6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
An American seminary student travels to Italy to take an exorcism course.
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Colin O'Donoghue, Alice Braga, Ciarán Hinds, Toby JonesThriller | 100% |
Horror | 93% |
Supernatural | 44% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy (on disc)
DVD copy
BD-Live
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Horror films with taglines like "what follows is inspired by true events" should be relegated to a genre all their own. Whenever "based on a true story" flickers across the screen accompanied by unsettling atmospheric music, it ceases to matter whether the frightfest that's about to unfold is really based on actual events or not. True-event taglines have become little more than a cheap gimmick; a stab at scaring savvy genre audiences who might not tremble if skepticism runs too rampant. God forbid a filmmaker invest his efforts in making a horror film... I don't know, horrifying. Oh, The Rite has chills and startles aplenty, some more effective than others. But in an effort to de-sensationalize a mysterious practice Hollywood has obsessed over since Linda Blair's head first spun some thirty-eight years ago, director Mikael Håfström and screenwriter Michael Petroni fail to stir up any real scares. At least none that resonate or linger after The Rite has run its serviceable supernatural course.
With shadows draped across every weary brow and darkness mounting an assault on every corner, The Rite's 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer could have been an impenetrable presentation. Yet aside from a fair amount of crush, the image doesn't suffer for Håfström's bleakest sins. Skintones are lifelike and well-saturated, primaries exude real-world confidence, and black levels are deep and foreboding. Detail is thoroughly satisfying as well, even though some filmic softness and some less-than-sophisticated CG effects serve as occasional distractions. Textures aren't always razor sharp but they are quite rewarding, edge definition is crisp and clean (without the use of any unsightly edge enhancement) and delineation is as proficient as can be expected from a film of its ilk. Moreover, Warner's technical encode excels. Brief surges of unobtrusive noise and minor banding aside, compression anomalies, severe ringing, aliasing, smearing and other issues are nowhere to be found. All things considered, The Rite is a horror-lovin' videophile's answer to prayer.
The Rite's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track raises Hell, the dead and everything in between. Whether Michael is pushing through the crowded streets of Rome, sitting in the center of a vast Vatican auditorium, listening to the tortured screams of the possessed, quietly conversing with Father Lucas in private, or recoiling as an unholy evil abuses its helpless victim in a small, dusty upper room, Warner's mix never relents. Rear speaker activity is incredibly involving and perfectly immersive, and startling directional effects, arresting ambience, eerily transparent pans and enveloping acoustics lend each locale frightening atmosphere and a convincing sense of space. The LFE channel matches the soundfield's precision with raw power, granting the film's spine-bending exorcisms, hell-born chaos and skin-crawling score legitimate heft and presence. Dialogue isn't nearly as impeccable -- a handful of lines are overwhelmed in the ensuing supernatural madness -- but it remains crisp, intelligible and smartly prioritized on the whole. Ultimately, I expected The Rite's exorcisms to impress; I just didn't expect the entire experience to so readily and effortlessly draw me in.
The Rite materializes on Blu-ray without any substantial supplements to its name. A brief featurette, an alternate ending and a handful of deleted scenes are a welcome addition, but a Maximum Movie Mode, production documentary or other more significant special features would have gone a long way.
The Rite is yet another valiant but half-hearted attempt to scare modern viewers as badly as The Exorcist scared audiences in the early '70s. It fails in many regards, despite offering a pair of solid performances, a somewhat unique twist on a tired cinematic tale, and some of the best exorcism sequences to grace a PG-13 film. But it still has enough to offer genre fans to make for a decent rainy day rental. Warner's Blu-ray release is more satisfying, but only in part. While it boasts a strong video transfer and excellent DTS-HD Master Audio mix, its supplemental package is a 22-minute disappointment. Some will undoubtedly enjoy The Rite more than I did. Others will be happy they relied on their Netflix queue or turned to their local Red Box kiosk.
2012
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Unrated
2008
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1976
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Unrated Edition
2008
Unrated
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2009
50th Anniversary Edition
1973