Hollywood to tarnish the story of Anneliese Michel?

Just about every website that has anything to do with film news is covering the story of the new cast members for the movie The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel. However not everyone is focusing on the possible storyline based on true events.

You’d think from the title we’re talking about an Exorcist type movie, and you’d be right. Oh…ermmm…well not that intriguing after all…but wait.

This 22-year-old woman was a student at the University of W√جø¬Ωrzburg and in the late 1 970s exhibited symptoms — including spasms, writhing, speaking in devilish tongues — construed by her devout Catholic family as diabolic possession. The archbishop of W√جø¬Ωrzburg concurred with their diagnosis and entrusted two priests to perform the Exorcism from the 17th-century Rituale Romanum. To the embarrassment of the church, the victim died of starvation during the procedures, for the exorcists had added the discipline of fasting to the other means of driving out the demons. Insult was added to embarrassment when the district attorney’s investigation and a trial found the two priests guilty of negligent manslaughter.

There are many places around the Interweb that carry details of this story, but it’s hard to find ones that match or that take a common view. That paragraph, taken from The Institute for Psychological Therapies is the only decent reference I could find.

However, this does show that the events of this poor girls death make a compelling story however you look at it, but the movie treatment seems to leave a lot to be desired. As the rather worrying plot summary shows at IMDB:

A bitter and repressed single lawyer (Laura Linney) takes on the church and the state when she fights for the life of a priest who performed a deadly exorcism on a young woman. Linney must battle the cocky state lawyer as well as her own lonliness, as she realizes that her career so far has not fulfilled her, nor is she happy in her job on a day to day basis.

Ah, wonderful. I really do hope that this isn’t the real plot. Firstly belittling such an important story focusing on the performance of bitter lawyer and her own problems is far from the controversial story that this really was. I mean this brought two worlds clashing together, that of the Church and the Law, and without relying too much on clever puns, the Law won.

I really do hope they investigate what happened to the poor girl, did the Church kill her with their over zealous and antiquated practices when she was suffering from a curable or at least controllable mental illness. Or was she truly the victim of a demonic possession, abandoned by science and her memory and family destroyed by our modern practices we call Justice? Please, let the film show some intelligence and take us to those questions.

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250 thoughts on “Hollywood to tarnish the story of Anneliese Michel?

  1. when it comes down to it, the question we must ask is “are demons real?” well, yes, in my ooinion they are. look at the world. look at all the bad. bad is influenced by man himself, but we are created by something of a higher power. if you can belive that, then you must belive that there was an angel named Lucifer. If you believe in that, then you know that becasue he was cast down into the lake of fire then it’s only sensible that he wants revenge on the person who sent him there. the hollywood movie “the excorsism of emily rose” isn’t even close to what actual possesion truly is. demons dont often posess people and when they do, it’s becasuse they are full of hatred. They could anyday posses me or you becasue they hate us all. actual posession is kind of likle a human transforming into a demon because that demon is working through the person. we all choose whther or not we are possesed. if you do things like practive whichcraft and rebuke the lord and stuff like that, it makes it more easier for a demon to possess you. put it this way: is a demon going to want to inhabit a clean soul? So don’t worry about possesion. Just change your lives around. if you do that for the better, there’s nothing to worry about.

  2. It saddens me that in this day and age there are those of you that would still see people with serious mental disorders diagnosed as “Possessed”, that’s just great, maybe we can bring back stoning women for infidelity and drowning people to see if they are witches …

    … It’s 2005 not 1386 FFS

  3. You all have your beliefs, here is mine.

    Call me scientific but there are no such things as demons, ghosts, god, virgin mary, jesus, satan. Religion is the cause of most if not all wars, we are monkeys. period

  4. i do agree tt each 1 of us shld be subjected to our own opinions instead of swearing abt becos it gets u nowhere..but to those in this discussion rorum..can any1 of u exp why would a real case of demon possession which was assessed n investigated by a couple of investigators n pyschologists be proven to be true?

    u may consider viewing e link http://maxpages.com/mapit/THE_ENTITY_CASE

    certainly those professionals were not mentally unsound or people who believed in things as such but after so many of them in e investigation team witness 1st hand wat happened..they were stunned n could not offer any form of explanation..i feel tt watever 1’s opinion may be it is wrong to negate e other possibility..to me..iit seems tt anneliese might be suffering frm seizures n maybe a form of mental disorder but i felt tt dis could maybe make her vulnerable to other demons possessing her body..if u reli read up her article u would have noticed dis fact tt those who were present at e exorcism ritual including anneliese’s family did not ever haf a doubt tt she was’nt ..so wat made them so convinced? i myself witness a lot of superatural happenings including seeing people getting slained in church..so if u r interested to noe more can contact me at [email protected]

  5. I believe that everything is possible. I also believe not everything is to be explained or proved.

    Psycholog isnt even proof to an illness. Men created diseases and named them. This doenst make it a fact.

    For the people who believe in god is just as crazy as believing that shizofrania is a illness.

    whats sane, whats insane? Those are just words made up by us people.

    We humans have to be able to explain everything to understand. But why are we trying that…

    Its all about HOPE!

    if she was possessed then she wouldnt be ill and if she was ill, demonic possosion doesnt exist.

    It comes down to, keeping an opend mind for everything, cus we just dont know. So why try explain everything.

  6. well the movie was all around great and every thing but its crap that people put Annelises family through that again and the movie is incorrect to its crap thats wat it is people i think they should go appolagise to the family

  7. okay i left a comment a couple of minutes ago and decided to go scrolling through the comments. im very ….ed at some people who are convinced that demons arnt real. and to those of you who are just sayng posession is real for attention, then get a life. ive been posessed for four years and its no walk in the park. annaliese micheal’s story is REAL and so is mine! anyone whos been posessed would be ….in ….ed at the lameness on this site. anyone who has been posessed [REALLY TRULY POESSESED] then feel free to contact me but if not then stay the hell away

    Anonoymous…

  8. to wideeye:

    The most common cause of seizures is hereditary. To imply that most seizures are self inflicted, so the people who have them deserve it, reveals you to be the worst kind of idiot. My father and my maternal grandfather both had seizure disorders. (A siezure disorder is anyone who has had seizures, but is distinguishable from epilepsy in that they disorder can go away or be outgrown.) Both my pops and my grandfather had sizures as little boys but outgrew them as adults. I also suffered from a seizure disorder. I had staticus epilepticus, my seizures lasted for over 8 hours. The doctors were convinced i would die or be a vegetable. they have all but admitted that they still don’t know how or why i turned out fine. The doctor designated to oversee my case is one of the top neurologists in the nation. One thing I think it is important to remember when talking about seizures is that even the best scientif and medical experts in the world basically don’t know shit when it comes to seizures, epilepsy, or anything having to do with the brain for that matter. the brain is so complex that we have not yet even scratched the surface of knowledge. understanding seizures has become a little pet obsession of mine, and i will say that, to my knowledge, seizures do not cause psychotic behavior. That belief is medieval in it’s ignorance. If the depiction of this girls actions is at all accurate, i must say i side with the priests over the scientists, because what she has cannot, by any means, be definitively pinned down to epilepsy.

  9. I say this to you, I have looked the devil in the face more than once. He does exist and takes on many shapes and forms. People we are at the most evil times in history, the number of evildoers is at its all time highest. Protect your self and your children. Say the saint michael prayer, if you do not know it, learn it and you will be protected. This is all I have to say. Pope John Paul also said “Be not afraid” for a reason.

  10. Okay I dont have anything negative to say about anyone’s beliefs when it comes down to this story about Anneliese Michel’s death are what she really went threw. All i can really say is, that “NOBODY” but GOD himself and Anneliese knows what really went down them 9 months she suffered. So for everyone to think they know are criticize each other for what they believe in yall all need to realize that nobody’s GOD. You can’t predict what really happen to this girl when you wasnt present or dont know anything about it but what you here. So all im saying is only the lord above knows the answers to the situation that when on so may her soul rest in peace……..

  11. Meh…maybe I am a bit ignorent….and the “fucks” aren’t necessary, but my point is clear……”WE DO NOT KNOW”……”WE ARE NOT MASTERS OF OUR OWN REALITY, WE JUST LIKE TO THINK WE ARE”. Actually I believe that was your point but I agree 100%

    Thank you Ethan Michael Crane

    Hmm….I wonder what movie will make me think so much next. It’s been a while since Hollywood has gotten me so enthusiastic about something.

  12. I don’t know what exists and what doesn’t, but I do know that Michels believe in something so strongly that she refused to eat and eventually starved to death. How can I honestly and reasonably make the claim that she was wrong?

  13. First and foremost, all the “fucks,” “fucking,” and “fuckers” in the world don’t prove or disprove the existence of divine or infernal forces. It does nothing for your point but make you look like an ignorant rube.

    Second, I stand by the belief that “there are more things in heaven and earth than can be dreamt of in [our] philosophy.” William Shakespeare, more or less.

    It is my belief that humanity has become quite arrogant in its belief that it’s got all the answers (or even most of them). We like to fancy ourselves such masters of our own reality that we ignore what could possibly be right in front of us. For all that we “know,” what we don’t know can still fill a warehouse.

    I can’t prove the Devil’s existence, nor can I prove God’s existence (Jesus is easy; the historian Josephus has taken care of that for me). I can’t prove the existence of ANY supernatural being as it exists as a supernatural being. But is it wise to discount the possibility entirely? I don’t think so. We can’t prove it either way, and it costs absolutely nothing to keep an open mind. All the “fucks” in the world will never change that.

  14. I believe that any thing is possible and that if she was really sick then, why did the medicine that she was on for so long did not help at at all it just got worse and, I think that she knew what was best for her , she had told everyone and what was happening to her and so Like I said any thing is possible and if she said that this has happenned to her then i believe her. God bless her and just let her rest

  15. I am a Theology Major from Marquette University. I have faith in Christ and believe that this movie, although not perfectly accurate will get you thinking. If you don’t believe that Satan is real go check out this website. It is a testament to what Jesus Christ can do in a person’s life! http://www.headtochrist.com

    Watch the video about the news coverage on this guy.

    Miguel

  16. Now the question I have in mind is – If the story of Jesus Christ is really true, then there must be a God and obviously the Devil as well does exist. But was it the truth? If it wasn’t true, then do you really think that all this time humanity would have believed in it so firmly. It’s universal. I mean, it just doesn’t seems like this sorta thing could just be a compelling story someone told once that captured humanity’s beliefs so tightly. What do you think?

    I think that religion has just been one of the forms of explaining things in this world that we simply could not comprehend. So far niether Religion or Science has really explained much.

    Although I’m not much of a religous person, I choose not to close my mind to things. How can you say that something like this is obvious, or impossible. You can’t know these things. One thing I do know for sure is that all these people that believe firmly in the teachings of the bible cannot just be insane. Now that is truly impossible!

    But like I said before, you’ll never know for sure untill you die!

  17. Oh and by the way Taysha…nothing is obvious, mind what you say, ok.

    and Matthew, you said it very well man. I couldn’t agree more with you, and Father Harrison is the shit.

    Most intelligent thing I’ve read on here.

  18. I guess the question you all really have to ask yourself is……is there a god? and if you believe there is one…then you’ve just answered your own questions…basically….I’d say 50/50 chance of the possibility for possession, which leaves it pretty open. Hey don’t get me wrong..the movie got me pretty phsyked about the hole issue as well….but it’s like what someone said earlier, worry about your own well being, you’ll never really know the truth untill you die or have the Devil come knockin’ on you’re door one day/night. heheh.

    Oh..and the idiots that can’t spell, and just base their opinion on moronic impulses, or something their buddy told them, get a life, take a spelling b or something but you’re only embarassing yourself when you post your comments. I mean how can you be so ignorent? If you say it’s not true or impossible, have you ever asked yourself “Why the fuck couldn’t it be?!” Honestly! If you believe in God then you must also believe in the Devil. If you don’t, you’re not necessarily wrong, but you have no right to bash people that do believe, you have no idea what you’re saying nor any facts to prove these people wrong.

    Now all of you can stop talking about this topic finally….

    You can thank me later.

    Now how bout them Jay’s!?

  19. How can I say it better then what Matthew said, but if none of us were there, then how can we say what happened or what did not happen? All we know is something terrible happened to this women, and instead of debating what was real or not real, pray for her and pray to God that he saves us from experiencing what Annelise dealt with, those years before she died.

  20. There is obviously a bigger reason for why everyone is so frustrated at each other in this column. Many of you are only pro-science while much of the rest are “religious nuts.” Why then does it surprise me that I am not going to find any answers in this page about “reason.”

    Everyone here is in this site to learn more about Annelise, so if any of you never believed that she was possessed why are you in this site? For realz. I admit I went in this site because I was searching for deeper answers to the Annelise M. case. Arguing on cases such as being “born again” or being “epileptic” are things that I have already known, and I’m sure all of us in this site know all of the possibilities in explaining the case of possession. But saying that the demons couldn’t have entered her body if she was “born again” is as dangerous as saying she was epileptic or schizophrenic as a result of her behavior. I for sure do not have the answer, but I believe that arguing too far to the left or to the right won’t give anyone any good feed back on anything. I happen to be a Catholic, and I do understand some of the procedures that involve an exorcism and the high research it involves to approve of one. However I’m not going to argue in my faith, rather I will argue that there is huge evidence pointing to a possible possession while at the same time there is evidednce to mental disorders. But can’t it be possible that faith in science and faith in religion can both co-exist? That demons could have entered her body and in turn affect her mental and physical abilities? So couldn’t she have been epileptic, schizophrenic, or other disorders that affect the left and right hemispheres of the brain, or the frontal lobe for reason, and the left or right temporal lobes that affect other mental stablities, while at the same time be caused by her being possessed by unseen forces? The argument of many Christians(not all) is to me very much as harsh and ignorant as the arguments of many(not all) scientists in this column. No one can be right in this segment, because no one can hold the true answers. But it is interesting to hear people’s opinions. The possibilities of demons and mental disorders are both very scary realities, and neither explanations are easy to deal with . Please note that I’m not saying that people with mental disorders have demonic possessions, for I know that some of you have personal stories shared in this segment. But the shock to me is the fact that the case of Annelise was so different to other cases that it has created such a discussion. The real question is what sets her aside from other stories? I don’t know. But arguing on biased opinions are non-sense. Faith in God is as much contraversial as faith in science, because both involve the need for one’s acceptance. Science cannot be backed up by scientific evidence just as much as faith cannot be backed up by faith-like evidence…it’s not philisophical and proves nothing.(I personally have a high faith in God and in science as both coexist, while God was never created, He created science which governs the natural world) Circumstancial evidence can be both directed in faith and in science. Oh…can anyone please tell me if the “letter” in the movie written by the supposed “Emily Rose” is based on true events or not? As for the rest of everyone in here, don’t be surprised if all of you are wrong. Don’t focus your lives on brain depravity and spiritual loss. There is a basic truth that not many of us know about. You’re not gonna find all of it in this page. (love what Father Harrison wrote -Sept. 21st- “Crusader”)

  21. Well the girl was obviosly under the possesion of not one but six demons including Lucifer(the devil)and Judas.The law have the real clues leading up to that she was really possesed by demons and she was not really sick she was not epileptic and she was no sicotic yo just have to believe that she could not have done all those things by herself she had great evil inside her.

  22. god, so i went and watched the emily rose movie aka michelle and i was really interested so i got on the internet and typed in emily rose and found out her real name.. so then i typed tht in AND it’s all about the fricken’ movie. i WANT the real truth!! hollywood ruined the whole story.

  23. “Reality” Dan, Religion is NOT responsible for anyone’s death. Human stupidity is. MY religion never caused a war or anything of that nature. So I know for a fact not EVERY religion is bad. As a matter of fact, I don’t think ANY religion is bad. It’s when people try to use it as an excuse to harm – that’s when there is a problem. You can’t blame something like religion, when it is people that is the problem. If religion helps even one person to be a better person, then it’s all worth it.

  24. Everyone has different opinions,,and principles. SOME believe in JEsus and possessions, and some Do NOT. I respect everyones opinion ,,and everyone should ! instead of cussin each other. NOBODY HERE KNOWS what really happened to her. I Believe in religion, but i still don’t know what happened to that poor girl. SO LETS EVERYONE CALM DOWN !

  25. They killed that girl. Modern religions are the cause of most of the suffering in the world, not demons. The Catholic Church was responsible for destroying all the knowledge built up by the ancient empires to keep people dumb enopugh to believe their nonsense. The Roman Empire had running water and shopping malls. wE have just recently achieved these things again. The Catholics killed millions during the crusades and inquisitions and withc trials and various other attempted genocides they were a part of. Now, Muslim extremists are trying to end western civilization with their religion. You want love, “pray” for a pagan world.

  26. It could perhaps be interesting to see a catholic priests opinion about this movie?

    FILM REVIEW

    The Exorcism of Emily Rose

    by Fr. Brian W. Harrison, O.S.

    Some of you may have seen over the last year or so that I have sounded the alarm in several Catholic magazines about a couple of viciously anti-Catholic movies disguised as “history”: “King Arthur” (2004) and “Kingdom of Heaven” (2005).

    I have just been to see another new movie about the Church, with the full expectation of being provoked into circulating yet another “thumbs-down” warning about it.

    Well … Halleluiah! Would you believe that that particular expectation of mine has just been smashed √¢‚Ǩ‚Äù astonishingly, wonderfully! √¢‚Ǩ‚Äù into smithereens? Can anything morally or spiritually good come out of Hollywood √¢‚Ǩ‚Äù especially in this day and age, more than half a century after the “good old” days when some movie moguls were (putatively at least) “on our side”?

    To my utter amazement, I now have to admit that the answer is ‘Yes”! Divine grace √¢‚Ǩ‚Äù actual, if perhaps not yet necessarily sanctifying √¢‚Ǩ‚Äù may be having its effect even in Tinseltown!

    Ever since the big box-office success of the original version of “The Exorcist” more than thirty years ago, exorcism-flicks have become a sort of sub-division of the horror movie genre. Most of them have been pretty trashy, depending mainly on sensational special effects and frequently embodying malicious and embarrassingly ignorant caricatures of Catholic beliefs, rites and practices.

    Not this time. “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” gets it right. Scarily, yes, but at the same time beautifully, powerfully √¢‚Ǩ‚Äù inspiringly. This one is the real thing, folks. (I speak as a priest who has had direct experience with real-life exorcisms: in Rome, with Fr. Gabriel Amorth, the Pope’s leading exorcist and author of several books on the subject.)

    Like “The Exorcist”, “Emily Rose” has its basis in a true case-history, but is far superior to the former movie in just about every respect. It’s about a 19-year-old Canadian girl from a conservative/traditional Catholic family, who becomes possessed and eventually dies in that state after an unsuccessful exorcism. The family’s parish priest who attempted the exorcism, Fr. Richard Moore, is then charged with criminal negligence leading to her death. This is because, having being totally entrusted with Emily’s welfare by her devout family after psychiatric treatment and medication had proven fruitless, the priest decided to suspend all natural treatments in order to rely on the spiritual power of Christ and His sacred priesthood.

    That forensic context alone makes fascinating watching for those who √¢‚Ǩ‚Äù like most of you reading this √¢‚Ǩ‚Äù are very conscious of the exclusion of Christ’s social kingship from modern societies dominated by the “wall of separation” between Church and State. The superbly acted and directed court scenes in “Emily Rose” present a kind of microcosm of this radical internal conflict at the heart of post-Enlightenment Western culture. They effectively portray the legal dilemma that now arises when an officially agnostic political/judicial system is forced to come to grips with evidence that radically calls in question the secularist orthodoxy which dogmatizes that all possible events must √¢‚Ǩ‚Äù at least in the public, civil forum √¢‚Ǩ‚Äù be explained in terms of natural, scientific laws. This dilemma is highlighted in the gripping, brilliantly-written, dialogue confrontations between Fr. Moore’s defense counsel (Laura Linney) and the prosecutor bent on persuading the jury that the priest’s “archaic superstitions” were responsible for the girl’s death. And the drama is ingeniously heightened by the paradox that while this publicly secularist prosecutor boasts that he is privately a “man of faith” (have we heard something a little like that before?), Fr. Moore’s attorney has to openly admit that she’s personally an agnostic. (The screenplay throughout this movie is excellent.)

    That old “with-‘religious’-friends-like-these-who-needs-enemies?” scenario will certainly resonate with the so-often-frustrated experience of so many of us traditionally-inclined Catholics in recent decades. A further touch of the same post-conciliar realism comes to light quickly when we learn that the accused Fr. Moore, an honest-to-goodness, orthodox Catholic priest, finds the rug being pulled out from under him by √¢‚Ǩ‚Äù you guessed it! √¢‚Ǩ‚Äù the modernist, politicking archdiocesan chancery officials who don’t really believe in all that stuff about the devil and possession, and are just plain embarrassed by the whole business! (Yes, folks, this decidedly non-liberal script is actually coming from an ‘establishment’ Hollywood movie! Mel Gibson had nothing to do with it.)

    As a matter of fact, Fr. Moore (played by Tom Wilkinson) comes across as more than just an honest-to-goodness, orthodox priest (wearing his clerical suit and collar whenever he’s out of his prison uniform). He’s an exemplary, prayerful priest. A holy priest. A old-style priest who knows how to talk back sternly in Latin when the demon croaks at him mockingly in the Church’s language. He is quietly dignified in his humiliation in prison and in court. This priest manifests true Catholic pastoral charity and zeal for souls, and a Christ-like willingness to sacrifice his own temporal reputation and freedom for the sake of telling the truth about Emily. Moreover, Wilkinson’s portrayal of this character is totally credible, with his acting rising to a superb level in the last court-room scene where he gives his final testimony about Emily. For my money, Wilkinson’s Father Moore √¢‚Ǩ‚Äù here in the dark Third Millennium, no less! √¢‚Ǩ‚Äù is a thousand times better than Bing Crosby’s superficial “cool”, crooning priest characters from the supposed golden days of the ‘forties and ‘fifties. In short, this was a film that left me feeling proud to be wearing my Roman collar as I exited the theater!

