Horror rites of passage

REFERENCING ‘spinning heads and pea soup’ is as good a way as any to get your exorcism movie compared with The Exorcist (1973), and while The Rite (US/16/113 mins) is no horror classic, it’s a solid retread of its more illustrious predecessor.

Struggling with a lack of faith, seminarian Michael Kovak (Colin O’Donoghue) is sent to Rome to take a course in the rite of exorcism. His scepticism earns him a visit to legendary exorcist Fr Lucas (Anthony Hopkins), with whom Michael debates the reality or otherwise of the Devil as the pair encounter a number of people who may or may not be suffering demonic possession.

Director Mikael Håfström largely succeeds in blending a psychological study with a cerebral thriller, even if few of the plot twists are hugely surprising. Most shocking of all is that O’Donoghue proves the scene-stealer in brooding intensity when going head-to-head with Hopkins.