned fiancée William and former priest Henry Roizman respectively.

In addition, while I didn't so much like the way they designed the demon itself, displaying the way Emily attempts to fight it is one of the two sole original features in this film (and a great idea). The second being, of course, the ending (which lacks any impressive or special characteristics, as Horror endings often do, but is original to some extent in its own way - you'll realize when you get to it).

All in all, surprisingly good and well-made, and another Horror film poorly judged by IMDb ratings. Honestly, take my word for it and never trust this site's ratings or reviews (present company in no way excluded). If the trailer and plot synopsis (or cover photo, or cast, or crew, or any manner by which you choose what to watch) appeal to you - watch it. If they don't - don't. However, I would certainly give The Secrets of Emily Blair a chance. I'm sure glad I did.

You might think 'oh no, not another delve into the exorcism genre' when you read the synopsis to this movie. However, rein your demons, because "The Secrets of Emily Blair" actually turned out to be surprisingly entertaining, despite it being yet another exorcism movie.

And true, while "The Secrets of Emily Blair" wasn't outstanding, it was still a movie that proved to be entertaining and worthwhile to watch, especially if you enjoy horror and the exorcism sub-genre.

The story told in the movie is about a bride-to-be who becomes possessed by a wicked demonic entity, and the groom-to-be seeks assistance from his childhood priest to rid his fiancée of this otherworldly evil.

Right, fairly straight forward and generic, I will agree with you on that. Yes, what you see here is hardly new or innovating to the genre, but director Joseph P. Genier still managed to put together a rather enjoyable movie.

The acting in the movie was so-so, just don't except any grand Shakespearian thespian experience here, because that will leave you sorely disappointed. It was a nice surprise to see Larry Drake in the movie, mind you he has only a very small role. I haven't seen him in ages.

It is important for a horror / thriller movie to have proper special effects and CGI effects in order to be believable and entertaining, and "The Secrets of Emily Blair" does not fail to deliver. The effects were quite good here, and definitely served their purpose quite well. For a movie of this caliber, then I was more than pleased with what I saw on the screen.

However, I had expected more in the scare department from this movie, so that I was a little bit disappointed that there wasn't much of that around. But then again, this is labeled as a thriller, not as a horror movie.

If you enjoy a good supernatural possession and exorcism movie, then you should take the time to sit down and watch "The Secrets of Emily Blair". I did, and I was more than pleasantly surprised with it, and it certainly was an entertaining movie.

"The Secrets of Emily Blair" scores a solid six out of ten stars rating from me.