    Even though the Catholic-influenced Legion of Decency which vetted movies back then has long since disappeared, “Emily Rose” has no foul or blasphemous language (even though it’s about demonic possession), no sex, and no nudity. So the most deeply traditional Catholic parents can see, and allow their kids to see, this film, provided only that the latter are old enough not to be traumatized by the scary scenes. Indeed, such families will empathize with the Rose family, whose devout, orthodox Catholic convictions are treated with sympathy and respect throughout the film.

    Maybe you are thinking by now that in spite of all these merits, “Emily Rose” still sounds overall like a pretty depressing movie: after all, we’re talking about a FAILED exorcism which ends in the hideous death of the possessed girl. If that’s what you’re thinking, then never fear! You should know that there is a simply wonderful, profoundly moving, surprise ending to the film which puts that whole scenario in a totally unexpected, supernatural light. I assure you you’ll leave the theater after seeing “Emily Rose” with your faith strengthened, your spirit elevated √¢‚Ǩ‚Äù and probably with tears welling in your eyes. All the more so because we are assured at the end that this story is basically history, not fiction. (The real-life events on which the film is based actually took place in Germany in the mid-1970s.)

    One final comment. I said above that Mel Gibson had nothing to do with this movie. On second thought, maybe he did √¢‚Ǩ‚Äù unwittingly. Could it be that the box-office success of “The Passion” last year is finally getting the message through to some Hollywood studios that there is a huge potential market out there for films which respect, rather than ridicule, traditional religion? If so, we traditional religionists should confirm this message for them by going to see “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”. I urge you not to miss it √¢‚Ǩ‚Äù and take your older children along too. As far as I’m concerned, it is a masterpiece: one of the finest and most moving films I’ve ever seen in my life, and indeed, a worthy companion to “The Passion of the Christ”.

  27. I think that it’s a good thing to change the name and place for the hollywood movie so the person can have some privacy! Anyway, what is “unsettled sexual development”?

  28. The first Exorcism on this planet was perform by Jesus christ in 33 C.E. The possession of unfortunate human beings has been proven, but like in jesus times, we will never believe.

  29. jill, to answer your question. There is no such a thing as a possession from God/Angel because God gives us all “free will” and possession is against a person’s free will. needless to say, the devil does not take posession over a body or mind unless one gives him an inch of will to do so. Evil is here on earth and does exist and God can’t do anything unless you give him the authority to work in your heart and in your life. Wouldn’t you agree that everyday is a struggle between good and evil? when you do something good, thats not just you, thats God, thats good prevailing over evil.

  30. Some of you need to stop acting so childish and stop insulting other posters.

    Nobody knows what happened to Anneliese. The movie itself wasn’t bad, but wasn’t fully accurate either. Alot of it was close though (I mean, comparing it to accounts I have read in the past about the case). I think it is important, to both sides, that the story is told. But face it, everything in Hollywood just has to be altered. That’s just the way things are done.

    In my opinion, she was possessed. I only say this because the thought that she had epilepsy, along with several psychological illnesses at once, sounds more suspicious to me than actual possession. But then again, I come from a culture where we fully believe in possession and things of the like. But I also believe in and know much about mental illness. There is a fine line between the two.

    In my culture, we believe many mental illnesses and even psychical sickness can be caused by spirit possession. But we also believe in genetics and things like that. So, it really has to be judged on a case-by-case basis, as many excorists also know.

    Anyway, what I believe isn’t so important. The fact of the matter is, no one knows what really happened. So why argue about it?

    I’m simply saying – be respectful of other people posting. I’m sure it would be appreciated by everyone.

    Thanks.

  31. hi

    I’m not part of this board, and this has nothing to do with anything posted here, but I just wanted to share with you two incidents that occurred in my life that just couldn’t be explained.

    Both of them happened to my spouse of 15 years. Before we were married, she was heavily into drugs and experienced something that was really strange and inexplicable. She said one day she was in the process of getting high and just as she was about to, the piece of tin paper she had in her hand was knocked clear across the room with a force that was like nothing she ever felt. There were 2 other people there who saw it too and needless to say they all took off immediately. Another time, she was at a brownstone helping to assess renovations of the parlor with a family friend. On top of the fireplace there was a picture. She doesn’t recall the type of picture it was. She remembers she was in the middle of discussing renovations when all the sudden the picture came clear across the room and crashed on the floor next to her and the gentleman. She and the guy cut the meeting short and got out of there as quickly as possible. Unlike in the movies, she didn’t want to know what was there and NEVER went back.

    No moral to this story. Just some things are a mystery, and can’t be explained.

  32. I know that this has nothing to do with the movie, but someone said that the girl was german not white…I don’t get it I thought that germans were white!! They look white to me. They certainley aren’t black, or brown. So whatever. I saw the movie and it was pretty cool. I was scared shitless, but I don’t have an urge to force my opinions on anyone. You believe what you choose, based on your personal experiences.

    Have a great day!

  33. Well, I haven’t watch the movie yet… in my opinion, I don’t know what really happened to Anneliese Michel??? BUT, If you call yourselves real christians, we have to believe on what Jesus told and did, right? Well (my dear friends), if you ever read the bible, it says that Jesus (himself) made a exorcism too. And Jesus told us about the existence of the evil… And, since I know, when you are in a trial, before testify they made you swear with the bible in the name of god and the country, so… Why do they doubt so much?*

    *(PD: Sorry about my english, but it isn’t my natal lenguage)

  34. I do believe Anna was posessed. I don’t believe she was filled with the spirit of God or “born-again”, or she would not be able to be a vessel for demons. Satan is a liar.I do not believe necessarily that they were Hitler, Lucifer himself, or whoever they said they were. Theywere definately powerful.

    I believe Anna’s family was devoutly religious. But were they devout Christians? That is something noone know bu God Himself, but I do suspect anyone who holds the mother of God in such high regard, as to pray to her and trust in her, are at a grave potential for failure. This includes the priest.

    That day Anna “saw Mary” I believe she saw a demon posing as Mary who convinced her that the demons were staying and that Anna should die a sacrificial death so that “others would know demon possesson exists”. It was all part of Satan’s plan. Now people visit her grave and give the devil atention and sometims glory as probably seen inSatan’sown twisted way.

    I justsaw thismovie lastnight and this is how I see it. I work in a hospice home and see demon possession on rare occasion. I pray quietly. I used to work with the mentally ill. The upper level MI were more often afflicted with spiritual oppression. I belive it isoften a combination of the two problems.

  35. all very interesting. I was thinking, if someone can be possessed by the devil, couldn’t they be possessed by god or by an angel? and have we heard of anyone possessed by god or an angel and why would we or would we not want to exorcise that from a human being?

    I truly believe that there is a reality we believe to exist which might be different for each person or religious group and these beliefs will form our realities and experience. When someone is breaking down their identity, perhaps getting closer to their true essense or atman, I believe there could be a fight within between the ego and the true self. so that one might see that the ego is evil or like the devil and cannot release or let go of it and is having somewhat of an identity crisis. so in that respect, everybody is possessed by the devil ergo: ego.

    some people go very overboard and become completely disassociative from reality or the reality most of us exist within. it’s like being caught in between two worlds: the world of illusion which we all live and we have all agreed upon and the world of brahman which is essentially creation and one with all things, something like that. the only true reality, supposedly. so, when someone who is brought up to believe in such extreme religious way, can see the ultimate reality and have it not mesh with their religious upbringing and refuse to accept it and fall into psychosis…

    probably demons do exist, but only in the world of illusion, in the one true reality, we can see above this and that it is only made up by our senses.

    But, we have a long way to go on that one.

    interested to hear what you all have to say about this.

    all my best.

  36. Bottom line: science and religion don’t mix. No news there. A priest will tell you man came from Adam and Eve and Scientists will tell you we came from monkeys.

    For those of you who care about my opinion, here it is:

    I do believe Anneliese Michel (the real Emily Rose) WAS possessed and died a tragic, but preventable death. That’s why her parents and the priest went to trial, because maybe they should have force-fed her while continuing with the exorcism? She did die of starvation under the supervision of responsible adults, and in the eyes of the law, it’s neglect.

    I have a cousin who is epileptic and I have seen seizures and convulsions, but I never heard of him nor anyone else who is epileptic that they were told by demons not to eat for days or weeks at a time. They also can’t speak any other languages than their own, and they don’t self mutilate – although they can hurt themselves BY ACCIDENT – big difference!!! I can’t be convinced that the girl in the movie or the real girl from 1970 were nothing but epileptic or mentally ill. It’s gotta be possession.

    I haven’t seen the movie but I read a whole lot about it. I really wanted to see it before it came out in the theatres until a bunch of people told me it was boring and was more about the law’s view on the girl’s death than the exorcism itself, and if you are looking for something really scary, it’s not worth paying 10$ to see it. Therefore I won’t.

  37. watch what you think,say, and believe – don’t fool with God or the devil – good and evil energy does exist – whatever the real cause may have been for Emily, it’s undeniable that suffering, pain and mental torture (all of which are pure evil)occured.

    “blessed are they that have not seen and have believed”

    —John 20:27-29

  38. hello.

    is there no end to this pointless debate?

    some of you are even losing sight of what the hell this forum was about in the first place.

    question… what in shit does 9/11 have to do with anything?

    answer… nothing.

    Go watch the movie, come back, say what you thought of the movie, and get the hell on with life.

  39. I try to understand both sides before I preach to people, but I don√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t think that it’s intelligent to decide that it was all just coincidentally medical problems. They were all rare conditions. If this were the case then it wouldn’t be such a risky conclusion to say that she was simply possessed. Both are very big assumptions to make, but apparently the world has narrowed it down to the two. You need to know about both. I really don’t. I’m not going to try to tell you I am right and know everything; all I know is what I believe.

    I understand that she did have symptoms of Epilepsy but “Still Here To Tell” wrote in saying she/he has Epilepsy and complained to us all saying, “We didn’t wish this on ourselves, nor are we attention seekers.” Well by telling your own sob story I’m seeing nothing but a cry for attention and pity. You explained few of her symptoms anyway and went on to use personal irrelevant lines like “thank goodness my mother was there to help me back inside the house”

    I’m calling this person out cause he/she really annoyed me. She wanted to seem super intelligent like “I’m an expert on everything because I’ve peed on myself during a seizure.” I’m a bitch, it’s true. But I don’t like ignorance, it frusterates me.

    The Catholic Church is not going to jump to conclusions like that. They know what it can do to the church if they were to wrongly diagnose this as a demonic possession.

    The Catholic Church knows what epilepsy is, it’s not like it’s a big secret. I’m posotive they looked into it. They will consider all the possibilities before they come to a conclusion like that.

    Just keep that in mind, That’s my two cents.

  40. IT doesn’t matter what everyone thinks. You have something to say but it doesn’t mean that any of us are right. None of us were there to see it. So how can we truly pass stronge judgment on something if we wern’t there??? We can say well from what I believe and the information ive gathered, i have come to some what of a conclusion that it seems that the priest was doing his best. It is possible, anything is. I think that she had demons in her….

  41. I agree with you the way you view the issue. I remember Jack London once said everything positive has a negative side; everything negative has positive side. It is also interesting to see different viewpoints & learn useful things in the discussion.

  42. I agree with you the way you view the issue. I remember Jack London once said everything positive has a negative side; everything negative has positive side. It is also interesting to see different viewpoints & learn useful things in the discussion.

  43. You people are all retarded. First of all this movie was made to stir up YOUR opinion. What better way to stir up contravercy than to bring up a religious vs. scientific plot? Also, no matter how much you voice your opinion, it is still just that, your opinion. Therefore it makes absolutely no sense to try to persuade others to share it. Secondly, this movie was based on the case more than the story behind the exorcism for many reasons. One being that there simply wasn’t enough time. Two, Derrickson had enough respect to not show all the horrible images of the tragedy. Lastly, Derrickson had so much material other than the Anneliese Michel story that it would have made the movie stray more than it already did. Read his thoughts on it or listen to the interviews. Maybe then you’ll see what he was trying to make you people who are to ignorant to figure anything out for yourselves see. Thirdly, either way you look at it both sides have reasonable evidence to support themselves. Let us not forget that this movie was put out to peak the increasing interest in the subjects therein. No matter how you look at it, yes they are making money off of someone else’s pain and suffering. But do keep in mind that it wasn’t the intent of Mr. Derrickson to just make a profit, but to voice his opinion and open up the story once again to the public so they can decide for themselves what they beleive. Also this is only “Based on a True Story”. It is not the full true events of what happened, nor was that the intention. Keep in mind that Derrickson had watched, listened to, and researched many different accounts of exorcisms before he did this film. All in all, great movie for what it was intended for. For all of you ignorant people out there, try to keep an open mind when it comes to films like this one.

  44. I hear everyones opinions and I honestly respect each of the sincere opinions posted here. There are so many angles at which to approach this subject. There is a significant amount of evidence that points either way, scientific or religious. For religion, we have a book/books which we can attempt to interpret and for science, we have data and theory. These two sources never seem to agree or come to the same conclusion. Our world is a large place, too great, and filled with many unexplainable events. I believe our time here on this planet has not allowed the necessary experiences to make a firm decision on whats fully possible. The greatest edvidence tword religion or a higher power would be the birth of jesus and science would be “The Big Bang Theory” which scientifically attempts to explain the beginning of our universe. This is all me just babbling, but theres just to much out there to narrow one side all the way. That statement essentially eliminates faith and is not my intention, I am a faithful person who listens to all sides. I hope we can attempt to at least listen openly.

  45. …Well regardless if possession is real or not…whatever happened to that girl…it was not natural or in the norm…but then again Normality does not exist…none the less the human brain is a mostly un-explored region of the human anatomy…for instance how do we even know anything is as it seems…did you know that what we see is actually in all reality upside down because of the lenses in our eyes and the way our brain interprets the image?…so therefore the arguement over if possession is real is invalid…since we as humans do not know what our brains are capable of…and in fact we are still very immature…hell we still kill eachother…we must graduate from all primitive and animalistic instincts to fully understand our own being…

  46. Hey Mark, regarding your comment:

    “This blog has two different arguments as far as I could see.”

    You’re right with the first one, that is something that is mentioned in the blog post, the rest I have to say is the discussion going on in the comments. The comments may not necessarily reflect the views of the blog or its authors.

    Just thought I’d cover that bit!

  47. This blog has two different arguments as far as I could see. One being that hollywood is shamelessly cashing in on the tragic ordeal of a young woman and people saying something within the lines of chill, its only a movie that is merely based on a true story. And then we have the argument that possession is real or unreal. Believers and non-believers alike.

    It seems that believers want the non-believers to believe and the non-believers want the believers to not believe. While I find some of the opinions interesting and diverse, I can’t help but notice that the

    comments based on faith are of a different nature when placed beside a non-believer’s logical facts and it sounds crazy.

    What pisses me off about religion is that alot of it seems to have a single goal, believe and keep loyalties in something that would make your life alot better and along with these beliefs come moral values, most of it is don’t hate, love everyone and don’t kill yet people do these exact things in the very name of their religion. Thats

    probably why non-believers refuse to believe or see no point believing anything not that doesn’t logically or scientifically makes sense and perhaps they’re the most peaceful and non-discriminant of all.

    Believers you can come on here and preach yourselves blue upon deaf ears and non-believers, you can flip through your science and psychology books and try to open closed eyes eyes until your fingers get numb but one thing that isn’t going to change is that Anneleise Michel and the Emily Rose character from the movie had serious problems, but this is how I see it.

    They were both very religious and I think that the beings they were before they became possessed or mentally ill they still would’ve probably believed they were possessed anyway if they were given the chance to see themselves in the future.

    I guess believers could take solace in knowing she went to heaven and that there was nothing wrong with her death and non-believers would still be outraged because she was starved to death since she wasn’t made into a medicated zombie in an institution with a tube shoved down her throat that could’ve saved and somehow improve her quality of life.

    Either way Anneleise Michel and the Emily Rose character didn’t really have much of a choice did they?

    If demonic possession does exist, then how come Anneleise chose to eat spiders and hurt herself rather then use telekinetic powers and become a blood thirsty homicidal maniac? Why just get into a human body and do retarded stuff when you could take over the world and cause terror? Are all demons retarded?

  48. The spirit and the mind are the same. mental illness and spiritual possession are the same. The good news of Christ is that we can control our own thoughts. Faith makes us believe that we are god and believe in ourself so we can NOT believe in things like demonic possession. A demon cannot possess you unless you let it. She submitted herself to the demons just as Jesus submitted himself to death. I believe that she chose to die. I do not think that the right doctrines were accepted by the church to save the girl. She needed to believe that she was God and the church did not allow that because of fear. Everyone must believe that they are God to be sane. Some people call this being made in the image of God. I think that the girl thought that she was these other people because she thought that it was of the devil to believe that she was God. Since she did not allow God in this area of her own self, other spiritual ideas began to enter because this part of her was not protected by God because she wasn’t willing to let God in this area of her being because of her misunderstanding of what the church was talking about and becuase no one could explain to her the spiritual truth she needed to believe in and she thought that what the church meant when they said that we cannot be God meant that we cannot be the image of God or one with God bevcuase she thought that to be a good person she must control her ideas of herself and not allow herself to think she and God were one because she thought that that would be making herself an antichrist but really that is what Christianity is is being of one mind and one self as God but the church didn’t know how her thoughts worked.

  49. It’s getting a bit stormy here where I am, and I’ve got all the windows open, as I like the pre-storm breeze… but I’ll get to that in a moment.

    I followed that link to the recording of the Exorcism. I downloaded it and played it. Now, I must seriously know why anyone was freaked out by it. For those of you who were not around in the 70’s, let me just clue you in on audio recording devices from that time.

    Even state-of-the-art equipment pretty much SUCKED.

    Much like video recording from the same era, there is alot of grainy crap going on in the background, and accoustics play a big role in making EVERYTHING recorded sound a bit “spooky”. That’s why you get that creepy echo effect(don’t even get me started on EVP’s).

    What I heard in this recording was a poor girl scream a few times, some very odd chanting in the background(which was not her), and what sounded like someone leafing through the pages of a book right next to the mic.

    Nothing Supernatural about that.

    And for those of you who were toddlers in the 80’s, let me enleighten you to a man named Michael Winslow. As the vocal genius behind the police uniform in the “Police Academy” films, he was capable of making sounds with his own voice, ranging from gun shots to lawnmowers to electrical devices, even sounding like he was speaking through a bullhorn when he wasn’t(a la “SpaceBalls”). All this was done without being Demonically Possessed. The Human voice has the capacity to do many things, even though most people only use it to blab.

    Under stress, people have done stranger things than growl.

    As far as speaking foreign languages goes, most of this type of phenomenon is bullshit. Most of these supposed “dead languages” that possessed people speak is actually nonsensical babbling, misinterpereted as language because it contains a cadence, or pattern. Some of them actually speak foreign languages, but it’s usually something they learned long before, or merely heard on TV or read in a book at some point previously.

    The similarities between the “dead language” speaking and the EVP phenomenon are eerily similar, insofar as they are both just garbled noise, until someone listens closely for long periods of time(no clear speaking of a “dead language” by a possessed person has EVER been recorded, and yes, I know this for a fact). If you ask any Psychologist, they will tell you that most of the interperetations of both of these come directly from the listeners own mind. For instance, 2 people can both seperately listen to the same recording of “white noise”, and when asked what they heard, most likely they will have different answers. However, ask them if they heard a voice say “kill yourself”, and chances are, they will say yes.

    It’s the same with the possessed person speaking the “dead language”. You have 2 Preists in the room listening to the babbling, and one asks the other if he heard the person say “kill yourself” in Aramaic, and when they listen to the recording, sure enough, that’s what they will have heard.

    Back to the stormy weather..

    After listening to the recording, and giggling a bit to myself about peoples reactions to it, my dogs(2 English Bulldogs) sitting in the hall started growling in the direction of the bathroom down the hall. The lights are all off, except for my desk lamp, and my dogs are usually very mellow. If I was an irrational, superstitious nitwit, I would have immediately called the Ghostbusters or jumped in bed and pulled the blankets to my nose(the blanket is the only true defense against the Boogeyman, after all).

    Instead of acting like some fucktard from the planet Gullible, my first thought was that someone was trying to break in. I don’t live in the best neighborhood. That thought, combined with my dogs growling at the darkness, actually gave me a bit of gooseflesh.

    However, I decided to investigate.

    Taking both dogs, and the high caliber pistol I keep close at all times, I tip-toed down the hallway towards the bathroom. After turning on the lights and leveling my gun sight into the bathroom, I realized that the wind(from the open bathroom window) had blown the shampoo off the ledge, knocking it against the lever in the tub, slightly turning on the water and thus creating a low hissing noise that the dogs heard. I couldn’t hear that noise over the wind and the growling of dogs. Mystery solved.

    So kids, the lesson here is not that spooky shit doesn’t happen. It sure does. But if you investigate it, you will probably find a rational and sometimes even stupid explanation for it.

    If we are content with using the discovery of evidence to determine the existence of political conspiracies, then why not use the same process to determine the existence of Demonic Possession?

