Not sure if I have the title exactly right but the previews for this movie look pretty good. It is based on a true story which makes this flick even more interesting. I hope it's not like the Amityville Horror though and end up being based on more (if not all) fiction than fact. The previews state the Roman Catholic Church got involved once they recognized the 19 yr old girl was possessed so if that's fact then odds are this indeed is based on a true story. Has anyone heard of this possession case before by chance? Some of the scenes look creepy and knowing that sort of stuff (or something close to it) actually happened is enough to give you nightmares. :yike:

A good flick to watch on the big screen that's for sure. With the speed movies hit DVD these days and my track record for not getting to flicks as planned I won't say I'm planning to see but rather hoping.

I looked this movie up last night and they didn't give enough information to identify the case. Itlooks like the movie is about the manslaughter trial of the Priest, because the girl died, with the majority of the movie being flashbacks to the girl and her life. It does sound like it has the potential to be a good movie. It's quite possible that it is based on a real case, though getting the Roman Catholic Church to officially confirm or deny would most likly be an exercise in futility.

I agree it's not likely the Roman Catholic Church will officially confirm anything but it was interesting that a comment is made during the preview that they recognized the girl was possessed and became involved with exorcism. I didn't realize that she died and a Priest went on trial as a result as the previews I've seen didn't show that. Time will tell if the movie is worth seeing but the story itself sure sounds interesting. Wonder if there was a book written as well? Unless it has the same or similar title as the movie it may not come up in a search but I'll give it a go just the same. =)

I did some searching around and although I still don't know if there is a book written (now that I have her real name I can further my search) I did find some interesting facts on the case.

Her real name was Anneliese Michel, she died of starvation on July 1, 1976. She lived in Germany and attended the University of Wurzubrg. Her parents along with the priest were charge with manslaughter for their involvement with her death. She lived a normal life until in 1968 she began to shake violently unable to control her body, doctors determined it was 'Grand Mal' epilepsy. When she began to behave very strangely, became violent and did acts of self-mutilation her parents turned to the church for help. Their requests for an exorcism were refused repeatedly. Her behaviour worsened and finally in 1975 after making a verification of possession the Bishop of Wurzburg assigned a Priest and a Pastor to perform 'The Great Exorcism" "Ritual Romanum". Two sessions a week were held from Sept 75 - July 76 (she died the 1st of July). Apparently there are tape recordings of a strange dialouge between two demons which all that witnessed it have verified. One of the demons called himself Hitler. After the parents and the Priest were charged with her death a commission of the German Bishop-conference declared she was not possessed. An interesting extra tid-bit read was in 1999 after 10 yrs of editing a new version of the "Ritual Romanum" was presented to journalist in Vatican City.

Some of the reviews I've read have been both good and not so good (like most movies) and as you noted Renee it deals with the legal side of this case giving scenes of what happened vs exploring this case from it's start. Makes you wonder if all that happened with this girl was the result of something supernatural occurring or if she was not properly diagnosed and treated medicaly from the start or was there a little of both? I'm not sure if I believe in possession but a dark entity influencing the thoughts of a weakened or already psychotic mind is another story. After reading the bits I had I'm most curious to see the movie, even if it only has a few jolting scenes in it.

However did you find all that? When I looked it up yesterday all's I got was info about the movie, after 2 pages of google movie results I gave up. The real life case does follow what I've read about exorcism. It is necessary to recieve permission from diocesan bishop or the exorcism cannot procede. Thorough medical evaluation, and yes, the possesed has been know to die, the priest as well, in fact on occasion the priest has become possesed. The movie The Exorcist is actually not that far off the mark, which makes sense considering that it too was based on a real exorcism and one of the actors was/is a priest. This movie might be worth a watch. I'll have to wait and see though, if it's too creepy I'll wait for the DVD. I'd look funny bringing my Teddy Bear into the movie theatre.

As for believing, well, if there truly is such a thing as demonic possesion I don't want to know about it for sure and I really don't want to ever see it. That said, I do have Malachi Martin's "Hostage to the Devil" -which also has a ciopy of the ritual, but probably not the edited one-and I do believe that the author and all the subjects interviewed in the book had no doubts about it. I can't say that it was an enjoyable read being that the subject deals with the most disgusting evil, it actually makes my sking crawl, but it is informative.

[ September 10, 2005, 11:47 PM: Message edited by: Renee ]

Hello Ladies!

John and I want to see this movie. The previews that we've seen so far look pretty good. Cat, good detective work! I also tried to get more info, and like Renee, the only thing that I came up with was the movie site itself.

The info you found Cat is great! It does make you wonder if this poor girl was truly possesed or misdiagnosed. It's kind of scary to think that it could have been the latter and she suffered for something that maybe over time could have been controlled. Gives me the shivers! We'll definitely be catching it in the theatre. Ooo I hope it's a good one!!

I found a cpl of links with info on the true story of Anneliese (aka Emily) while viewing comments about the movie. When I googled her name today I see there are quite a few sites that give info. In reading through a few of those I found they are very similar (sometimes almost exact) in content but it's informative and thought provoking.

I listed some of the key facts I initialy found and those in addition to some descriptions of her behaviour read today does indeed sound like other report possessions. For example she was reported to be only 68lbs when she died at 23 yet she still had the strength to perform over 500 deep knee bends daily right up to the time of her death. Astonishing when you consider the severly weakened state a body becomes when it is malnourished to the point of starvation. One fact I find interesting and makes me wonder if she opened herself to possesssion was the devilish grimaces she saw during daily prayers soon after the shaking started. It's reported she believed from the start of seeing these that she was possessed, so did believing so intently that it's happening allow a dark entity to gain further control? When I say I'm not sure I believe in possession it's not that I don't believe a person can become influenced by a dark entity just that I'm not certain an entity can take over full control like that without your permission? Not that anybody would willingly allow this to happen but they inadvertenly open the door so to speak. Be it through believing it's happening or due to a weakened state of mind or internal thoughts the negative influence of a dark evil entity starts to take over reaching the point of possession. If possession can occur without a person allowing it (again unknowingly) why doesn't it happen more frequently then? I'm with you Renee I really don't want to know for sure nor do I ever want to see it.

I'm unable to copy/paste (puter prob) or I'd provide the links but here are a few of the site names of many I found with interesting info: moviesonline, fotofetch, paranormal.about, Time. =)

I went to see this tonight. It wasn't bad, not great, but I thought it was okay. My date on the other hand said and I quote "this proves my devotion to you" =P We decided on a C rating for it. The storyline was pretty interesting although perhaps because I knew a bit about it before seeing it I found it more interesting than someone who went in knowing nothing. I'm sure this will help no one in deciding whether or not to see it however just wanted to tell everyone it is simply okay. Word to the wise, if you are looking for the big scare this isn't the movie that will do it. There are some parts that are at best disturbing however nothing outright scary. However I have seen The Exorcist so maybe that colors my judgement of it. If anyone else goes to see it tell me what you thought of it.

Thanks Mirand =) I'm glad to finally hear from somebody who's seen it. I was hoping that it wasn't a slasher scary sort of thing, so that part is good for me.