German exorcism served as inspiration for 'Emily Rose' movie

Published: 2005-09-09

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The movie "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" retains just a few of the characteristics of the real-life 29-year-old German exorcism case that inspired it. Among the few similarities between "Emily Rose" and its German inspiration are: the exorcism -- in the German case, a months-long exorcism -- failed to achieve the intended effect; the young woman who was the focus of the exorcism wasted away and ultimately died -- the German woman, Anneliese Michel, weighed only 68 pounds at the time of her death; and the priest -- or, in the German case, priests -- was put on trial for having contributed to the girl's death and was found guilty. Other incidentals common to the real and the fictive exorcisms include the use of a tape recorder to record what took place, but the trial in the movie was not based on the German trial, according to director Scott Derrickson, who co-wrote the movie with Paul Harris Boardman. The German exorcism took place in 1976 in Klingenberg, a town of about 6,300 that is less than 50 miles from Frankfurt.

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