    My theory is that people are afraid of finding out that it doesn’t really happen. Because then we are all alone, and only WE can be held accountable for our actions.

    Stop blaming Demons when you eat your own shit.

  50. The movie is pretty good but it does not present the historical facts accurately. The courtroom segments are very good because they describe the differences between medical/biological disorders & purely spritual phenomona (demonic possession). However, let’s remember that the human person is a united entity of body/mind/soul/spirit/etc. … those different “categories” criss-cross each other & influence each other. The movie allows the viewer to make up their own mind about Emily Rose’s condition. Historically, the civil government of Germany & the Catholic Bishops of Germany did NOT believe that Emily Rose was possessed by a demon. (That’s why the 67 exorcisms she received did NOT help her at all.) Even in cases where the Catholic Bishop does allow a priest to perform an exorcism, there must always be a medical doctor (of any religion) present, as was the case with Emily Rose. All of the “symptoms” of demonic possession are things that can be caused by totally natural forces/energies. According to Catholic Church Law regarding Exorcism, Emily Rose should have been brought to a hospital & put on a food-machine (even against her will). Her parents & priests WERE negligent & were rightly found guilty by the local German authorities. According to Catholic Church Law, when an exorcism is performed, a written record, signed & verified by all the eyewitnesses, is kept in the SECRET files of the local Diocese & NOT shown or sold to anyone, including reporters & film-makers. Whatever did happen to the real Emily Rose, she at least deserves her privacy.

  51. http://paranormal.about.com/od/demonsandexorcism/a/aa031405.htm

    Alright…so Im not asking anyone to believe this..or anyone to change their opinions on anything, but the website on that link there is a 2 minute recording to Annilese’s exorcism.

    Whether you believe in religion or science, you cant deny that those are some freaky ass noises that shes making.

    And if you’re going to blast at me for “ruining the memory” or anything like that, save your words, I’m doing this because I myself wanted to know the story and all the facts I could behind the movie.

    …mainly cus the noises in the trailer scared the hell out of me

  52. Possesion is real. Take it from me i am possesed by an outside force. Actually whoever reads this is now possessed w/ my demons. Yeaaaaaa i am free now!!!! Thank you all for rescuing me! I wonder if some of you religious marionettes will now think you are truly possesed. Aahahahah you religious freaks are hilarious, i have been laughing more at this thread than watching an hour of Dave Chapelles Show. Thanks for the laughs, i really cannot believe how crazy some of you humans are. Maybe analiese was actually a genius like Bethoven in how she learned those languages. Actually, nah i bet she learned them from the catholic schools she attended where they said she took the classes in them. Brfff its a disgrace to see how many of you are border line retarded and think your not. If any demons out there have internet access somehow and get this email i challenge you to enter me. I think that would be fun as hell. Oops no pun intended.

  53. i cant beleive some of u people…why on earth would a preist attempt to hurt this girl…people who hear this story and dont beleive it are just scared to beleive it..maby u have ur own demons and it scares u to think this cud really happen…stop trying to make exuses for somthing with sooo much evidence so u dont get scared by the real truth…this stuff is real…its funny when a tape is played with the girl talking but its a totaly different voice which she is not capable to talking in…and people come up with an exuse for that!!!face it…its real…it can happen…stop trying to cover ur fears with untrue facts…GOD BLESS

  54. This place is starting to wreak of deja vu LOL……….

    I believe the movie was based on similarities of what really happened; afterall, there were tapes made of the exorcism.

    There are some other basis of information that presents itself in the movie as factual: demonic possesion of people with dibilitating diseases (ugh…) like epilepsy, bipolar, other brain disorders and whtever else could contribute to a derranged mind (lack of air, lack of food, etc ad nauseum)…but hey, these things ‘do’ open doorways to spiritual enlightenment, and endarkenment (hehe); maybe only in some people not all; this isn’t a stereotype thing possession; or maybe multiple personality disorder an such.

    After 30+ years of spiritual research and practice of my own, I almost gave up the last 2 years on finding anything substantial about the paranormal (and yes what some people call normal go figure); IE yes everyone has the talents to have and develop extra senses; not everyone will; I had some bad childhood experiences in which I nearly died of german measles when I was 4; I remember the dreams well.

    Now since I discovered EVP’s, Electronic Voice Phenomena, on audio tapes, and ITC (more good stuff), for myself, and experienced it for myself, I am really looking into this from a purely scientific point of view; it might make me quite abit more religious than I want to be now!

    Mistah Gray

  55. The six demons in the movie were judas, cain, belial, legion, nero, and lucifer, but the six demons that i read about supposedly that were in her in real life were judas, cain, hitler, fleischman, nero, and lucifer…belial and legion are replaced by hitler and fleischman.

  56. Anneliese Micheal died of starvation, but as part of her self-mutilation. She herself decided to stop eating, the opinion that “she wanted to eat but the demons wouldn’t let her” is only portrayed by the movie.

    I do belive she was possessed but i’m not saying that she was. I’m saying I BELIVE she was. How else would she speak in a launguage she didn’t know?

    The movie makes it seem like she only had one exorcism, but really she had 67. 42 of these were recorded by casette. The movie did get the part about the six demons speaking from her body right. (Lucifer, Judas, Cain, Hitler.. I forget the other 2)

    Another thing, she was a german girl.. but the movie is played in America.

    (By the way, that was a really bad movie description.. it does portray Anneliese’s story pretty well.. although it left alot out)

  57. First I am going to start with some definitions from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

    Faith – firm belief in something for which there is no proof.

    Superstition – a notion maintained despite evidence to the contrary.

    Religion and Mythology are one and the same. Sorry to have to break that to some of you. The only difference is that Mythology is Religion that has fallen out of popularity, as happens with ALL Religions.

    The case of Anneliese Michel, however, is most certainly NOT about Faith or Superstition. It’s about the tragic death of a girl, it’s about the “why” and “how” of her demise. It is a court case.

    To the skeptic, Demonic Possession will always appear as a cureable or treatable mental/psychological/behavioral disorder. Yet, to those who believe in Demonic Possession, the actions of the “possessed” are evidence of the Devils’ Work. Since this debate likely will never be settled, let us not dwell on Theology, as I said, this case is not about Religion.

    So, to pacify the Religious, let’s assume young Anneliese was truly possessed by Adolf Hitler and Judas Iscariot etc etc. It makes sense then that an Exorcism is in order, as it should cast out the Demons. However, during this Exorcism, the young ladies physical health should be taken into account, especially considering her unusual habits during this time.

    And this is what the trial was about; the neglect of her physical health, which the autopsy concluded was the cause of her death. This was the evidence brought to light at trial, and this is why the Priests and her Parents were found guilty. Period.

    Personally, I have never found evidence supporting the existence of the Boogeyman or Baba Yaga, so I’m inclined to say they are not real. They are characters, like God and Satan and the pantheon of Roman and Greek Deities, created by Mankinds fear of mortality, to control the masses and/or teach moral lessons to the young. I hope that one day Humans, as a whole, will mature enough to let go of this security blanket of Religion and face life with no fear of a vengeful God or an inept Devil. Until then, we will continue to let our fears and our faiths control us… much like being possessed.

  58. ANNELIESE WASNT KILLED BY THE PRIESTS! SHE REFUSED TO EAT B/C SHE SAID THE DEMONS WOULDNT LET HER. AND STEVE HAS A POINT, WE WERENT THERE! SO EVERYONE STOP GETTING SO EMOTIONAL ABOUT IT! IT HAPPENED A LONG TIME AGO AND WHAT HAPPENED IS ALREADY DONE AND OVER WITH. I JUST WISH THAT ALL YOU PEOPLE SAYING THAT SHE WAS KILLED BY THE PRIESTS WOULD DO SOME RESEARCH BEFORE YOU OPENED YOUR MOUTHS. I DO AGREE THAT THEY SHOULD HAVE TAKEN HER AND GOTTEN HER ADMITTED INTO A HOSPITAL AND PERHAPS DONE THEIR EXORCISMS THERE, BUT WE CANT CHANGE THE PAST SO LETS MOVE ON ALREADY!

    AMANDA

  59. First off…I think that the movie was meant as an insight to possibilities that science can’t always help with and not as a way to exploit this girl’s family or the tragedy that befell her.

    Secondly…Some people believe in angels and demons, others do not…I can’t say they exist and i can’t say they don’t…only you can deside what you want to believe in.

    Thirdly…for a horror movie, it did what it was intended to do…scare the crap out of people…good chunk of the people in the theatre couldn’t stop screaming(quite annoying).

    and so to rap this up…If someone says that they believe or do not believe in something you might know to be true or not true…just ask them to do research and not beat them to death because they think differently than you do…many problems can easily be avoided this way!

  60. many of you are arguing on whether exorsism is real or not. some of you are presenting all these facts of the case. but the fact of the matter is that all of you WERENT THERE!!!!! SUPRISE!!!!!! so i think that you 30 year old nerds should go get a life and stop living with your parents.

    laters

  61. Is anybody really sure this movie was based on Anneliese Michel? Maybe it was just made in the spirit of the story because it sure as hell raises the same questions. Cause if they really wanted it based on her story they could have, there’s no reason why they would change it so drastically.

  62. Maybe she was replaying a Holocaust Victim. The grimace faces that she witness, people that were dying. The self- starvation,self- mutilaton and

    stripping clothes off and urinating from fear. Being contorted and

    paralyze in a state of shock.

    What did all the Demons, have in common with the Devil? We all know the answers to that question.

    If you suffer from Epilepsy, and your in a Constant State of being Upset,Angry, Exicited or Frightened this will cause you to have Seizures. Medications does not eliminate these seizures, they can come

    on any given time. It does not matter where your at.

    As I shouild know, My step-brother is a Epileptic and has Grand-Mal

    Seizures. He never had visions or hallucinations.

    I feel that Miss Annelise Michel, was frighten with fear and she her- self felt possessed, no Doctors,No Priests or Medications could help

    her Tormented Soul.

    They did all they could for her.

    May She rest in Peace and God Bless her!!

  63. Just based on the courtroom events, the movie failed to convince me that the girl did not suffer from psychosis and epilepsy!

    Maybe the gal ( A Michel) was possessed but yet medical help should have been given along with prayers and definitely they should have kept the starvation to drive the demons out from the exorcism ritual.

  64. For all it’s worth,Anneliese did seek treatment for her illness.

    Remember this she was 20 years old an Adult,when she passed away. From the knowledge we

    get, as a last resort, when the medications and treatments did not

    work, from years of exhaustion with her consent, Exercisms were perform

    to rid her of the demons that resided in her. If Anneliese had lived

    she would not put blame on her Parents or the Priests. They would be

    Saints to her. The Demons that took over, were real to her. She felt

    tortured, day and night. Her parents and family loved her dearly, they went through alot of pain and heartache. My heart goes out for them. They

    Honor her wishes. They did not willing starve her death, as everyone

    thinks.Nor did the Priests.She suffered real pain, as a Cancer patient. She was a Torture Soul, crying out for relief. At the End,Death gave her Peace and Rest and she was finally free from

    the chains that the demons, had bound around her .

  65. Well all I have to say is I saw the movie tonite and true or not I thought it was excellent really . I am a superstiuos person and I do believe in possesion as well as ghost and spirits and I feel for ones who dont belive are the ones who are going down that rough path. I am researching about this case and movie got alot of info through out my research and once I am done I will report back to you guys to let you know what the story is true or false and if I find any sites that are not listed on this forum I will list them for those who are interested in knowing not ones who want to critacize and curse at god’s will and the devils !!! Yeah I know my spelling is not all that great but its like 3:13 a.m and im tired from all the investigation I have been doing!

  66. I went to see the movie just as that; a horror movie and nothing more; sheez some people here are off the deep end LMAO.

    People have feelings and those who dont have a life end up here too?

    Who cares what people believe; just talk about the movie; we dont need preachers in here; an all that personal stuff; gads some of it is sick; but then again some people have a rough life an need help I guess; too bad they have to let off their frustrations here…:(

    I seek the truth from my own personal life experiences and share it; why cant people be more like that instead of being hateful…granted we got alot of people who need help these days; we got alot of horses out there that need help too; we lose the ocean, we die; simple as that.

    Personally, I believe that one drop of rain raises the sea.

    Mr Gray

  67. Anneliese Michel

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

    Anneliese Michel (September 21, 1952 – July 1, 1976) was a German college student who died during an exorcism; the priests who carried out the exorcism were later convicted of manslaughter resulting from negligence and sentenced to six months in prison. The Church soon after declared that Anneliese was not possessed.

    Anneliese was born into a lower-middle class Catholic family in Klingenberg, a small Bavarian town. Beginning in 1968, she began shaking and found she was unable to control her body. A neurologist at a Psychiatric Clinic in W√ɬºrzburg diagnosed her with “Grand Mal” epilepsy. Because of the strength of the epileptic fits, and the severity of the depression that followed, Anneliese was admitted for treatment at the hospital.

    These seizures would continue to plague her, and by 1970 she reported seeing flashes of demonic images, especially while praying. Despite this, she was able to begin University of W√ɬºrzburg in September, 1973, where she majored in Elementary Education. In 1973 her parents began seeking help from the church for Anneliese’s condition, requesting exorcism from several pastors in the area. Their requests were rejected and they were given recommendations that the now 20-year-old Anneliese should continue with medication and treatment. The process by which the Church proves a possession (Infestatio) is strictly defined, and until all the criteria are met, a Bishop cannot approve an exorcism. The requirements, to name a few, include an aversion to religious objects, speaking in a language the person has never learned, and supernatural powers.

    In 1974, after supervising Anneliese for some time, Pastor Ernst Alt requested a permit to perform the exorcism from the Bishop of W√ɬºrzburg. But again, this request was rejected. The attacks did not diminish, and Anneliese’s behavior became more erratic. At her parents’ house in Klingenberg, she insulted, beat, and began biting the other members of her family. She refused to eat because the demons would not allow it. It was reported that Anneliese slept on the stone floor, eating spiders, flies, and coal, and even drinking her own urine. She could be heard screaming throughout the house for hours while breaking crucifixes, destroying paintings of Jesus, and pulling apart rosaries. Anneliese began committing acts of self-mutilation at this time, and the act of tearing off her clothes and urinating on the floor became commonplace.

    As her condition escalated in the fall of 1975, the Catholic Bishop of Würzburg, Josef Stangl, determined that she was possessed and sanctioned an exorcism. Father Arnold Renz and Pastor Alt were assigned to perform the ritual. Each week, for ten months between the period of September 1975 and June 1976, the two Catholic priests performed the rites. For a short time Anneliese did in fact seem to improve due to the exorcism rites. She was able to return to school and take her final examinations as well as return to church. But soon her mental anguish would return and worsen, as did her physical condition: she refused to eat and her knees ruptured from the 600 genuflections she was obsessively performing daily. On June 30, 1976, during the exorcism, suffering from Pneumonia and physically exhausted, Anneliese died. Forensic reports would show that she had starved to death.

    Her parents and the exorcising priests were charged with and found guilty of manslaughter resulting from negligence and failure to provide first aid. They were sentenced to six months in jail and probation. Later, a commission of the German Bishop-Conference declared that Anneliese Michel was not possessed.

    Many claimed that her body could not have been at rest after such an ordeal, leading officials to exhume her corpse eleven years after her death. When it was determined that it had, in fact, decayed at the proper rate for one dead eleven years, she was recommitted to the ground. Still, her grave became, and remains, a place of pilgrimage and religious importance to those who believe that the girl lost her life fighting the forces of darkness.

    A film has now been made based on Michel’s experiences and death, written and directed by Scott Derrickson, titled The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005).

    Goodman’s Timeline

    Sept 1968 – First, brief blackout, next day convulsions, bit tongue.

    Aug 1969 – Similar, family doctor refers Dr. L.

    Jan 1970 – Multiple unrelated illnesses force Anneliese into an Aschaffenburg hospital, then later to a sanatorium in south Bavaria.

    June 1970 – Seizure at sanatorium, medication prescribed by local neurologist.

    Aug 1970 – Discharged from sanatorium.

    Sept 1970 – Seizure

    June 1972 – Seizure, last. Sees Dr. L again. Dilantin by this time at least.

    Sept 1973 – 3rd and final visitation with Dr. L, confides about grimaces. New meds in addition to Dilantin, may have suggested inquiry with the Church.

    Factuality disputed

    In conclusion, Anneliese was, in fact, not possessed. End of story bitches.

  68. I belive that the subject of this movie is a little more complicated than is being portrayed by the movie line. I bielve that yes, there is a “supernatural” world where various energies DO exist. This vast web of energy is described in many places, as being both good and bad. In the “good” sense it is the place where angels live, the energies that are there to help us and to guide us. You can also see this “force” represented in many moves such the Lord of the Ring and quite literally Star Wars. I believe that it is an energy web where energies that have no physical form reside it has no quality of bad or good, it just is, meaning it is a space of residence. Both good and ” bad” energies can reside in this space. I belive that the bad energies have far less power than the good, and in reality they have no power at all because we must agree to let them have power. The good energies need no such endorsement from us.

    I also believe in what the movie termed “hyper-sensitives”, there are many people born with the ability to hear and see into this energy web.

    It also very important to know that one has the power to choose to pay attention to what we want. I am not religious in the traditional sense, but did read an earlier post where someone quoated the bible and stated that Jesus said to become “unpossesed” one must only have to cast the demon out ( I am quoting this very lossly as I do not know the Bible text). I believe that this is very true and supports the experiences I have personally had. We all have a choice as to what we want to do, or listen to, or agree to and unseen forces are no different.

    Now, I also believe that this was ALSO a psychiatric/physical condition at the same time. Generally these type of incidents happen to adolesence and these areas explored due to many reasons, fear, anxiety, real pyschological conditions that may lead someone to seek counsel with alter energies. I would have to take a big leap here ( not knowing anything of this family, or this person) and say that this young girl probaly had encounters with good energies younge in life and probably kept this door way open throughout her life. When her life began to turn stressful ( such as sexulaity, going to school, pressures any young girl may have) she turned to this spiritual relm, but most likely without knowing that she had the power of what to pay attention to. Being vulnerable and scared she unwittingly begna to listen to the not good voices. Hence giving them power in her life. Again, this is conjecture as I was not there and did not know this girl.

    I also believe that this typre of condition can cause physical problems. Having a psychic, or unseen version of a “leech” on a soul draining energy and life. This in iteself creates physical symptoms and creats a physical imbalance. Symptoms such as the loss of appetite, eating of bugs and urine, and the actual seeing of demons could have been a result of this physical imbalance. Many people also see dead people with this imbalance. These symptons usually result from a chemical imbalance in the body that is triggerd by an emotional imbalance. These type of conditions can be successfully treated with homeopathics.

    The psychological imbalnce, or imbalance of the soul, is the ones of m not recognize thes selfs ability to say no to these energies. This level of psycholocial awareness can be treated with flower essences that help to strengthen the core self to know there own power to respond to the unseen, and also to give the courage to face life. The homeopathics would also assist with this too. The body and mind heal together.

    Adding another layer to this sad case is that the family and local religious officials had a limited way to view this situation and how to handle it. I do believe that they were unprepared on how to deal with the situation and did unknowingly add to the problem. They exaccerbated the problem by being afraid of itand by shrouding it in relgious dogma. This girl did starve to death and this could have been prevented, but it wasn’t. The situation may have simply became beyond their control. It is also possible that they new that they were not handleing it correctly, but due to religious beliefs did not know how to seek counsel of alternative providers. There is also the possability of this being a way for the soul to explore to deeper realm of good and evil and that this girl was not meant to be saved. This is conjecture and only something that those involved could know.

    To this point, it is also intersting to note her birthday is September 21- this is a common birthday for people who explore both evil & good as power play. Stephen King has this same birthday. His works often include delving into areas of evil and there power to take physical form. Add to this she was born in the 50’s which is seen by some astrologists as being an “age of fear”. This was the time of the cold war and nuclear threats. The whole world was in a paranoid state. For anyone who was hypersensitive, they would be able to feel this general fear and may interpret itinto their own lives, creating parnoia in their own minds. This added to the Sept. 21 birthday with it’s focus on good and evil could have lead the person to entangle the paranoia with good and evil. Since Annelies was Catholic her version of evil would have been the devil, luicfer, the symbols of the christian nemesis of god. The same ones she had voices of.

    What does this all mean? It means that there was a girl who lived and had this experiences. To be honest none of us can truly know why she had the experience, it was her experience alone. Watching the movie, reflecting on my own experiences, it has convinced me of one thing, to not be affraid of it. It can happen and does happen to many people.

    In one sense the message of the movie has come true, many people are now talking and becoming more comfotable with the realm of the unseen. Many people were already comfortable with the unsen and did not need this message. But many do. This is the first step to not being afraid of it. To recognize that it isn’t all good is the first step to understanding what it is. Understanding is the first step to being able to use and experience it as a real force of energy. Maybe this is what was suppose to happen? Or maybe it’s not. Because we get such a distorted vesrion of the truth through movies it is difficult to discern.

    Anyways, those are my thought such as they are.

  69. Just came home a short time ago from seeing the movie. I was unaware of the real story. I expected something different from the movie. I left a bit unsatisfied, that is not to say that it was a “bad” movie. I just didn’t care for it.

    I have read most of the entries on this page and WOW! I appreciate anyone who uses intelligence rather then slurs to make a point. I thought it funny that someone asks why “a brother or sister” doesn’t get possessed, why is it always “white” people, to which someone replied, Anneliese Michel wasn’t white she was German–huh? Ummm, I’ll leave that alone.

    I will end this post by saying that I really don’t know anything more about Anneliese Michel than I did before I started.

  70. seizures don’t last more than a couple of minutes…i have them. if they lasted say more than 15 minutes you’d be dead, brain damage. your body is straining and it hurts very much. no way any one could endure a seizure that long….something else took place. i do not believe it god….i dont know what happend to her but damn seizures DO NOT last that long. and if the keep re occuring—you can do things about it….

  71. Whether or not the cause of that poor girl’s behaviors was supernatural or not, I’m just really irritated at the people who made this film. They have this bull about her living in Minnesota, fake newspaper clippings, a police report, and a T.V. news transcript on the official movie website. What does this accomplish? It averts the public’s eyes away from the real story and the real girl. They boast in the dialogue of the movie, almost as if it were the intention of the movie-makers, as well, that her story should be told. However, they are leading people away from the real story! And as I have stated before; whether her behaviors were rooted from something supernatural or a severe physiological and/or psychological ailment is irrelevant because her story is amazing, either way. She deserves to have her story told truthfully and certainly not for profit from the pockets teenagers looking for a cheap thrill from a horror film. That just disgusts me, the way they sold out the way that they did.

  72. People have different opinions on this subject, as you all can see. I read through everyones posts on here, and alot of people make pretty good points. But what I want to say is, everyone has their own beliefs to what happened. I honestly, at one point, thought it was possesion but now reading all these posts and what people are saying, im kinda 50/50 on the the subject. I mean, she could of had a disease and she could of been possesed, i guess you can just say that you’ll never know the truth. But untill the truth is revelead, everyone is set to their own opinions, of course. So therefore my opinion on this is, I think that in the early stages of this, she might have had a disease, but goin further-more into the years, i think she was, in a way, possessed by the devil/demon. But thats just my opinion. I have read alot of these posts, and some people go crazy and get furious. I mean come on, people are just writing what they “think” not on facts, or maybe sometimes they do write on facts. But anyway, people have a right to state their opinion so i dont know why some of you get so mad about it.

  73. My whole life has been weird phenomena. From hearing things in my head to it becoming real. I really do believe there is demonic possession. I mean there are ghosts all around us at any given time, date, and hour. They just want us to know there is a spirit world. I have seen, heard and felt ghosts around me. if something like this can happen to someone their whole life why can’t a girl have a demon or demons inside her. I use to be skeptical before I saw a ghost when I was five. that just opened up a whole new window for me. I believe that everything happens for a reason, these things happen so we know they happen. things like this happen all the time we just don’t hear about it because the victim is afraid of ridicule or shame. but in the end we just want people to believe our story. people in my family don’t believe I am a hearing medium, someone who can hear and talk to ghosts. my family thinks im crazy or schizophrenic. but I know what I experience and it wouldn’t be that of a schizo person. when weird things happen to normal people we try to rationalize it, did I see it, did I hear that, but you have to look outside that, you know what you see and hear. there is nothing wrong with my brain, weird things happen to me all the time. if these kinds of things can happen to an individual what about other things that could happen to other people? A lot of people don’t believe until it happens to them, well I can vouch for everyone when I say there are ghosts, there are spirits and angels and certainly demons. you might not believe they are real but they know and believe in you. when something you can’t explain happens to you, you just want to be heard and want everyone to know the truth. it is important to that person, they just experienced something horrifying and unexplainable, so they are freaked out, when someone is freaked out they want to be consoled and believed. Maybe we should all look into demonic possession a little more and grasp that idea that something like that does happen in our world. if it does, then what other things are real that we don’t know about. I think I am almost a ghost expert from my experience and thought about telling my story. Maybe everyone out there will believe that unimaginable things do happen on our plane.

  74. noy only epileptic people are said to be “possessed”. possession is real, as i stigmata, having seen it first hand. please understand..the movie will make someone money..thats the reality of this age we live in, but it has brought about a certain awareness..hence why you are all posting here. there is good and bad as man evolves. if faith and law clash so much, why do they make you ‘tell the truth, so help you God”. laws are man made..faith lives within. the time when man will unserstand has not come yet. it is a learning curve. we are born into sin, yet if something is shocking, the first words in awe are Oh my God. think about it. really think. sit back and pay attention to people, u will see. visitations, life after death, stigmata, possession..why go to church. these are norms….but based on what? faith is individual.

  75. possesion is real. it doesn’t happen everyday no, but it is real and one should not judge because they search for facts. One who searches for facts must be scared of supernatural occurences and will apparently pay up in the end. Hopefully that is not you.

  76. For all of you people out there that dont believe in ghosts, possession and the paranormal, I got news for you. There are things out there that cannot be explained.I know first-hand. I can feel when there is a presence around and so can all of the other females in my family. Meaning my sister, my mom, her mom and her mom and so on and so forth. It’s pretty stupid of you who don’t believe it because “everything can be explained”. Why don’t you actuallly look around and research the people who AREN’T LYING!

  77. I just saw the exorcism of Emily rose as the title is now and I see how they workd the plot. Very nicely done if you ask me. They told the story of the girl, but they did it of the trial. So in the movie it begins at trial and as they tell the story of course it’s flashback to what happened. Well told and I would say don’t be critical. Good story.

  78. Well I just saw the movie this evening. And what I think is amazing is that still today it raises the same debate that it did when it originally happened. Was it a mental illness or was it possesion. Interesting, and terrifying. What I find more terrifying is the animosity held by those with opposing views. So your more into the science aspect and think someone is a religous quack. Okay. Why get angry? If you truly believed there was no truth in it why get so angry when someone thinks and opposing thought? If they are indeed religous nuts then what they say really doesnt matter and should be ignored. Now on the other hand say your a devout Christian and believe in the Devil and Possesion. As a Christian it must be relized that getting mad at someone for believing in science over religion is petty, and, totally against Christian beliefs strictly because Christians believe God gave man free will to chose what he believes in regardless of what the real truth is. So getting angry in that sence is pointless. However the debate is a very interesting one and one that, I believe, will never actually die. As to the actual recordings of the real exorcism: I dont know if it was covered (I got rather impatiant part way through reading this forum because of the various ways of saying the same thing) but if someone happens to find any of the recordings it would be in German, making it hard for an english only type to really understand much. It would, however, still be intreaging. As for real life exorsims, I have been present for two of them. These are of course not Catholic and non Catholic sanctioned exorisms, but rather of the protistant veriety. And they are very much more frightining than a movie could make them out to be. However Emily Rose is a very good visual and vocal match for the two that I have witnessed. Both casses had no prior mental illness or anything of that nature. However it is not to say that they had not manifested an illness. There is also a possiblity of hoax. Or evne more interesting, actual possesion. Just some interesting thoughts on the subject.

  79. Look. There is definitely no point in arguing this. People are going to go on believing whatever they want no matter what. Unless the devil showed up on the news and anounced his existence a lot of people won’t believe. As well as if a scientist found proof that someone made up the bible and all other religions. The point is no one on this thread is going to give up their beliefs, so why try to make them? I say everyone just leave this alone and go on with your life. One of these days the truth’ll be revealed and we’ll know which side was right all along.

  80. Does anyone not think for themselves any more? Must you have a religious book tell you what to do until the day you die? Those that believe in muslem,jewish and christian faith should realize that your religion was formed from a cult. Therefore it is you people who are posses by the devil to a religion/religions that consume you.

    With that being said,Anneliese Michel was not possesed,she had a mental illness that went untreated by her parents and religious figures. Religious fanaticsm is what destroyed her. It is religous fanaticsm that destorys some of you people as well. We can not continue to use religious theology to explain the unknown if we are to advance forward. To do so would be a crime against science and humanity.

  81. it started at 16 and she died at 23 thats a long time to be the way she was .. all of us are much to young and werent around at the time to know the truth… but the articals again are worth a read..

  82. if you go to your local library or a place that stores old news paper articals u’ll find hers and she was born in 52 and died when she was 23 of starvation it says it all in the news paper articals.. have seen them myself.. my grand mother was alive at the time and told me all about it aswell… scary shit but sad aswell… the director of the movie chose the name cause he liked it and it was she was 16 in the movie.. thats why it says BASED on a true story which means not all is true such as the age they used in the movie.. BASED means some facts DOCUMENTARY has facts and is fully about the person.. there is a difference.. but do go find the articals they are very interesting to read.. there are many so take a day to do it..

  83. Anneliese Michel was not possesed by anything but too much influence from a overbearing religious family. She needed desperate medical attention, which was denied to her later as her condition worsened. Her over-religious family denied her basic human care, because they believed she was possessed by demons. It is not a scary story but a really sad story about mass histeria and religious influence. She didn’t diserve to die, with psychological therapy she may would have gotten better. The parents and the priest were convicted of negligent manslaughter and got 6 month on probation, which they deserved by all means and more. The movie is a Hollywood fiction based on very few facts. It’s more fiction than faction, as always. Poor girl, sad story. Has nothing to do demons and church, but lots of it with psychology and mass histeria.

  84. I know alot about mental illnesses and demonic possesions…and annilese michel was possesed…i’m sry to say…but everything from the symbolisms (flies, spiders) to vioces telling her not to eat, and no one NOT EVEN A MENTALL person would rip crosses, pictures of JEsus and so on… also it takes any where from 1 second to hours and days and months to take demons out….for me i had one ONLY ONE for about 6 months….and my whole family is christian…i gotsaved and changed my life…but i did practically the same thing as annelise….but hers i think she had over 50 demons.

    also some exorcisms are dangerous…some you just have to say JEsus help me and belive that he will help you…

    WHat should be on ppls mind is that if there are demons, that means the devil is real, which means GOd is …HEaven and HEll are REAL!!! WAKE UP!!! ALL THE SIGNS OF THE END OF THE WORLD ARE HERE!!!! BELIEVE IT OR NOT!!!!

    demons can do more to you than just what happened to annelisse… to me i yelled and hit my mom….i practically kiled her…same with my dad… and i only had one!!!!!!!!!! i am relieved and happier than ever….

    also, i believed in Jesus before i had this problem….but it still happened….

    email: [email protected]

    ps:email me if u want to know exactly everything about exorcisms and so on

  85. I loved the movie from beginning to end. I couldn’t wait to go see it so I went to catch the first show today. Everyone should see it. It’s indeed scary for a horror movie, but it’s also sad if it really happened to Anneliese Michel. I’m not a believer of the possession thing, but I’m not completely doubting it either. There’s definitely a possibility. I don’t think that someone just made it up from air. There must be some facts as to why people believe that it happens. I totally agree that this movie will be a moneymaker. But it’s definitely worth the money.

  86. this story will always be a money maker..Has there ever in the history of time been one recording one picture one anything that proves the exsistance of some paranormal ghost, devil..succubus possed people anywhere..no..none whatsoever..the human imagination is the only real thing in these stories..albeit a really scary one :) ….. i honestly wouldn’t be the leat bit suprised to find out the church gives the funding for these movies…… all 38 of them

  87. I would just like to say that the man in the first post doesn’t have his facts straight. The girl was 16 NOT 22 and the priests tried to get her to eat nutritous food but she refused. Instead she would eat insects, her own urine, and even coal. Just wanted ya’ll to know…

  88. First of all, they dug up her body 12 years later (for shame), and she had decayed like every other dead body does.

    As for possession, I can understand people having their own belief as to whether it exists or not. What I CAN’T understand, is everywhere I go it’s always “Possession is a real and that’s a fact” or “No way possession is real”… when did we become possessors of all knowledge? It could be and it could also not be. Stating things as if they were fact (“When will people realize possession is real”) is absurd.

  89. Demonic possession. It is the stuff of Hollywood movies and nightmares, inspired by the belief in something dark and ominous that can invade the body and damn the soul for all eternity. It makes a great story, the struggle of good versus bad, right versus wrong, light against the dark. But like William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist, The Exorcism of Emily Rose claims to take its premise from fact, citing an actual case that chills any who come across it. Where Blatty’s creation was inspired by the story of a young boy whose identity has remained a secret, Emily Rose’s real-life counterpart was a girl of just twenty-three years old when she died under the watchful eyes of her parents and two exorcists. Her name was Anneliese Michel.

    Anneliese was born in September of 1952 in Bavaria. Her life was unremarkable in that she was a happy child, religiously nurtured, and in all other ways normal. However, at the age of sixteen, Anneliese was afflicted with the first of many of what her parents came to believe were demonic attacks. Her body went rigid, and she was unable to call out to her parents for help. She shook violently without control of her actions. Her parents took her to the Psychiatric Clinic in Wurzburg, where she was diagnosed with Grand Mal epilepsy. Medication was prescribed, and she was given treatments, but the attacks didn’t stop.

    She began seeing what she described as demons, visions of terrible creatures, during her everyday life. After a while she could hear them as well. She only spoke to her doctors about the visions once, telling them that the voices had begun giving her orders. For five years Anneliese went for medical treatment with no discernable benefit. In fact, the attacks were getting worse. Her behavior degenerated into something wholly unlike the child everyone knew. She insulted and beat other members of the family, often biting her three siblings. She refused to eat normal food, as the demons she heard would not allow it, and ate spiders and coal, often drinking her own urine. She slept on the floor and was given to fits of screaming and breaking religious icons such as the family’s crucifixes and rosaries. Her behavior grew steadily worse as she began acts of self-mutilation. Tearing off her clothes and urinating on the floor became common occurrences in the Michel home.

    In 1973 her parents began a fervent and desperate search for a priest to perform an exorcism. All the churches they approached denied their requests, explaining that the criterion of proof for possession had not been fulfilled. In order for a person to be deemed “possessed” and receive an exorcism, according to the Catholic church, there are a number of signs that must be observed. The afflicted person must exhibit at least three signs for permission to be granted. The signs of possession are varied, but among them are the afflicted displaying abnormal strength, paranormal powers such as levitation or telekinesis, and the knowledge of a language they’ve never studied.

    By 1974 the Michel family won the sympathy of Pastor Ernst Alt, who believed the child was truly in danger from demons. He petitioned the Bishop of Wurzburg, Josef Stangl, with no success. The Bishop suggested that the child live a more holy lifestyle to find inner peace. Alt tried again a year later, this time providing verification of the signs of possession in Anneliese. Bishop Stangl relented and assigned Father Arnold Renz to perform the exorcism rite with Alt assisting. The rite of exorcism to be performed was the “Rituale Romanum.”

    Exorcism, though long considered one of the church’s dirty little secrets, is neither a religious ceremony nor a sacrament. It is a rite in which the priests confront the demon in the afflicted’s body and demand that it show itself. Once the demon is revealed, the priests attempt to use their own faith to drive it out of the innocent. The Rituale Romanum was first written in 1614 under the auspices of Pope Paul V. It remained largely intact and in use for exorcism with only minor changes in definitions to distinguish between possession and mental illness in 1952. Through repeating a set group of prayers, the Litanies of the Saints, Pater Noster, and the 54th Psalm, as well as the accompanying Gloria Patri, Anima Criste, and Salve Regina, two priests, a medical doctor, and members of the afflicted’s family engage in a lengthy and often physically exhausting trial in which the priests attempt to expel the demon. The rituals are open to interpretation as exorcists are free to add in other aspects of the rite as they deem necessary.

    Beginning in September of 1975 Anneliese endured two rites a week, during which time she exhibited violent behavior toward any within striking distance. She spit and bit, cursed and struck those around her, often having to be restrained by as many as three full-grown men. The rituals, however, seemed to be working. She was able to return to school at the Pedagogic Academy in Wurzburg and take her final exams. She even was able to return to church. However, as time passed, her condition deteriorated again.

    During the final round of exorcisms Anneliese stopped taking food for several weeks. Though she grew emaciated, she still exhibited unbelievable strength and spoke in the voices of those she claimed inhabited her body. Among the demons who claimed residence were Judas Iscariot, Nero, Cain, Hitler, a disgraced Frankish priest from the 16th Century, a host of other damned souls, and even Lucifer himself. Her knees ruptured due to the more than six hundred genuflections she compulsively performed. By June 30th, 1976, she was so emaciated and weak that she could not stand. Her parents, however, held her up and helped her perform the genuflections.

    It was late in the day on July 30, 1976, when Anneliese turned to the priests and said, “Beg for absolution.” It was the last statement she would make to them. To her mother she simply said, “Mother, I’m afraid,” and then collapsed and died. Her mother recorded her daughter’s passing the next day while Alt informed the authorities. An investigation immediately began into her cause of death. Both priests and her parents were charged with negligent homicide.

    Two years later the case was finally brought to trial. Nearly forty hours of audio tape of the exorcism was played before the court. Testimony was heard from witnesses who had no doubts of demonic presences in the girl. But in the end it was the coroner’s report that Anneliese has starved to death that proved to be their undoing. It was determined that admitting her to a hospital where she’d have been fed through a tube, even one week before she died, could have saved her life. They also asserted that, by introducing the concept of demonic possession, the parents and priest provided a scapegoat for her behavior, which allowed her to misbehave all she wanted to without fear of consequence. Though convicted, her parents and the priests received a light sentence of only six months in jail and probation.

    The story, however, continued to capture the imagination of those that knew the girl or heard of her plight. Many claimed that her body could not have been at rest after such an ordeal, leading officials to exhume her corpse eleven years after her death. When it was determined that it had, in fact, decayed at the proper rate for one dead eleven years, she was recommitted to the ground. Her grave became, and remains, a place of pilgrimage and religious importance to those who believe that the brave girl lost her life fighting the forces of darkness.

    Following the death of Anneliese the church recanted their permission, stating that she was merely afflicted by mental disorders. In 1996 the Pope removed Rituale Romanum from the approved list of rites and replaced it with his own, called “The Exorcism for the Upcoming Millennium.”

    Anneliese Michel was a fresh-faced girl of sixteen when her life suddenly jolted out of her control and only twenty-three when she died. Whether or not she was possessed by demons is open to debate, but nothing can diminish the tragedy of her passing. While The Exorcism of Emily Rose bears the legend “based on a true story,” respect must be given to the actual people and events on which the story is taken. Audiences should not forget, while they are being entertained, that no matter what their beliefs, Anneliese Michel, the real “Emily Rose,” was no fictional character.

  90. I have a story to tell. My life was saved by Our Lord Jesus Christ a few years ago, he is the only way to salvation. I have always been an extremely skeptical person, especially of the supernatural. I was brought up reading Carl Sagan and looking out my telescope on clear summer nights, and discussing all sorts of technological and scientific phenomenon with my family. A member of a Catholic family that was not very serious about church at all, and as a teenager I came out of my “shell” and ,to put it mildly, I made a little rucous. But I discovered the hard way what it is to ignore sin, by useing the excuse of “no one really knows what is true, so why should I care?” and recieveing the consequences. I was sinning and not stopping, and I began to be under spritual attack. It is extremely hard to convey how it was to battle the figure that was attacking me, but it went along these lines, I was crushed by a black shadowy figure in my soul, a complete molestation, where I was the size of a pin head, and with the pastor praying beside me, I was able to reach to the light in the pitch darkness, and the Lord Jesus Christ pulled me out of the figures grasp and completely inundated my soul with light. It was absolutely no contest, Our Lord Jesus Christ is all powerful, no exceptions. He is the way and the light, I have seen it, and nothing can compare with His glory, or for that matter even fathom Him. Please understand that He is Our Lord and Saviour and that He does love you, before you need a shakeing like I recieved.

  91. Hearing about these experiences and living through them are two different things. Somebody very close to me suffered from demonic possesion and beat it. Some will say i’m crazy but they werent there those nights i was alone with him. Those nights he would speak different languages outside my bedroom door. The feeling i got being in the room with him. I knew it wasnt him speaking. Then it started attacking me. no real harm was ever done except for the sheer terror it caused me. i knew for sure it was what it was when he was able to pick up a wardrobe closet and throwit across the room. heres the kicker. he suffers from a neurological disorder. i know what your all thinking. thats the reason this all happened. your wrong. he still suffers from his condition but does not have these terrible things happening anymore. he beat it. his condition is still there but nothing of a demonic nature ever presents itself anymore. My belief is that demonic entities can use such disorders to mask themselves for what they truely are. I saw through it. The change in him was too drastic for it to simply be his disorder. so to all the skeptics…….try living through the experience and then try to explain it. i’ll bet you will believe then.

  92. I am human, I admit, I have spent a long time reading these comments b/c I wanted to see what others thought. My praises for those who spoke up with dignity…esp. Father Kespo. I don’t think I’m special in any kind of way, but I do think that there are way too many non-believers that give Satan permission to attack. Whether they do it on purpose is between them and God. But I have had strange experiences – good and bad – my entire life. Yes, I am one of those people who “see dead people”. I am deeply Spiritual but I refuse to claim any religion. I believe in God and Jesus Christ and all of the sacrifices made for us. Please allow me to share just one of hundreds of experiences I have had in my lifetime.

    I was living in a house in Minnesota with a man and his 2 children and my 2 children. The daughter resented us being there so the house had her negative energy…she was also a teenager and they have high energy vibrations. Not only that but the man, himself, ended up being a sadist and pedophile – unbeknownst to me ( I am not a mind-reader). Bizarre things began happening almost immediately upon our arrival. The Soul of an old woman in an outbuilding of his kept warning me about “that house”. I saw the Souls of children in one of his barns and they all warned me to get out of “that house”. There is too much to tell in great detail, but I will be as brief as possible.

    First, my daughters’ cat was stomped by a horse which put her into a depression. I could understand the depression, but the following events were unexplainable. The next day she awoke with red-streaked hair (she has dark brown hair) that only her brother and I could see. Noone else saw this but us. The next day I filled the bath for her and she took a long bath in my tub. When she got out she laid on the bed next to me and fell asleep. I was stroking her hair when she opened her eyes and told me “Go, f+++ yourself, Mother”. Then her eyes closed and she returned to the relaxed state of sleep she had been in. She had no recollection of this and was horrified when asked why she did this. However, she did tell me that she had had a strange dream while she was in the tub that a little girl came to her and told her she had been murdered in “that house”. That was why she got out of the tub and got into bed with me. She was terrified b/c she said she wasn’t even sleepy – she just dropped off into this weird dream. Not to mention the fact that she has NEVER called me “Mother” before in her entire life.

    The very next day I drew water in that tub and as the tub was filling I had this bizarre urge to copulate with my crucifix. For a brief moment my hand thrust it inside me and I begged God for help. It stopped. I felt like I was trapped in this black fog and went to take a bath to calm my frazzled mind.

    I got into the tub and was immediately pushed under the water by an unseen hand. I could feel the pressure on my face. The man I was living with came in and tried for several minutes to get me out of the water then finally did. He carried me to the bed and started to ask me what the heck happened when I was picked up like a rag doll and my head was banged against the headboard repeatedly until I passed out.

    While I was getting my brains knocked around the man said I said “The sow is mine!” then I began screaming to God for help. I awoke to him dressing me and saying we needed to get the heck out of that house. As we were heading for the door I saw this huge black mass and it told me I was going nowhere. He didn’t see it. I told him it was there and wasn’t going to let me by so he grabbed my hand and we ran towards the door. It grabbed my hair and threw me to the ground knocking me out cold. I awoke out in his front yard in the snow – seems he carried me there.

    My children and I moved out immediately and there were never any more problems like that in that house. I don’t know what accosted me but it was NOT my imagination. I later found out about him being a sadist and pedophile. Before that happened, I was POSITIVE nothing like that could ever happen to me or my children as we were devout Christians. I now know anything is possible.

    Before you go passing judgments, know this, I had no bad feelings for living with this man so guilt was not there. He was unable to have intercourse and the relationship, I felt, was a solid one. I didn’t care about his health issues as I wasn’t into sex anyway. We were supposedly into the relationship to nurture each other. My intentions were genuine; I don’t think his were. It bothers me to this day to think he might have been interested in my daughter…I’ll never know for sure, though. And the minute we got out of that town my daughters’ hair returned to it’s normal colour.

  93. Despite the official recant by the Church, Miss. Michel was indeed possessed. We must not underestimate the role Satan has in manipulating public opinion. Miss. Michel did not die of starvation, she died of a fleeing demon spirit. It is very shocking to the body to have a spirit be jolted out by the power of God. Many times have I witnessed near deaths in exorcisms in Africa and South East Asia. It is a shame that man’s law tends to brush spiritual questions aside. The devil makes his mark on the world everyday. If we do not prepare our souls, we face breaking bread with a zillion demons forever.

  94. I have spent about 20 minutes just reading through some of the comments here.

    Outraged by the attitude the majority of people have in this forum, over their beliefs. It’s not hard to calm yourself down and simply state your own opinion without needing to abuse others for their opinions.

    I for one am not sure what to believe. I find the supernatural fascinating, and agree that science cannot explain everything.

    But this forum has got to a point of mindless whittering on, and some people need to calm down.

    It was commented on before, which i agree with totally, that this is

    1. a movie. – these are made purely for entertainment, and we see them to be entertained.

    if it’s going to offend you so much before it is even released, are you going to see it? I bet you still will.

    2. A movie ‘Based’ on true events. – Based. They can change anything the bloody want to once they say ‘Based’. They WILL change anything they want to, just in order to make a more entertaining film for people to watch.

  95. Having read with interest people’s different opinions on whether demonic possession is real or not and whether demons exist in this world I would like to express my opinion on the matter. Satan and his army of demons are alive and well in this world. Just look around you. Look at all the war and famine and disease and bigotry and hatred. Look at all the murders , rapes , crimes against children ,marriage failures , sexual exploitation. This is not based on God’s Word. Man is weak and easily influenced. We live in a society of false pleasures and weak souls. The fallen angels seek to win souls to eternal damnation. They hate God and try to turn man against Him and His Word. They put thoughts in people’s heads and tempts us with ungodly things ( lust , greed , pride …. ). I believe that demons can influence people and I believe in rare cases they can actually possess someone. Many people are actually diagnosed with some sort of mental or physical illness that could explain these so called possessions but you have to ask yourself this question . Who is behind all this mental and physical illness anyway ? Surely it is not from God. Satan likes to wreak havoc and see us suffer. God loves His children and would never inflict pain or suffering on His children . He sent His Son , Jesus Christ to suffer and die for our sins. Jesus Himself was tempted by Satan. It is a battle between Heaven and Hell. There will always be the temptations and oppression because Satan hates those who follow Christ and will attack those who follow God’s Word in any way he can ( illness , depression , lust , greed … ) but if we remain strong in Christ and do not allow him or his demons to influence us , then he will lose the battle. Do not give Satan any credit. He is weak and he has no power over you unless you allow it. Pray and follow God’s Word and no demon can touch you. That doesn’t mean they won’t try. I believe that Annaliese probably did have a mental and physical illness that was influenced by Satan being that she was a devout Christian and he attacked her in any way he could. Sadly , she lost her life but I do believe her soul was saved. I am sure Hollywood has exagerrated some of the events of this case to make the movie more enticing but I believe that demons do exist and we need to recognize them for what they are …. slayers of souls.

  96. oh by the way phil this is not a racist possession lmao and she is not some white girl she is german. there are lots of documented possesions of all walks of life including black.

    my gosh some times people with their racist antics really tick me off

    bree

  97. how can someone do 600 genuflections have their knees ruptured from epilepsy ahhhh no!!!

    i am christian and believe in possession how can you be christian and believe in good but not evil the only thing is why are they not happening more frequently?

    it completely scares me i hate to believe its true but how can it not be?

    its a hard topic becuase some people do not want to believe that something so aweful can happen to them or anyone else.

    i want to see the movie but i think im a bit scared!!!

  98. “The last day of the Exorcism Rite was on June 30th, 1976, and Anneliese was suffering at this point from Pneumonia. She was also totally emaciated, and running a high fever. Exhausted and unable to physically perform the genuflections herself, her parents stood in and helped carry her through the motions. “Beg for Absolution” is the last statement Anneliese made to the exorcists. To her mother, she said, “Mother, I’m afraid.” Anna Michel recorded the death of her daughter on the following day, July 1st, 1976, and at noon, Pastor Ernst Alt informed the authorities in Aschaffenburg. The senior prosecutor began investigating immediately.”

    I belive that the only people that really know what happened to her are Anneliese Michel and the actual 40 recordings of her exorsims. The Devil Excists weather we belive in him or not, he is evil that is all around us, in our daily lives trying to figure out ways to destroy our lives. We will never really know what happened to Anneliese Michel, the only way to find out what happened is to find Magazines, and the audio-tapes.

  99. hey! I think there really was a possiens . .. .because how would you prove the behavior and the change in her voice, im not talking about her normal voice im talking about how her voice changed to a deep, scary vocie!

  100. Ugh.. for all those people who are going “We aren’t to sure what happened!” the Catholic Church itself declared she wasn’t possessed years ago. The fact that they admitted to something that is potentially damaging should tell you there is little arguement for her being posessed.

  101. Wow – if nothing else – this is all fascinating reading. I was brought up Baptist, and consider myself a well-rounded, fairly intelligent individual. On the surface, Anneliese Michel’s predicament could be explained away as mental issues. But if you dig further, there has to be more involved. I believe in God & I certainly believe in the devil. Someone alluded earlier to the fact that the devil is all around us. How could anyone possibly argue with that? I fervently believe that the devil inserts himself into our lives in very subtle ways, then before we know it, those ‘little’ things have taken us over. Your first happy drunken experience, trying a little meth, a snort of coke, flirting with your neighbor’s wife. These things then turn into a drunk driving crash that killed someone, a crack-addicted mother losing custody of her children, a full blown affair that breaks up a family or results in a murder-suicide. The devil is very smart & knows how to get his foot into our front door. I can picture him laughing with glee at the comments that say he doesn’t exist. That’s exactly what he wants us to think. And all the while he’s slowly & methodically destroying lives. I respect scientists, but some are incredibly narcissistic to think science can explain everything. Don’t we all know someone who’s experienced something unexplainable? I know people who got a ‘strange’ feeling the exact same moment a love one died. Or someone who dreamed someone died, then it happened. My aunt has a spine-tingling story about seeing a UFO in the 70’s. I know people who swear they’ve been in a haunted house. With all that being said, I do believe Anneliese was possessed. I wouldn’t be arrogant enough to say she wasn’t. And I hope she finally got to rest in peace.

  102. sure there was an exorcism here in the united states…..in st louis missouri, i first heard about it from my kids dad….not sure when it took place but there was a movie not long ago about a little boy who was possessed and it fit what i was told…this movie had been on tv which i had seen this year….i wish i could remember the title but maybe one of you perhaps seen it……they boarded up the area in which he was kept…..noone ever mentioned this boy again and the movie excorcist was based on this…..so yes indeed there was a demonic possession here and it was never mentioned again.

  103. Sorry for changing the subject, But I read a post earlier where someone mentioned that we never hear about any posessions happening in America. We do have denomic phenomenon here in America. Do you all remember the movie “The Entity?” It came out in 1983. It is a TRUE STORY. The woman was Not posessed but she was physically attacked and raped by denomic apparations. ( a entity). The womans real name is Carlotta Moran she lived in Culver City,California. There are documented facts from scientists,parapsychologists and several credible bystanders who have witnessed her attacks. In a 10 week documented investigation she was physically attacked and raped 15 times. The 15 attacks have been videotaped. This woman has moved from city to city and to this day is still being attacked by these denomic apparations. Who knows? She could even be a neighbor down the street. Her 16 year old son was also attacked while trying to help his mother during one of her attacks. This is a TRUE story. Please read up on it if in doubt. Better yet rent the DVD. It has been years since the movie was released so you could probably rent it for 99 cents. So, there are demons here at work in America as well.

  104. My apologies..though I didn’t know how to give credit since I found the article from someone’s post on another blog who didn’t give credit either, so i had no idea where it was from..I just thought it handy to have it posted for the people who were interested, not like i’m saying i wrote it myself. Sorry again =)

  105. I’ve heard them. They’re frightening and sad. This movie disgusts me. Klingenburg will never be the same after this movie. I find it repugnant that her family must suffer this insult.

  106. Here’s a link were you can hear a real exorcism. It’s not Annaliese Michel. Also, the audio is not really good.

    True or not, it’s not for the sensitive ones…

    paranormal.about.com/library/bl_exorcism_recording.htm

  107. SRY, of course i meant THX to Molly for crediting me and Caitlin with not crediting ;)

    And i hope with this article are Natashas questions answered.

    This article only represents the things that happened which were proofed. There is no evidence Anneliese was possessed or was not possessed.

    I as a fan will watch this movie for what it is. A movie. But i thought the film will get more drama than another horror movie “passed on a real story”.

    Greets,

    MacReady

  108. i have not seen the movie yet and i planned to when it comes out next week…..i do believe in all that is evil….how else would you explain all the bad that is going on in our world? evil begets evil and that is why we have crime against women and children…im a newspaper carrier and i deliver a newspaper to a house that has 666 as its address…..i do not like delivering here and decided to toss the paper instead of tossing it to his porch from the vehicle but he complained the next day so im back at tossing the paper to his porch….i cross myself several times until we’re away from that house….upon leaving one day i noticed that there was a huge rock in the ground near his porch and it turned out to be the form of a head that is in the ground up to its nose….that gave me the willys….i have also seen gargoyles near people houses they are relatively small and one in particular looks quite devilish…it scares me to know that its near my feet when i walk past it….i know im psyching myself out but it still makes my heart pound…peace to all of you and GOD bless….dont take this movie too seriously just remember it is based on a true story and not a docudrama….let annilise rest in peace and say prayers for her and her family.

  109. The bible verifies demonic possession, so those of you that follow the Word of God –

    for those of you like me, who may believe in Jesus, but aren’t 100% “into” the bible, and study science know that the best science is still lacking in proof that demonic possession DOESN’T exist. There is no PROOF either way. However, this movie is based upon real life events… not just mental illness. I think many lines were crossed (no pun) and what is sad is that in 1970 a girl died because we ‘don’t know’….

  110. To whomever posted the comment using the name “Free your minds” I want you to know that God loves you and He sent his ONLY son to die for you so that you can have life (everlasting and more abundant life). To everyone else you should all know that Jesus loves you, He created you, He formed you in your mother’s womb, AND He knows every hair on you head. I challenge you all who don’t believe in Him to ask Him to show you that He is real, I promise you He will.

    I’m not some “over-zealous relgious freak”, I am simply the product of grace and mercy. I know first hand that God loves me and I want the same for you all. We don’t have to go through this life lonely and void of hope. All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

    [email protected]

  111. I have had some really disturbing paranormal experiences in my life, and have actually been slapped in the fact by what I believe to have been a malevolent spirit. Hence, there is no doubt in my mind that demonic possession does exist. Its amusing how skeptics think that science has to prove something for it to be necessarily true. The truth is that there is a lot of phenomena out there that cannot be explained by science, hence the term paranormal. Open your minds up people, it won’t kill you, unless your arrogant pride is getting in the way, or perhaps your pseudo-intelligence!

  112. Apparantly there are 40 audio tapes that contain the recordings of the actual exorcism. Many of you are right, it takes a great deal of things for the Catholic Church to approve an exorcism. I myself am a Catholic, so I know that it isn’t just something that our priests go around using for just anything. Something must have been horribly wrong with the girl that science couldn’t explain. Her Nuerologist was the one that told her to seek the help of the Church after she confided that she was seeing devilish faces during her daily prayers. When her parents originally consulted the Church they actually told them to keep her on the medication and continue with her treatment. Eventually, her condition worsened to the point that an exorcism permit was granted. Basically, I’m saying that it isn’t like the Catholic Church just grabbed her and said “Ok let’s exorcise a demon!” This case is probably one of the most studied cases of exorcism. Another, is the case the movie The Exorcist was based on. In that case, a Lutheran boy was referred to a Catholic priest after his pastor witnessed many strange occurances while monitoring the boy; this included an incedent when the boy was laying on a pallet on the floor sleeping when he was suddenly pulled under the bed.

  113. I have epilepsy and I believe in possesion. I facts are this no one but God and Emily knows for sure if she was possessed. If she was she is safe now. God has her in his pertection and the devil can not harm her now. Why things happened the way the did no one knows I just dont want people to gain from Emily or her familys pain. However we have to remember her family had to sign a paper to release the story so they gave to rights for this movie to be released. They are more then likely making money off this movie also. So we all need to keep that in mind that they are the ones that probably told the story in the first place. I for one have read the story out of the paper and I have read the book and I will go watch the movie knowing it is just a movie and go from there.

    God Bless.

  114. Here’s the story I think someone asked for..

    It all began about 1968, when Anneliese (a very religious nurtured girl, who was born on the 21st of September 1952) has an insult. Paralyzed and shaking she can√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t call her three sisters or her parents (Josef and Anna) for help. A Neurologist at the Psychiatric Clinic W√ɬºrzburg diagnosed Epilepsy Type “Grand Mal”.

    Depressions, often occurring after those Epilepsy Attacks, have not been recognized.

    After a long stay at the Hospital, she begins to see devilish grimaces during her daily praying. In the fall of 1970 Anneliese returned to school, and while other girls live the freedom of the 70s, she starts believing to be possessed. She can√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t find another reason for the grimaces. Now also voices are following her, saying that Anneliese will “stew in hell”. The Depressions get stronger and stronger and Anneliese doesn√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t see any reason for the meetings at the Doctors, because they don√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t bring a relief. Just once, does she tell a Doctor about the “Demons”, which even give orders to her now. But the gap between known Medicine and Catholic Ideology is too big to get her problems considered.

    In the summer of 1973 her parents ask different Pastors for an Exorcism. The Catholic Chaplains reject and recommend continuing the medication on the now twenty-year-old Anneliese. The proof for a possession (Infestatio) is strictly structured, and before not all criterions are fulfilled, the Bishop can’t approve an Exorcism. Aversions against religious objects, speaking in languages the person never learned, and supernatural powers are just some of them.

    Pastor Ernst Alt, supervising Anneliese at that time, asked the Bishop of Würzburg for the Permit to perform an Exorcism on Anneliese Michel in 1974. His request was also rejected, so he recommends Anneliese an even more religious Lifestyle. But the attacks don’t disappear. At her parents’ house in Klingenberg, she insults, beats, and bites the family members. She doesn’t eat, because the demons don’t allow her to. Anneliese sleeps at the stone floor, eats Spiders, Flies and Coal. She even drinks her own Urine. For hours, she yells through the house. Anneliese breaks Crucifixes, destroys paintings of Jesus and demolishes Rosaries. Running thru the house, tearing the clothes from her body and urinating on the floor is nothing unusual anymore. She even commits self-mutilation.

    In September 1975, after an exact Verification, the Bishop of W√ɬºrzburg, Josef Stangl, assigns Father Arnold Renz and Pastor Ernst Alt with the order, to perform “The Great Exorcism” on Anneliese Michel. The basis for this ritual is the “Rituale Romanum”, a still valid Canon Law from the 17th century. Pastor Alt and Father Renz try to save Anneliese from, in the meantime over 6 individuals (Lucifer, Judas Iscariot, Nero, Cain, Hitler and Fleischmann, a disgraced Frankish Priest from the 16th century, and some other “Damned”), which manifested thru her. From September √¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢75 till July √¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢76, one to two sessions a week were held. Sometimes her attacks were so strong, that she had to be hold down by three men, or they had to chain her up. Between those sessions in her parents√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ house, Anneliese has some time without any attacks, in which she goes to school, makes her final examinations at the Pedagogic Academy in W√ɬºrzburg and goes to church – just like she used to live before.

    But the attacks don√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t stop. The young woman gets unconscious and paralyzed more often. The Exorcism continues over weeks and months, always saying the same specified prayers and incantations, over and over again. Sometimes the parents are present, or her sisters. Even a married couple, that claims of having “discovered” Anneliese. Over several weeks, she denies every food. Her knees are burst, because of the six-hundred Genuflections she does obsessive during the Exorcisms. During the Exorcism there were over forty audio tapes recorded, to log the possession.

    The last day of the Exorcism Rite is the 30th of June 1976. Anneliese is now also suffering from Pneumonia, totally emaciated and having high temperature. But she can√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t waive doing the Genuflections. Her parents even help her doing them. “Beg for Absolution.√¢‚Ǩ¬ù is the last sentence Anneliese says to the Exorcists. To her mother she says: “Mother, I√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢m afraid.√¢‚Ǩ¬ù Anna Michel recorded the death of her daughter on the next day, the 1st of July 1976. At Noon, Pastor Ernst Alt informs the prosecuting authorities in Aschaffenburg. The Senior Prosecutor began investigating.

    A short time before these events, William Friedkin√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s “The Exorcist” came to the cinemas in Germany (1974), and started a paranormal Hysteria all over the land. Psychiatrist all over Europe reported of an increase of obsessive ideas at their patients. For the Prosecutors, the factual situation is more than bizarre. And it took almost 2 years, until the “Klingenberg Case” was brought to court. Anneliese√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s parents and the 2 Exorcists were accused of negligent homicide. There were only two questions to answer. What caused the death of Anneliese Michel, and who was responsible?

    The cause of death, as diagnosed by the Forensics: “Anneliese starved to death√¢‚Ǩ¬ù! If the Accused would have begun with forced feed, one week before her death, Anneliese√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s life could have been saved. Her sister told in front of the court, that Anneliese didn√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t want to go to a Mental House, sedated and forced to eat. The Exorcists tried to prove the presence of the demons by playing the tapes they recorded. There were such strange dialogues, like two of the demons arguing, which one of them has to leave Anneliese√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s body first. The demon that called himself Hitler talked with a Frankish Accent (Hitler was born Austrian). None of those present during the Exorcisms ever had a doubt that these weren√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t demons.

    The Psychiatrists, which have been ordered by the court, talked about “Doctrinaire Induction”. Saying that the Priests have offered Anneliese the contents of her psychotic behavior. Consequentially she later accepted the behavior of a, from a demon possessed person. Also an unsettled sexual development, along with the diagnosed Temporal Lobe Epilepsy influenced Anneliese√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Psychosis.

    The judgment was, although the parents and the chaplains were adjudged guilty, not as hard as expected. All of the accused were sentenced to six months jail on probation, because of manslaughter resulting from negligence and omitted First Aid. The accused could have helped by taking care of the medical treatment the girl needed. But instead of doing so they aggravated the bad constitution, by using naïve Practices.

    A Commission of the German Bishop-Conference later declared that Anneliese Michel was not possessed. Anneliese’s body didn’t even find peace after the girl’s death. Because of some believe in miracles, it was said that her body doesn’t decay, her corpse gets exhumed one and a half years after the burial. The final result was that the body decayed, as every other dead body. Till now her grave is a place of pilgrimage, for Rosary-praying pilgrims, who still think that Anneliese Michel had bravely fought the Devil.

    In 1999 Cardinal Medina Est√ɬ©vez presented Journalists in Vatican-City with the new Version of the “Rituale Romanum” that was used by the Catholic Church since 1614. He presented them “De exorcismis et supplicationibus quibusdam” better know as “The Exorcism for the upcoming Millennium”. After more than ten years of editing, the Pope approbated the new Exorcism Rite, which is now allowed for worldwide usage. The change was initiated by the death of Anneliese Michel. The German Bishop-Conference demanded to ultimately abolish the “Rituale Romanum”. The Vatican answered in his own way, with a new form of Exorcism. More then twenty years after Anneliese Michel died.

  115. Exactly the movie is bogus. How come it’s always a little white girl getting possessed? It ain’t never a brother or a sister. Always a little white girl. So, explain this if people really are possessed by the devil why is it never in america? Is the devil racist? Come on…it’s all just a bunch of bullshit. Nobody gets possessed.

  116. you are all retarted if you believe this garbage. This type of stuff doesn’t happen. Somebody just made all of this bullshit up. Did any of you hear about this a few years ago before this gay movie came out? Hell no. It’s all made up in Hollywood some dipshit put some bogus story up on the internet so people would go see the movie. People do not really get possessed ask a preacher about it. Demonic possession was just something people made up to explain why people had what we now know as disabilities. Trust me I have worked in the health care field and some of them you would think they were possessed when they start attacking you. What ever point is the movie is bogus.

  117. While reading the posts here I’ve noticed that alot of you are all like “No Deamons are not real you cannot be possesed” and so on. But to you I say, have you been there? have you met one of these people who they say have been possesed by a deamon? probably not. At the end of the day its a little funny how all those who are around that person in question like Anneliese Michel ALL say that they are possessed. Yes we can sit here and say oh its a mental illness and so forth. But in cases like Anneliese where medication and science cannot explain why she is suffering these illnesses and medicine is not helping at all, how can you still sit there and say it is 100% not demonic possesion?

    Yes some times people will think its possesion when in fact it is a mental illness. I for one know that myself I’ve had alot of symptoms which people described and still think I was possesed but I really had an illness which has been cured. But some science is not perfect what we know in science is mostly theory which in constantly changing. Science cannot prove that God or deamons do not exist, yes they say that the universe was created via the big bang but can they prove that God didnt do that? NO can you prove that God DID do that? NO yes the Bible says so and it is a very old book but there are hundreds of religions all with there own creation stories and accounds of demonic possessions. Religion is far older than science this does not mean its right but it DOES mean that you cannot just dissmiss it just because science gives you a better explination of how it happenes.

    People say its not real because it relys on faith, but what do you call believing in a theory that has not been proven? isnt that faith? is science really a technological religion? the belief that everything has a reason and explination?

    We cannot deny these cases, we cannot prove they are real but we cannot prove they are not real. Yet the is more evidance to support possesions then there is to dissprove them.

  118. I think this whole sbject is just amazing. I havent found very good sites though. A lot of them are about the movie and its previews and what not. I would really like to know the real story. And I am going to acually do a report on this topic. I think people should really speak the truth about Anneliese Michel because what happened is real nad i want to know the real facts, not crumy movie things. Please if u know any sites with good info please please post them. It would help me with my work so much. Thank you

  119. Ok. To all the individuals who are so pressed into skeptisim that considering something as possesion to be ridiculous- time to modify your attitudes. I can say that i’m square down the middle of this ongoing debate about whether or not these things exsist. I don’t think anyone is in the position to make a statement which condems a belief others may have. Catholics are raised to believe in the devil, believe in possesion, or the healing power of prayer. Others are raised to be spiritual but not neccesarily devout to any one religion. I think that in regards to this ‘movie’- I don’t think anyone can really know what happened to poor anneliese, it could have been a mental illiness that drove her to do these things, or it could have definatley been a possesion. Not to long ago, there was an article about a church somehwere in europe that allowed 6 nuns and a priest to preform an exorcism on one of the nuns. I might be a bit foggy on the details but the meaning is there, She was 23-and she died. They’ve taken those people to court and they have been sentenced to jail time. I think a lot of you are correct when you say that certain things get taken out of context or over played, but then there’s always that possibility. There have been plenty of documented occurences which, like one of our friends here has mentioned, science can’t explain.

    What do you do then?

    What should you think or believe?

    I don’t think this movie will be that great, but i’m sure like a lot of you, I enjoy scary movies simply because it creates a controlled enviorment where one can be scared and not die. HAHA.

    Right also, to those of you who choose to use vulgar language-it lowers your I.Q.

    No really.

    I look forward to the times where i’m in a situation and something eerie happens that i can’t explain. I don’t know about the rest of you, but the things i don’t understand give me a drive to figure them out.

    And this is something i don’t quite fully understand.

    Catch you on the flip side

  120. And before everyone gets pissed… im talking to diane ‘I TALK IN CAPS BECAUSE MY WORD IS GOD’ —everyone has heard of religion already, diane… and it’s not really like they tell you in chat rooms: caps isnt REALLY yelling…

  121. Holy crap. I think way too many people have way too much time on their hands… This is yet another Hollywood-style raping of a true life event, much like 90% of the meant-for-idle-morons fare that graces the movie screen in the last 20 years. What really interests me is how EVERYTHING becomes a theosophical debate over God, Christianity, and the kind of people who believe in it or do not. It is a movie… you want a documentary, go to a friggin film festival. You want god, go to church. If you want a movie, go to the damn movie theatre… read it slow, zealots, so you don’t get confused.

  122. Religion is for the unwashed masses who want to believe in something that is better than them but is not real.

    Possesion?

    I don’t think so.

    Mental illness or something like that – very likely.

  123. Mankind in his insatiable search for divine knowledge has discarded all biblical teachings. Realizing that the strength of religion is the repression of knowledge, all structures of religion have collapsed.

    Life prays for death in the wake of the horror of these revelations. It was never imagined how graphic the reality that would be known as the end of creation would manifest itself.

    We believe all this chaos and atrocity can be traced back to one single event. We hold these truths to be painfully self-evident:

    All men are not created equal

    Only the strong will prosper

    Only the strong will conquer

    Only in the darkness of Christ have I realized

    God Hates Us All

    Drones since the dawn of time

    Compelled to live your sheltered lives

    Not once has anyone ever seen

    Such a rise in pure hypocrisy

    I’ll instigate I’ll free your mind

    I’ll show you what I’ve known all this time

    God hates us all

    You know it’s true God hates this place

    You know it’s true he hates this race

    Homicide – Suicide

    Hate heals, you should try it sometime

    Strive for peace with acts of war

    The beauty of death we all adore

    I have no faith distracting me

    I know why your prayers will never be answered

    God hates us all

    He fuckin’ hates me

    Pessimist, terrorist targeting the next mark

    Global chaos feeding on hysteria

    Cut throat, slit your wrist, shoot you in the back fair game

    Drug abuse, self abuse searching for the next high

    Sounds a lot like hell is spreading all the time

    I’m waiting for the day the whole world fuckin’ dies

    I never said I wanted to be God’s disciple

    I’ll never be the one to blindly follow

    Man made virus infecting the world

    Self-destruct human time bomb

    What if there is no God would you think the fuckin’ same

    Wasting your life in a leap of blind faith

    Wake the fuck up can’t ignore what I say

    I got my own philosophy

    I hate everyone equally

    You can’t tear that out of me

    No segregation – seperation

    Just me in my world of enemies

    I never said I wanted to be God’s disciple

    I’ll never be the one to blindly follow

    I’ll never be the one to bear the cross – disciple

  124. I really enjoyed reading all these entries about possessions & Anneliese Michel. I myself suffer from Epilepsy since I was 8 yrs old. Iam 32 now. I never in my life while having a seizure spoken in tongues…. Or have I ever wanted to drink my urine or eat spiders (GOD FORBID!!). but the case here isnt Epilepsy.. its the fact that she also suffered from a mental illness. still that doesnt prove anything. some things were unexplainable scientificly or medically, it was something was more evil. I believe in possessions and yes demons are real. The demons that possess do so because they thirst for a body. A body is a chance to repent & go to heaven. These demons never were given the opportunity to have a body. They use us like a freeway to the kingdom of heaven. The reason they know of “hystoric characters” is because demons have no “time” they live knowing the past, present, & future! and they utilize this for their convinience. i just hope that she is resting now. i cant even imagine weighing 68 lbs… poor girl.

  125. Well, like is said above, Science nor religion can explain the unexplainable and all have thier own ways of interpreting the unseen and unheard of. I believe that only religion can put into terms of what really took and takes place when a body goes sporadic and looses all human emotion and basically becomes satanic. Science cannot explain the reason why those who are satanic speak in toungue to which only some may understand. Men of the cloth have been doing exorcisms for a long time and I am sure that by now they know a lot more than what people give them credit for. We are not talking about ordinary people who just decide one day they are going to go out and try to take satan out of someone who they think has it in their body. We are talking about priests who have done thier homework and are well aquainted with the paranormal. Unless science can explain the devil better than religion I suggest that we leave it to the professionals. For they know way more than we can comprehend. Those who have siezures cannot talk while having them any professional doctor can tell you that. For all you morons out there that believe it can happen then why do you fear having your toungues swallowed or the fear of falling on or into something. My point is made. Those who have siezures should open your eyes and see that. You may urinate on yourself, but speaking and putting things into your body is another. I don’t believe you have to be weak to have something paranormal happen to you, I believe it is just something that takes someone by surprise. In order to judge you have to know the facts, the facts are that the devil consumed her body and thoughts. That is just the point. And the thing about Hollywood is that they made money because people like stories, whether they be true or false. I am sure many on here seen the exorcist, or even this movie. The fact is no one knows, they can just add their oppinion which all have a right to. So don’t hate others views, everyone has a right, even those who don’t know what they are talking about.

  126. I hope what I wrote before on my experiences has helped some understand how mental illness was most probably the cause of the problems with Anneliese Michel and not something supernatural.

    There has never been any proof af any supernatuaral event like this ever occuring. Supernatural stories like this are often told as anecdotes with little or no hard evidence to back them up. We hear all the events that science is not able to prove as “anecdotes” and never as hard evidence. There was another case in the 40’s about a young boy who was apperantly possesed too. Again, stories were told that things levitated and he spoke in other languages but these are rumors that grew later after the fact. There was never any hard evidence. Stuff like the writing on his chest could all be explained by physical means. He most probably wrote on himself with a sharp object. Scratching on the skin has a delayed reaction in wich the scaratches swell up after a few minutes and it gives the illusion that they are being “formed” slowy when in fact its just the skin swelling gradually.

    Yes, Anneliese’s event was recorded on audio tape but after a lengthy trail with experts present there was NOTHING in those tapes that proved anything supernatural occured. She never spoke in a language she didn’t know, or there is never any film of anything “levitating” or defiying the laws of physics. Nothing. Her Hitler persona (and that is a more accurate charecterization, not demon) spoke in the wrong accent. Anneliese’s black eyes and nose were probably due to her eating coal in combination with starvation.

    My point is that armed with these audio tapes and photos the preists had every chance to prove thier case to a court of law. Ultimatly the jury was not hung, it was not even close. It agreed on charging them with MANSLAUGHTER.

    Back to the movie, these film makers have an unique oportunity here to do something “responsible” and “educational” as well as entertaining. Look at movies like “Rain Man” and “A Beautiful Mind”.

    Nobody knew anything about Autism until Rain Man.

    Those movies are great examples of responsible film-making and are entertaining as well.

    I enjoy films like The Exorsist but they are entertaining “fantasies” and I take them as such.

    Anneliese’case was very real but simply a case of misdiagnosed mental illness and criminal neglegence and needs to be portraid as such.

    Again, here is a good “earthly” account of the real story if you haven’t read it yet :

    http://horror-movies.ca/horror_1253.html

    -Martin

  127. First off, why are we insulting eachother? (And the insulting each other is really really pathetic.. especially when you don’t know what happened, and when you don’t know the person you’re insulting.)I mean, would you go and tell your buddies, “hey, this guy posted something really stupid on this site about this possessed chick and I called him an idiot.” I don’t think so.. it sounds stupid.

    Okay, when you insult hollywood for trying to make money off things, you have to think about this: Doctors can make money on treating the ill. Some doctors don’t even spend 5 minutes with a patient before diagnosing the problem and sending them home with pills. Then to find out that His diagnosis was wrong. The patient got screwed the first time, but the doctor still got paid, regardless if he was wrong or not. He could have just B.Sed the whole thing. Then lawyers and politicians only out for personal gain at the expense of others. People will scam people if they have the chance. You can’t really blame hollywood; it doesn’t support itself. So before you say bad things about hollywood and film makers, think of your favorite movie. Some of the most famous horror film makers, such as G.A.Romero, are good people. You have no way of knowing what their intentions were when they were making a film. Plus, it would be hypocritical to criticize hollywood and people who want to watch the movie. I mean, if watching the movie is perverted, than why are you writing comments? That makes you just as perverted because you have the same hunger to know what happened. I know I do, that’s why I’m here. If wanting to be entertained is perverted, then we all are. How do you know that your favorite love/drama/action/horror movie was done at someone else’s expense? yeah, we feel bad about the girl, but come one, entertainment is entertainment.

    There will always be disputes about Science Vs. religion, and if you go to the official site for “The exorcism of emily rose” they actually state both sides. (and i think someone said that her body doesn’t decay.. that right? How can science explain that?) However, there are a lot of things that science couldn’t explain, but now can. Such as a desease known as cyphillis, who in medieval times people use to believe it was an evil punishment sent down from the devil. Then when philosophers though the world was flat. Or that the sun went around the earth. Even the advancement of evolution. You can’t criticize people for their views on the matter. Differences in opinion make the world go round. Science isn’t advanced enough to explain things, but that doesn’t mean it’s automatically right or wrong by default. Science and religion will always contradict each other. The scripts of christ are not even whole. So when you read your version of the bible, you don’t get the real thing. Some believe that the vatican is hiding the remaining scripts to keep it’s place in this world and to prevent people from abandoning their religion. There will always be things in science that the church can’t explain, and there will always be things in church that science can’t explain.

    Ahem, as for the epilepsy, was she diagnosed with it before or after the possessions occured? And the girl talked in foriegn languages when she was having what scientists call “seizures”, but can epileptics talk when they seize? Nope.Atleast not to my knowledge. And one fact still remains, even if epilepsy does fit the symptoms, what about the foreign langauages? I’ve never known any epileptic to speak itialian, or french, or german, or latin or some other language they don’t know when they sieze. Sometimes things aren’t what they seem. A woman could fall down in her rose garden and mess up her arm, but someone can look at her wounds and say she cut herself. That person could swear by his judgement but still be wrong. It could have looked like epilepsy, but maybe it wasn’t. Plus, the mind is very very complicated. No doctors are professionals in the science of mind. That’s why nothing involving nuerological complications is ever certain. Oh yeah, if Michel staged the whole thing to get attention, it would be pretty dumb right? especially if she was very religious and knew that bearing false witness was and is a sin, and that attention will do her no good if she’s dead.

    I understand that people can stand by their convictions, and say that the church was wrong, or that science is wrong, and that they believe in this and that, but how often do they think about Anneliese Michel?

    There are things documented by the church that science doesn’t explain. Such as stigmata- wounds of christ.

    If you think about it, both sides are right and both sides are wrong, so learn to accept it. You can’t change people’s opinions! You can swear and shout up and down until you’re blue and still not sway them.

    So if you’re religious and believe that Anneliese was possessed, be thankful it didn’t happen to you and yours. And if you’re not religious and you think the whole thing is far-fetched, be happy that science could explain it.

  128. Hello everyone….

    A Hollywood movie based on a true story means there is an event that occurred at some point in history that is noteworthy of being retold. The retelling of the story depends on the person retelling it. Some like to embellish a story and ‘inflate’ it, others wish to be as accurate as possible. It’s human nature. I’m guessing that there was a person who lived during the time period over which this happened, and to a young, vibrant girl that had religious teaching in her life. Then this girl went thru events similar to those illustrated in the movie. I doubt the time period was changed. I’m pretty sure her name was…..that’s obvious right. And I’m guessing other personal things related to the privacy of any living relatives is also secret.

    Ok….now….in this world there is good, and there is evil. Behind the scenes demons do things to try and preoccupy our attention from that of Jesus. Jesus will save you. Jesus will protect and provide for you, and He will forgive your sins…..He died for this reason…..and He will allow you to come into Heaven. Satan will lie and make you think wrongly about life, the world and Jesus. People think that demon possession is always about rotating heads, and projective vomiting. Not so…..demons whisper in your ear all the time……”you want alcohol”…”put $500 on the horses to win”……”go have sex with anything that moves”…..”go steal that bike…..no one will ever find out!”……”that guy flipped you off….go beat him into the ground”…..all bad things…all sinful things…..all evil, and all orchestrated by demons. They all equate to the same, desired end result….eternity in hell. What difference how it’s done?! If it works, and we’re stupid enough to listen to these things then great. It just makes Satan’s work easier I imagine. And as a side note…..from what I have learned and studied about…..hell is an eternal gig. It is a fully conscious 24 hour per day, 7 day per week 365 days per year suffering of every and all kinds. Emotional pain and physical pain. It never stops and there is no break. Sheesh, most people can’t even work an 8 hour day without a break, let alone suffer that long. Ever see someone in the hospital suffering with cancer? Ever lose a love relationship that tears you up inside so much that you lose weight and can’t think straight and always sickened from it? Hell is way, way worse than that, and it’s ongoing. Every day, all day…….you are alone….you suffer loneliness…..you suffer remorse, I imagine you suffer the pain of knowing why you are there as well, but that I am not sure of. You suffer maggot-eating pain….you suffer….always. It *should* scare the heck out of you….it does me. Even on the *chance* there is a hell should be enough to make you try and do god things for others and live a good life here.

    While you go about your day, there are demons plotting….working….trying to make you swear, trying to make you lie, trying to make sexually immoral….trying everything and anything to pat you over to the other road. The bible says that the road to hell is wide and easy, and many will find it, but the road to heaven is very narrow and difficult and few will ever find it.

    Demons may occupy someone in a manner like this movie depicts, but others in some other way. Demon possession is quite real…..they are opportunists, and if there are no opportunities, they *make* them. Would you venture out into the woods where there are say…..bear around. Grizzly bear…or Kodiak beak the big ones….and set up your camp and set all your food and garbage out in your tent, and in the open and uncovered with you while you slept? Hopefully not…..and why? Because a bear would smell that stuff from miles away and come lookin’ for the feast….and while you sleep he’d find the food, and he’d find you too. If you’re not stupid enough to do that (hopefully) then why would you be stupid enough to open yourself up to a demon that has the ability to do almost anything to you? A demo will do god things for you…..they will help you get the hot guy, or the hot babe….or get you a big fat raise, the s-type jag, or the 5,000 sq ft house…….great things…..for now……but it’s a carrot dangling, and most bunnies will follow. It talks about that in the bible too….about temptations. A demon can do good, but the end result is the same….to get you into hell.

    This move and others like it *may* not be as dramatic as depicted….who knows. I have not seen a real possession, but I do have a friend who once worked for the CIA, and apparently from that time met and became acquainted with a guy who does exorcisms for real. Apparently this friend of mine has talked with this guy about it and I guess some are frightful, and others not so much. Use some common sense folks….use your head……listen to Jesus…..read the bible…..a non-denominational bible that doesn’t have man-made ‘addendums’ to it. Believe in Him…..read about Him, try and understand His words and teachings. Do good things for other people. Help them, be kind to them….love people, be giving and unselfish. Things in *this* world *will* disappear for you one day….guaranteed, than what? Than what will you have. If Jesus tells you that He didn’t know you and points you to hell, that’s pretty much it….that’s the end of the story. At that point there will be no turning back….no make up test, no 2nd chance….no reprieve and no forgiveness. It’s hell-bound and man……I can’t even imagine doing that…..lol……no way. So when you look at a movie like this….think about it. This is real……real in that demons can take hold of you…..they do so in various ways. Ways you wouldn’t even be aware of……that’s what makes them so evil. People mistake the fact that evil always does bloody, violent deeds……not so.

    The girl in this movie suffered….hopefully she was steadfast in Jesus. The demons might be able to destroy her body, but not her soul….not if she truly gave it to Christ.

    Think and do good things everyone.

  129. I never understood what possible authority the Catholic church has to “recognize” anything. As a Christian and a hardcore believer I cannot fathom the legality and the pompous, self-righteous arrogance they express in assuming that everything evil —or just everything—must automatically conform to their standards, or it does not exist. If evil is so powerful it must be excised and worried about, what makes them think that they can control it? It’s ridiculous. Demons flee at the name of Jesus. I have seen it. Priests and permits are unnecessary, and the time it took to get them ready probably cost Anneliese Michel her life.

  130. I just want to say that I have bipolar disorder and when I was really manic at one point I thought I was a god. Mental illness can push you to the brink of insanity and I believe that this is what happened to this poor girl. Her mental illness took over and she started to have visions and hallucinations. Mental illness is a cruel way to live life. I live it everyday and I hope it never ever gets to be as bad as it once was.

  131. I agree with Della.

    “The Devil made me do it,” is taking no responsibility for your sins.

    Possession is a free pass.

    Possessed people are always the most devout Christians or Catholics because they read about possessions 24/7. They know the “symptoms”. If reading the bible helped save souls, the devil wouldn’t have entered Anneliese’s body.

    The only other way to explain possession happening ONLY to pious bible readers is that believing in the devil and fearing him more than normal moral folk awakens him & he taps into your fear.

    This gives me the creeps. Just be a normal churchgoer not a OCD Christian. And don’t say his name 24/7!!!!!!!

  132. Im not comeing back to this site for responces. Just listen. From the time I was 13 untill I was 16, I had fell into a depression for no real reason. I am 20 now. Doctors said i was just depressed. Why, I have no idea. But, one night at church, I fell out in the Holy Ghost. That same night a demon came to me as I tried to sleep. It came as a dark shadowy form. He didnt touch me or speak, but he put a fear in me so strong that I could not call out to my parents. All I could do is roll over and hide my face untill I fell asleep. I beleave in GOD and demonic forces. E-mail me if you want to. Trust in GOD, He is your only hope.

    [email protected] (christians only please)

  133. Oh please people…..cut and dry…..There is a God and his only son Jesus died for our sins….The Devil is real..evil is real..Believe the Lord is your saviour, truly believe…ask the lord into your hearts, truly mean it, you wont need a middle man for the Lord will hear your prayer and then you will not have a problem with evil. We will all be judged by God Almighty in the end and in the end heaven is definately the place you’ll want to be.

  134. Della,

    I agree with your post. Christianity and Catholicism is obsessed with the devil. Besides Jesus, he’s our mascot. The anti-mascot like Dracula.

    Why? Even priests admit that most 98% of possession cases are phony. According to Father Gerry O’Collins the other alleged cases illustrate the power of Christian belief. People living in very religious societies will be well versed in the supposed perils of possession and might behave as if taken over by an evil spirit as a way of coping with the society they live in.

    The Church does use the notion of the devil to encourage conversion to Christianity. When exoricisms have been performed, the Church makes sure the public knows possession is out there. During exorcisms, Christian symbols, bible phrases, and holy water are used. This sticks in the publics mind and insults other religions. Is the Church saying that their symbols (weapons) are stronger at fighting the devil? This is almost blasphemous. It is passively aggressively saying no other religion stands a chance at removing demons from bodies. If people see possession as an epidemic, they will learn from movies and books (that repeat Christian themes) to embrace the bible to protect themselves.

    Awesome points about mimicry and promoting fear! Dracula isn’t real either!

  135. I dont know weather I believe in possesion or not so Im not here to critizice those who do believe in it. Im interested in it though. I dont worship the devil and I dont practice any type of religion. I do beieve that anything is possible weather its explainable or not.

    I believe that there are many things out there that are not explainable and what not but to the person who wrote about his dad seeing a little demom with a tail watching him and a lady with a 2 foot tongue? Come on now! I find that really hard to believe.And you just had to add that it had a tail. Give me a break! Have you ever been so sick that you make your self see or believe things? I have. The tongue thing that just sounds like a stereotypical thing to say about being possesed. Watch the Excercist one to many times?

    Almost all these coments on here have made me feel like my IQ has dropped dramatically! I really didnt know there was so many…Idiots out there! People saying they would screw demons and what not! Your the kind of people that need the help. The people who are insulting religion and what not are just as bad. To each his own. Just cause you may not believe in something that someone else does doesnt make it right or wrong. Everyone is entitled to follow there own beliefs weather you agree with them or not.

  136. i don’t believe in witches but i do believe the devil can enter people’s bodies and houses

    —-

    witches are real I am one, im wiccan, we just are not the hollywood type witches u see

  137. I actually got to see this movie last night at the sneak peek and I will say that all of you need to check in with your beliefs. I myself would be forced to label myself Agnostic, not because I’m taking the lazy way out (like most who claim Agnosticism) but because there are so many possibilities.

    The thing about this movie is that it’s NOT centered around the lawyer. She does play the part of a person who is going through the same fence teetering opinions as the audience through the movie. I thought that everything about this movie was genius. It’s not a horror movie. it does have its scary parts, but just enough to make it understandable and justifiable. This is a movie of flashbacks. The trial is very well written and poses great cases from both the medical/scientific standpoints and the religious/spiritual standpoints. And there is no opinion that is forced on you in either direction.

    The actors did a great job in their roles and the story is very well written. Notice how I say the story is well ‘WRITTEN’ not well ‘TOLD’. This is a work of fiction, that’s to be expected from Hollwood, but it does draw influence and plot thread from a real life happening….

    As far as changing the name and location…. Number one, you tell me how many people in this great country of Narcissistic America are going to watch a movie with a bunch of German accents floating around, or even better, subtitles…. Also, has anyone stopped to think that maybe there are laws that are keeping them from making a movie and using the real victim’s name? They brought it up to date and to this country for numerous good reasons. The timing being in the 70s would have made this VERY ‘Exorcist’-ish…. The accents (or subtitles) would have turned off many people from seeing the movie or being able to follow it…. It is BASED on a true story…. It’s not a freakin documentary…. It doesn’t say ‘A True Story’ It’s BASED on one…. And like I said, who’s to say that there aren’t family members of Anneliese Michel that would forbid by law the use of her name? Maybe they were trying to keep an anonymity about the actual story because they knew that people would rape the story and try and get ahold of the actual recordings of this young girl totally exposed and going through something that skeptics will scoff at….

    The one thing that I do fear for this movie is that it’s going to make the public think too much about what they believe in, which to most, is a turn-off and people will probably say that they don’t like the movie. I REALLY hope that this movie doesn’t get swept under the rug. It deserves to be seen….

    Also, to kind of comment on what JoeShmoe said in his post, this is NOT a horror popcorn summer blah blah blockbuster…. In fact, there is a perfect amount of horror used in this film, we’re not talking about the ‘Exorcist’ here folks, this is actually a movie about the trial. Please don’t go into this thinking that it’s going to be ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ or some bullshit like this, this is a serious movie about a serious subject.

    PLEASE… do yourself a favor…. Throw all of your religious bullshit out the window…. Throw all of your cold hard fact bullshit out the window…. Go see this movie and let it tell the story and let the questions that it will pose in your head help you decide what you believe…. There is no right or wrong when it comes to a subject like this….. That’s another thing that this movie is all about……

  138. I would see this movie, but as a seperate film to Anneliese’s case. This is not a biography—just taken from the story some ideas, and worked a ficticious story around it.

    I am currently looking for this book, the Exorcism of Anneliese Michel–if anyone has it, could you email me at [email protected]?

    Also–for the person who said Anneliese was speaking in german tongue–she WAS german. This case is from Germany. SAdly, I only see gross ignorance from the part of the family, and the church giving way to pressures of the family. A NINE month exorcism? Please. They should have taken that poor girl to a hospital. Period.

    I hope her family can forgive themselves, and I hope that Anneliese can rest in peace.

    For those of you who don’t believe in God/Devil, that is fine–but don’t insult those who DO believe.

    From my understanding/research–people who are ‘true’ satanists, are people who don’t worship the devil, but rather live life on their own accord. Not for god. That was what one website said, while I was researching this topic. But, it was rather eerie….everytime I attempted to research this, I would feel as if something was staring at me from behind my back.

    I’d think twice about worshiping the ‘devil’. Negative energy begets negative actions IMHO.

  139. whats a satanist???….this all is very interisting…i wish we could now more about the good vs. evil…satin..exorsicms….the whole 10% of the brain active and 90% inactive…witches and all…very intersiting subjects yet little is known about them..*sigh*

  140. Anneliese Michel was possesed by several demons like Hitler she was found speaking in german tounges….i have a great collection of books and videos that are based on real life exorcisms…I to myself am starting 2 write my own book about demons n their records throughout history i am also a satanist n study different cults…so far ive even seen several exorcism n sum of them i filmed my self..if any one of you would like 2 c sum pix of these or discuss anything similar to this subject pls. feel free 2 send me an email email:[email protected]

    **HELLENE4rmHELL**

    @~~~{~~~~

  141. This comment is BASED on a TRUE STORY.

    I Now believe in the Devil and possesion. One morning last week I woke up with a horrific gut ache. I could hear deep growling demonic sounds

    coming from within me.Suddenly a gastly putrid fetid liquid spewed out

    of my ass. The priests could not help me.But with God’s saving grace and

    a little Peptobismol I was back in fine shape the next day.

  142. I just got home from seeing this movie tonight at a free screening. I knew nothing about Anneliese Michel before seeing it and I’m glad I didn’t, because the stories are similar but definitely different. I would have been disappointed if I was expecting it to be more historical.The movie was entertaining, scary, but definitely not more than loosely based on the true story.

  143. Forgive me for not reading this in it’s entirety. If I am repeating what has already been said, again, I apologize.

    I was just reading about this story on the web, after seeing the trailer for the film. For start, it specifically states “based on actual EVENTS”. That means they can take aspects of Anneliese’s case, and do what they wish. Perhaps as a kindness to Anneliese, they decided NOT to focus on her. A shame to me, as I would like to have seen this as more of a Religion vs Law, and faith vs science, but that’s me(I’m a writer)

    I’m also the daughter of a research scientist, and I can tell you in the time of Anneliese’s findings, the late sixties to mid-seventies, not a lot was known about the brain. Now adays, I do believe Anneliese’s symptoms were of many, including schizophrenia(voices). Having a devout Christian upbringing was just what could affect her delusions/hallucinations. Having been diagnosed with epilepsy also goes to the favor of science.

    Having said this, I also believe she could have been possessed.

    Let me just say here, that in my life, I have experienced MANY paranormal activities. One of which came at a very bad time for myself, in a personally emotional time. I was living out in the country, and the area was fairly unknown to me. I began having horrid nightmares and images of native americans. Every dream I had, I was or something/force was trying to possess me. Of course, science can explain that at the time, I was under severe emotional duress(Oh, I was) but I wasn’t irrational.

    My conclusion–I DO believe that malevolent forces(I see possession as positive/negative energy) take advantage of the weakened. If Anneliese was ill mentally and later physically, she would have been more prone to this. This is just a theory, but also has been validated by a very interested website called The Paranormal Research Center based in the UK. I believe it’s website is http://www.iopr.org.uk.

    THAT will really open a lot of your eyes. It’s a research based website , with forums, and I learnt quite a lot from these people.

    I’m searching now for the book about Anneliese’s case. I am sad for her and her family—they didn’t know. They only knew what their faith did, and I don’t blame the church either. I just blame lack of knowledge.

  144. A friend of mine did say that she heard about Anneliese Michel on ET. I wish that I had known that there was going to be a segment on ET. You are absolutely right. My friend did say that they did play parts of the original exorcism tapes with Anneliese Michel. Also,my friend told me that they showed pictures of her and that Anneliese Michel weighed a mere 60lbs at the time of her death. (that is sooo sad. I would like to see those photos and hear those tapes as well.

  145. i heard from someone that ET showed pictures and played a tape of the true excorsism of Anneliese Michel. does anyone know anyhting about this and where i could find these things? a website or something??

  146. How do I know so much? I was going to be a nun. BUT I WAS DUMB AND DECIDED I WANTED A FAMILY. (Tina) Whoah,that was a sad comment…..I don’t think that you were dumb to decide that you wanted a family. I think that you made a wise choice.I just think that was a dumb statement..

  147. First of all, lets start with how an exorcism comes to take place. The family contacts a priest. The priest then looks over the evidence. For one, this priest is hardly ever going to believe that it is demonic possession. But if there are attributes that can not be explained, an investigator is called. The investigator is also a priest. They often have a medical background as well as a PHD or Masters in Psychology. They often look over the medical evidence. Insist on MRI and CAT scans, to rule out any physical or brain damage. They also insist on Psychological tests as well. When all medical and psychological diagnosis have failed, the exorcism is requested. There are not many priest who are trained to be Exorcist, as this is still a secret that the catholic religion would like to keep quiet. The order for an exorcism must come from the Vatican. It can come from the Pope himself. Or it may come from a Bishop or a Cardinal in the Vatican Heirarchy, but the Pope must be informed and can stop the exorcism at any time if they do not deem it necessary. These are the criteria for exorcism.

    1. Physical signs of trauma and unexplained happenings. Burns, bruises, cuts, mutilation, frost bite, ect. Even after the victim is subdued and can not commit these acts upon themselves, Physical trauma can still occur without anyones hand. Victims have also been known to bleed without cause, cry blood, Emesis of unusual amounts of bile and other substances. Emesis of insects, snakes, ect have also been recorded.

    2. Speaking in tongues. My mom has epilepsy. During a grand mal seizure I have never heard her speak Latin, Celtic, Myan, Aztec, or any indigenous or dead language. All priest are required to learn Latin, but Exorcist must learn other languages so they can pick out what language the demon is speaking so that they know for a fact they are speaking a language and not the gibberish an epileptic screams out while having a seizure.

    3. Display of supernatural experiences. Causing objects to move. Causing temperature changes in the room. Causing lack of oxygen in the room. Creating physical trauma and physical changes in the surrounding people. Causing temperature changes in the victim (Extreme fever or extreme drop in temperature that would normally cause the victim to die).

    4. Knowledge of people the victim has not met. Knowledge of ancient cultures and other civilizations in the world. The demon is known to also speak in the voice of other people.

    5. Unexplained cycles of extreme physical strength and rage that outlast a normal adrenaline rush. Must last a extremely long time and continue after the victim has been subdued.

    Once the criteria for possession is met by 3 of these, then the Exorcist is summoned and preparations are made. The victim is usually moved to a hospital. Exorcism requires 2 priest that are trained Exorcists. The Exorcist must make confession as well as receive Eucharist before they perform the exorcism. Now, events must be recorded. They must go in mentally and physically prepared to the demon can not fool them or seduce them. It is much more of a victory for a demon to claim a soul of a priest, nun, deacon, minister, ect…, than the soul of a regular person. With the invention of video cameras, there is some disturbing footage out there in the annals of the Vatican’s historical records. The exorcism can end in two ways.

    1. The demon speaks the name of God, in any language, or recites the word of god.

    2. The physical body of the victim has been destroyed and the demon claims the victims soul.

    For the “born again Christians” to suggest simply saying “Be gone Satan,” will cause the demon to flee is not only a misconception, but is also such a object of conceit it’s a wonder that more of them do not become possessed. Demonic possession is the ultimate battle of wills, the battle of good vs. evil. The battle of God against the unholy. For one, saying “Be gone Satan,” would suggest that Satan is the offending demonic entity. Lucifer is the ruler of hell. It is foolish to think that he alone would even bother to try to collect a human soul on his own. Angels do not have their own souls, so it is safe to assume that Lucifer as well as his army of demons do not have their own souls as well. Reading religious literature, anyone who goes in depth in Catholicism knows that Angels are jealous of humans because we were given the gift of free will and born with souls. So it would only make sense that Lucifer’s objective is to collect as many souls as he can. Not only to make his kingdom more powerful than heaven, but also to make God jealous that there are more impure souls than pure souls, therefore, the kingdom of hell is greater than that of heaven. However, there is purgatory, so to go to hell one must commit a horrible atrocity that breaks one of the

    Ten Commandments. That is why souls must be claimed through demonic possession. But I’m getting off the subject. Needless to say, it is the ultimate insult to God when a human soul is claimed by a demonic entity due to demonic possession.

    Anyway, as for demonic possession, it is real. However, I am sure that with new mental illnesses coming to light, there are more explanations then there were 100 years ago. Even more explanations then there were in the 1970’s. But, mental illness can not explain everything that happened to Anneliese Michel. From my readings, I honestly believe that girl was possessed by a demon. She refused to eat. This made her body not strong enough. If she refused to eat because the demons told her not to, then it could be the demon was making sure her body would not be strong enough to fight against it. Being that Anneliese listened to the demon, it was clear that her will was not strong enough to fight it.

    For those of you who do not believe in demonic possession. Before you get nasty and print nasty things, perhaps you should do your homework and do some reading.

    How do I know so much? I was going to be a nun. But I was dumb and decided I wanted a family. I still kept one of my majors on religious studies and wrote my thesis on the Catholic church and demonic possession. I then change my major to Nursing, but couldn’t stand dealing with sick people, so I again changed it to Pharmacology. I also had minors in English Lit, Communications, Psychology, Sociology, and Music History. (I went to college for over 9 years. I finally dropped when my daughter was born.) I had more than enough credits to graduate with quiet a few degrees, but I just got too lazy because I was too busy milking the government for grant money. Anything else you want to know about my education, or my qualifications for knowing so much, or want to learn more, you can email me directly at [email protected].

  148. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY AND POSSESSIONS

    Someone asked, “Why do demons possess the most devout Christians?”

    I did some research. It is true that cases where individuals, like Anneliese, claim they are possessed happen to Christians and Catholics not Hindus not Buddhists not Jews.

    Why? Even priests admit that most 98% of possession cases are phony. According to Father Gerry O’Collins the other alleged cases illustrate the power of belief in his and the Christian society. People living in very religious societies will be well versed in the supposed perils of possession and might behave as if taken over by an evil spirit as a way of coping with the society they live in.

    The bible includes cases of possession. It explains the symptoms–talking in different dialects, seizures, and hearing voices. Scientists explain these symptoms, in order, as Tourette’s, Epilepsy, and Schizophrenia. So in societies where the bible is not read, a.k.a. the majority of the planet, possession cases cease to exist because possession cannot be subconscious or self-taught.

    The Church is skeptical of most cases. They explain the non-psychological cases as people seeking attention or wanting an excuse to act in an offensive manner. Cases of subconscious possession, where a person is NOT intentionally trying to create symptoms, can develop from a strict upbringing where a person is so afraid of evil and indecent thoughts that they make themselves insane from guilt. They learned there is no scale from 1 to 10 of good to evil. It’s just 1 or 10.

    The Church does use the notion of the devil to encourage conversion to Christianity. When exoricisms have been performed, the Church makes sure the public knows possession is out there. During exorcisms, Christian symbols, bible phrases, and holy water are used. This sticks in the publics mind and insults other religions. Is the Church saying that their symbols (weapons) are stronger at fighting the devil? This is almost blasphemous. It is passively aggressively saying no other religion stands a chance at removing demons from bodies. If people see possession as an epidemic, they will learn from movies and books (that repeat Christian themes) to embrace the bible to protect themselves.

    I don’t think the Church is behind these movies. Yet, they don’t discount the other 2% of possessions not only because identifying demons is pro-Christian but discounting possessions could discredit the bible.

    It is truly a Christian principle that Jesus took responsiblity for Christians sins. Connected to this theme is “I’m not responsible for evil”. “The devil made me do it.” The Church wants us to believe that evil is not of this world and people are innocent. In Judaism, people are held responsible for their actions. The idea behind kosher killings of cows and chickens is: “I am responsible for taking another creatures life but I will do it in the most humane way possible.”

    Finally, let’s say that demonic possession is real. Then, why is it only identified in Christian and Catholic societies.

    Belief can make things real. Belief has cured several cases of cancer. Belief can bring about success. What if this obsession with the devil is a double-edged sword. In fighting the devil, one is opening a porthole of discussion with the devil. In speaking his name, you are giving him power. Nobody talks about the devil as much as Christians and as fearfully as Christians. This fear of overzealous Christians could attract the devil to his or her body.

    Religion helps us cope with death and other terrifying concepts. I once read that the more afraid you are, the more religious you are. I do respect spiritual and religious people. So to clarify I am talking about fanatics and people with a graveyard of crosses on their front entrance wall.

  149. Are there really demons waiting to take over our bodies? To manipulate us into the seven deadly sins? Pry us out of the hand of our maker and have us ‘suffer’ his torment? If so for what purpose?

    Ask yourself if you are a believer? Will God send me to hell if a demon takes away my “free will?” I think NOT. So what has the demon accomplished? Nothing except sending its victim straight to heaven. Kinda like the “Get Out of Jail Free” card in Monopoly. No Free Will, No Sin committed.

    Now remember, only 10% of the human brain is used in the normal person. Science has NO explaination why the other 90% is inactive? Could it be that we are all truely linked in someway? Is it possible that a neurological or mental defect allows that inactive portion to be active? What is there? Past lives perhaps? Memories of things that happened before we were born? Who knows?

    If demons do exist would they not possess people of power or stature or the faithful? Why would they possess a commoner? Makes NO sense to me. As for the Priests, they will have to live with what they have done. May their God have mercy on them. What is really scary to me?

    Three things….Michael Moore, American Politicians, and Life without the Internet!OOOOPPPPPPSSSS, make that four! I forgot HOLLYWOOD!

    ©¿©¬ Professor of the truth and Ignorant by Choice!

  150. *disclaimer*

    I am ASSUMING that the priest had the intention of driving the demons from her.

    It would be a completely different story if the priest was simply taking advantage of a misfortunate mental situation. I’m not saying all priests are nice. They’re not. They’re human, therefore flawed and sometimes evil and twisted. I happen to think that the priest truly believed in the exorcism, but let it go too far. I could be wrong though.

    Either way, I think he was rightly punished.

  151. Okay okay everyone. Calm down. No need to sling insults back and forth.

    My two cents on the subject:

    Note that I am not an expert in science, religion, or exorcism, though they are fascinating subjects.

    Basically, there is evidence for both possession and mental disorder in Anneliese’s case. My opinion (since I believe in possession, having been unlucky enough to witness it) is that she probably had a clinical mental disorder, or disorders. However, speaking in foreign languages (not gibberish… I’m talking about an actual documented language) not previously known cannot be explained by science. I have not had the chance to listen to the tapes of her exorcism, but there are some things that are beyond the realm of science. Likewise, one cannot just look at someone who has a mental disorder and claim they are possessed by Satan. Grand Mal seizures are incredibly frightening to witness, but that doesn’t mean that the person was possessed and Satan caused the seizure. I think that there are probably elements of both science and religion at work here. You could argue that the possession caused the mental disorder, vice versa (the fact that she was raised in a very religious home played into her psychotic delusions), or that they existed mutually exclusively in this poor girl. To cry one without glancing at the other possibility is irrational.

    On the flip side- the book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is about a Hmong girl who had Grand Mal seizures, but whose parents were conviced she was possessed and thought her medicines made her even more possessed (granted they didn’t understand what the medicines were due to language barriers and stuff). Their ignorance harmed their daughter, but at the same time, they THOUGHT they were helping her.

    As to the fate of the priest and the parents…

    They may have been doing the “holy” thing. I’m not criticizing their intentions at all. I’m sure that they felt (in their desparation)that exorcism was the only way to heal her. However, there is a line between responsibility and fanaticism. Take this for example. Lets say that you’re at church one sunday morning and a child gets severely injured after being hit by a car. Would you rather a) have the pastor claim that God will heal the child and pray for him, saying that there is no need for medicine in God’s design (which if God wanted to heal someone spontaneously, He really doesn’t need to be asked, I think), or b) CALL 911. And if the pastor wants to pray, fine. Can’t hurt. But while his belief and intentions might not be sinister, he is still endangering the child. Now, the priest may have wanted to help her. But if she is showing signs of dying, I feel that the parents/priests should have resorted to medicine. If after she got stronger they want to continue the exorcism, fine. But letting her die, despite their intentions, was irresponsible.

    Before I step off my soapbox, I want to say that I am a born again Christian. I believe that both God and science can coexist, and this is one of those cases where the two are so complexly meshed that sorting it out is difficult. I’m not saying that the church was wrong to perform the exorcism, but at the same time, it should have been carried out in a more responsible manner. And the parents shouldn’t have been so quick to dismiss other causes of her behavior. But to say that it’s one or the other is rather difficult. I don’t claim to know whether or not Anneliese was truly possessed, I think everyone has the prerogative to decide based on their interpretaions of facts and beliefs. If you got to the end, thanks for reading.

  152. (andrew)

    Who’s insulting whole religion????

    I’m not. Learn to read, man. Where did I state that?

    I think there there are quacks and stupid people everywhere in all profesions. Catholic priests are not immune to being idiots and even criminals as the recent catholic church sexual child-abuse scandal clearly shows.

    You sir are too eager to give your preist “heroes” a free pass. Some of them are twisted, evil, stupid, ignorant etc… just like anyone else can be.

    Those priests were found guilty by a court… those suckers got put away and rightly so. I would have thrown the book at them.

    BTW, my uncle was sexually abused (for years) by a preist in the mid sixties and the f*** never got prosecuted.

  153. __________Andrew_______________

    do u know how rare it is when a child get sexualy abused by priest?

    Its the media they find a couple of so called prists, and make everyone turn on all the good ones and bad. Do you ever see reportings or good things priests done? So know ur saying that that the priests that were doin the exercisms were bad priests, who made bad judgement and sexually abused little boys? Comon you know the priests ment no harm they were only trying to help and what happens? They get locked up.

  154. Wow, I think everyone needs to chill out. This is ONLY a movie. And like most movies, opinions are generated. However, since religion is a sensitive issue, opinions become very strong between those who believe in Christianity and those who choose to believe in other organizations.

    With Martin’s experience with these types of illnesses, he would know more than the rest of us who have had none.

    As for what the parents and the priests allowed to happen, they were wrong. Logic should have told them that if she didn’t eat, she would die – regardless if they believed she was possessed or not.

    Andrew, you stated that the priests were holy, they wouldn’t try to hurt anyone. Well, they are just as human as you and I, and are capable of making mistakes and bad decisions, as well as committing crimes. Have you not heard of all the Catholic Priests sexually assaulting young boys? Here in Canada, there was a huge cover up and priets were not charged, simply transferred to another church where they continued their crimes against innocent children.

    Maybe the priests who worked with Annaliese really believed in what they were doing. Or maybe they just wanted to look good in their church.

    The one thing I do know is that ‘herstory’ will never be completely revealed as it truly happened. Time has warped it, witnesses have presented their ideas as they viewed it, and now Hollywood has really messed it up.

    In the end, I hope the Church learned something, and changed their ways for the better, and that other parents with children suffering from the same illnesses seek medical help. Medicine has come a long way.

    If Annaliese had been living with this illness during the Salem witch hunt, she surely would have been burned at the stake.

  155. i don’t believe in witches but i do believe the devil can enter people’s bodies and houses. the salem witch trials were obviously the work of an insane society not bedeviled women. i understand why people with family members or who themselves have a mental illness are freaking out about labeling anneliese as “possessed”. they are afraid of shattering the politically correct assumption that the mentally ill are not dangerous.

    one day while walking to work, a man with schizophrenia broke into the crowd of professionals and started punching the air with his tyson right hook every 5 paces. everyone scattered. the sad part was watching how helpless people were. people reacted ambiguously. i.e. the man is dangerous so we’ll cross the street, but not so dangerous that we want to lock him up. he would have punched us but it became our responsibility to “protect” him from hurting us.

    at least anneliese’s family took responsibilty for her actions and tried to get her help. whether anneliese was possessed by the devil or not, her behaviors still were alarming.

    i am not psychic but i do have a sense about people. like most women, i’ve been sexually harrassed, but one time i reacted with greater fervor because of the negative energy and potential danger i felt about this stranger. i spit, threw a small rock, and yelled at this man who walked by.

    afterwards i remember feeling scared and bewildered. then, i read about how rape victims remembered a distinct smell coming from their attackers. i didn’t smell that but the eyes, his stance were too revealing about his potential to commit a crime in broad daylight. i don’t know if that means he was possessed but my point is that evil is recognizable.

    the same behaviors that make a woman’s hair stand up should not be redefined as harmless because they are being carried out by a schizophrenic or epileptic. this is a woman’s biological instinct, necessary for protecting her children and self from threat (a fear reaction to prevent the unnecessary expenditure of energy from a forced pregnancy).

  156. -Andrew

    One thing show some respect just because ur an athiest or dont believe in a religion dosent mean u have to insult religion moron. If they did take her to a mental hospital they would just stick a tube in her veighn and constantly drug her and feed her taht way. When she would wake up she would probably rip the tube out anyway. Their was nothing that could be done. She did have medical help if u research next time u will see that most docters didint want to see her!!! The priests are holy u think they would try to harm someone?! So ur the MORON!!

  157. What???

    If she would have gone to the hospital she would have gotten intravenous feeding and would probably still be alive today to take CLOZAPINE and save her life.

    I know another case in which a friend of my grandmother who’s son was suffering from terrible schizophrenia for years. He had to be locked in his room for his own and other’s safety. She told her how my sister was “saved” by CLOZAPINE (not stupid priests) and he indead was helped immensly.

    I understand that those preists in thier very ignorant way were trying to help her but its still their responsibility to to inform medical authorities when they see how bad she was getting. The parents are just as guilty.

    Its not a case of bad intentions its just a case of stupidity and fanatisism and neglect.

    When a person refuses to eat for whatever reason and you know about it, you call the hospital.

    At least have a freakin’ medical doctor present when you do your stupid exorsism you damn morons! Sheees!!

  158. _____ANDREW_______

    How can u call those prists ignorant!!!!!! and glad that they were put away? If she would have gone to the hopital things would have ben worse the prists were doing holy acts to try and save her! its people like u that make this world a bad place. God bless the priests who tried to save her they did all taht they could

  159. For what it is worth…

    My father was an army soldier in the Korean war. He said one Sunday during mass on a hill side, the Priest talked about a young Korean girl who was possessed by a demon in a local village not far from where they were. The child was about 8 years old, incredibly strong and was using very foul language speaking fluently in several languages – Russian, French, German, Spanish, English etc. She was a simple peasant girl and had no way of learning those languages.

    Turns out the Mother of the little girl had been worshipping Satan and inviting Satan to come and bring her power and wealth. But seems the demon who was invited chose the little girl instead.

    An exorcism was performed on the little girl with success.

    The world is full of people who are “influenced” by the Devil. You see this evil everyday. But from everything I’ve read on the subject, actual possession requires an invitation or acceptance. God has granted each of us the power of free will. One must fully will it and say yes to the evil. Apparently this is a process where slowly the person’s will gives in and they eventually say yes and accept the evil.

    Those with low self esteem and weak character are especially vulnerable.

    It may be easy for many to simply laugh this off as nothing. But you must be intellectually honest and consider the possibility that there may be truth to something like this.

  160. People here are wondering why Annaliese was not only experiencing sezuire but also behaving insanely like eating spiders and seeing hallucinations. From what I√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ve been reading about this poor girl it also sounds like she had severe “schizophrenia”.

    My sister has schizophrenia but not as severe as Annaliese, apparently. I know from living with her since it came on in 1992 when she was 19. Most cases of schizophrenia suddenly appear in those who have it when they become young adults ages 18-21 Annaliese’s age group). It is a mystery why it stays dormant and then suddenly shows itself. My sister was very happy, smart, normal and was brought up with plenty of affection and happiness. She was never abused or neglected. Yet by the end of 1992 she was insane, …extremely paranoid, hearing voices in her head constantly, hallucinations and totally crazy beliefs about everything, terrible outbursts, etc. We are not a religious family but if we were it is not difficult for me to believe she would have, most certainly incorporated some kind of demonic or satanic influences. She also has another disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder. (What “Monk” from the TV show has.) Both are clinical

    disorders.

    Annaliese simply had a combination of two neurological disorders like my sister does, epilepsy and schizophrenia. All these disorders share the same common traits but manifest themselves in unique ways based on the individuals who have them. No two people’s symptoms are exactly alike.

    I feel that Annaliese’s family were too fanatical and closed-minded to accept the psychiatric explanation and called in the priests. Take into the consideration the time in which they lived. In the 1970’s there were really ineffective medications against schizophrenia. Especially someone as severely schizophrenic as Annaliese was. There is a medication now called CLOZAPINE also known as CLOSARIL that my sister takes now that is practically a cure. My sister has regained her dignity and life and is quite normal now or at least 95 % better. This drug has changed the life of most schizophrenics and schizophrenia is not longer thought as such a tragedy as it used to be when many, many cases ended in suicide before this drug was introduced. She takes another drug for obsessive compulsive disorder that helps to some degree they are not as advanced in treating that problem yet.

    Early medications (pre-1990’s) could not treat schizophrenia well at all so its not surprising that poor Annaliese suffered how she did and eventually committed suicide by starvation.

    In closing I would am very glad the priests were put away. They were stupid idiots who were totally ignorant to mental disorders and let the poor girl die instead of rushing her to a hospital, they got what they deserved.

    This movie doesn’t look the least bit interesting and looks like it wants to entertain instead of enlighten people to the sad realities of mental disorders. Can we expect anything less from stupid Hollywood?

  161. If u diddint fell like reading the others please take some time in reading mine.

    _______________Andrew_________________________________________________________

    First of all i would like to say its ben a rough hour or so reading all ur reply’s. I agree with jenn and veronica they are the smartest ones on the fourm. Ive seen alot of horrible posts like people using profanity on these fourms.People saying that thier goin to stick a cross up someones ass and if thier were demons that they would fuck um. COMON PEOPLE!! show some respect. Every time thier is somthing super nautral or “unexplainable” they go straight to science and blaim it on the mental disorder. Also people saying that hollywood is just trying to make money COMON WHAT DO U WANT THEM TO DO SHOW U THE MOVIE FOR FREE!!! If none of this stuff is true then why do people who get posesed get burnt by holy water?! Why is it they cant stand priests and holy icons and paintings? My theory is that the devil tries to posses u when ur at ur weakest or sometimes no apparent reason at all. The girl had a mental illness ok tell me how many people with a mental disorder can speak in tounges?! My dad was really sick when he was about 18 and he wasent a “devoted Cathlic” or really excited on church. He said that when he was sick in bed he saw a little demon with a tail watching him. My dad dosent drink, smoke or anything bad so ur ganna say he has a mental disorder? My grandma goes to church every sunday at 6:00 and she never lies. She said thier was a lady at her church who got possesed. She couldent stand the cross or anything holy and her tounge stretched out of her mouth almost 2 feet! Like most of u say it was all because she was mental. “she made it real” someone said. Yes yes the stuff she saw we dont have proof but did u ever see physical evidence that most excercisms have? The burns,scratches,diffrent laungauges they speak. So out of nowhere thier just ganna start speaking another laungauge. Thier are things out thier that are frightning. I am glad they are relesing movies out like this to expose the fact and fiction. For u people who are non believers go look it up in a science book but i can promise you the answers arnt thier.

    We all need to change and join gods army like veronica said.

    were thier is “good thier is bad” jenn said

    My screen name for aol or AIM is asg730 talk to me if u disagree or agree with me peace……

  162. What happened with that girl matches up with the cases in Jesus day before he cured them. They tear their clothes and get thrown to the ground, cut themselves up. In the exorcist, when the girl is finished with the x-rays, there’s a scene of her on a table when I hear the mention that “seems to some sort of possession that you see in third world countries” so even the Doctors, head Doctors know about it.

    I saw photos of this one (Anneliese) and saw her eyes blackened like she had two black eyes the tip of the nose looked the same. Does anyone know what would cause that?

  163. I have been very amused by some of the responses I have read regarding this subject. It is shameful that some of the comments had such hostility and vulgarity included in them but it still does not negate the facts. For those of you who simply credit the release of the movie “The Exorcist” for the paranoia, you have not looked at the fact that SHE considered herself to be possessed in 1970. The church did not tell her she was possessed. Additionally, her conclusion came 4 years prior to the movie’s release in Germany. We also must observe that her family sought help from the church for many years before the “requirements” of possession were fulfilled by church guidelines.

    This is a tragic story, but it is not beyond the realm of belief. I confess that I am a born again Christian, but make no mistake about it, what I write here is not based on religious ferver. There are things we cannot explain. However, mankind has convinced himself that there is a reasonable explanation for everything. As a result, we “label” everything and use that to explain things. We could not be more wrong. I do not discount her diagnosed disorder of Epilepsy and realize that many of her initial symptoms could be directly associated with that. Where I diverge from this as an explanation is in the progression from that point.

    The realm of the spirit is real. There is no other way to say it. There is good and there is evil. To illustrate my point, let’s take look at our atmosphere. We cannot see wind, nor the air, but we know that it is real because we feel it and we see its results when it blows. We cannot declare something not to exist simply because we cannot see it.

    As a Christian, I understand that there is an adversary, who we call the devil, and that he is evil. His greatest strength lies in our belief that he does not exist. But the evidence that he does exist is too strong to ignore. How can we? Would you knowingly take another’s life? Most would say no, but it happens daily. Would you willingly harm an innocent child? Most would say no, yet children are raped and objectified, and murdered daily.

    We cannot see the devil, but he is very real. And just like the wind when it blows, we see his work every day. Movies like this one will not attepmt to expose what is there, but look to profit off of the facts of this case. Many people will discuss this issue, and most will simply dismiss this as another Hollywood money scheme, all the while, the truth will continue to be ignored. That is just what the devil wants. This girl died. Who’s to blame is not really the issue. Whether she was possessed is the issue. If she was possessed, then the devil is real. If the devil is real, then God, and the Bible are real. At that point, we can no longer dismiss the things we do in this life, for we will have to answer for them as the Bible states.

    The facts are there. The question is whether we will pay heed, or continue to ignore them.

  164. how can you be so close minded not to belive that the devil is real? where there is good there is evil weather you belive it or not. and right now where at war, no not with iraq, but between good and evil the sinners and the saints there is always going to be an on going war between heaven and hell and where stuck in the middle. belivers of god are fighting for him and people who act for the devil are fighting for him. I mean come on look around the world is falling apart peace by peace because of this war, with all the of serial killsers, rappist, terrorists, those are the men and woman are working for the devil weather they know it or not. Where all sinners no doubt about that but if we keep are faith alive where going to be in gods army threw this war. And the devil is going to play dirty to win, thats why he goes after the strongest belivers of god, such as Anneliese, and takes them over. So you might think im crazy or you might think im right, but just take a look around watch the news,we are at war Think about.

  165. To the person who discounts multiple personality disorder, maybe you haven’t read Sybil. This girl went through a psychotic break in her mind to cope with her mother’s ritualistic sexual abuse and neglect (like forcing Sybil to not urinate and tying her up as soon as sybil’s father left and sexually torturing her). Sybil sub-consciously created different characters in her mind to comfort her because obviously she couldn’t trust her parents! This is an extremely rare disorder.

    Anneliese’s case is interesting because her cause of death was preventable. She was starved during the exorcism. I read that the court found if she was force fed one week prior to her death she would have lived.

    There is also evidence that the first series of exorcisms worked on Anneliese. She was able to return to her studies until her next episode which led to her death.

    If you look at Anneliese’s background, her symptoms seem to appear out of the blue. She was extremely religious. Then, she began hearing voices in her head. This is not epilepsy. You could argue that her “demonic-sounding” voice on the tapes of her exorcism were seizure-related.

    The murkiness about the voices being seizure-related is that they argue about which demon will leave her body first. This doesn’t seem like epilepsy. They also speak in accents Anneliese didn’t learn (especially the demon identified as Hitler by the priests).

    Her body did decay. They exhumed it because people in her community wanted to reprove her possession. Apparently, the villagers had a theory that possessed bodies don’t decay. That’s strange because depictions of alive possessed children make them look aged and wrinkled. But her father maintains her possession. He’s gone so far as to point out the devil’s hand on a photograph of her unearthed casket.

  166. I was watchin E.T. (entertainment tonight) the other night and they showed footages from the movie as well as real life pictures of Michel and I also heard the tape that they had recorded when she was possesed (freaked me out). I found out that she ate spiders flies coal and her own urine ,,, really weird…but fact is all of these things are very nutrisous (cept the urine)…spiders are filled with vitamins and i know so many people that eat them (example: one of the librarians that I know)… flies especialy fruit flies are also filled with nutritions..in NY there is a restauraunt in which they serve flies,, they also serve choclate covered flies in schools… COAL is also very good for your body…they sell them as pills and i take them myself…it replenishes your skin, gets rid of acne, helps with bloating and gas, constapation, and keeps your body healty. years ago before we had the medications we do today, people used urine to get rid of diseases and infections. If you have a cut, a snake bite, or anything that is deadly if you drink or poor your OWN urine on it, it cures the area. Soooo it caught my attention that she ate all these healty, filled with naturally nutritious things….knowing these facts it seems like she was only trying to get attention, she was in college, she had epilepsy, others probably looked at her weird and she probably didnt have a lot of friends, so she probably decided to do this to get attention (but then again no one knows for sure), but it still astonishese me because i heard the recordings and saw the pictures, and it seems like it is impossible to make the voices that she was making, she’d have to be one talented girl..i dont know but the facts point one directions and then the tape recordings wih the pictures point the other…. just thought i’d put it out there

  167. Someone recently commented that many great artists, musicians and writers, etc., had epilepsy…that is true. The information is readily available on websites that post documents dedicated to the study of creative genius, epilepsy, and bipolar disorder. Temporal lobe epilepsy can cause unusual sensations (out-of-body) during a seizure.

    Also, demonic possession and exorcism are real. Anyone who has witnessed a true exorcism knows that what they are observing is not an epileptic seizure.

  168. if you believe thats all you need if you dont then you never will

    but dont crap on the people that do believe anneliese wanted the

    exorcism dont shit on the church or her mother and father

    try saying a prayer for her

  169. Read This;

    The exorcism of Emily Rose tells the haunting trial of the priest accused of negligence resulting in the death of the 19 year old university girl believed to be possessed. Based on a true story, the movie stars Laura Linney as the lawyer who takes on the task of defending the priest (Tom Wilkinson) who performed the controversial exorcism.

    It began in 1968, in Bavaria, Germany… when Anneliese Michel (aka Emily Rose) – a very religious girl) has a seizure. Paralysed and shaking she can√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t call her 3 sisters, or her parents (Josef and Anna) for help. A neurologist at the Psychiatric Clinic W√ɬºrzburg diagnosed Epilepsy Type ‘Grand Mal’. Depressions, often occurring after those epilepsy attacks, have not been recognized.

    After a long stay at the hospital, Anneliese begins to see devilish images during her daily praying. In the fall of 1970 she starts believing that she is possessed, as she couldn’t find any other reason for the images she sees. And now, voices are following her, saying to her, that she will “stew in hell”.

    In the summer of 1973 her parents ask different pastors for an exorcism. The Catholic chaplains reject and recommend, to continue the medication on the now 20 year old Anneliese.

    In September 1975, the Bishop of W√ɬºrzburg, Josef Stangl, assigns Father Arnold Renz and Pastor Ernst Alt with the order, to perform “The Great Exorcism” on Anneliese Michel. The basis for this ritual is the Rituale Romanum, still valid Canon Law from the 17th century.

    At that point some of her behavioural characteristics included:

    insulting, beating and biting family members

    refusal to eat regular meals (claimed the demons wouldn’t allow her)

    consumption of spiders, flies, coal, and her own urine

    destruction of crucifixes, paintings of Jesus, and rosaries

    tearing of clothes from her body

    urinating on the floor

    acts of self-mutilation

    So you have to admit that even if it’s not proof of possession, it’s seriously messed up, or at least very messy.

    The 23 year old student, Anneliese Michel, dies on the 1st of July 1976 after an exorcism that lasted about 9 months…

    A little bit before these events took place, William Friedkin√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s ‘The Exorcist’ came to the cinemas in Germany (1974), and started a paranormal hysteria all over the country. Psychiatrists all over Europe, reported of an increase of obsessive ideas in their patients.

    For the Prosecutors, the factual situation is more than bizarre. It took almost 2 years, until the “Klingenberg Case” was brought to court. Anneliese√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s parents and the 2 exorcists were accused of negligent homicide. There were only 2 questions to answer.

    1. What caused the death of Anneliese Michel?

    2. Who was responsible for it?

    ********************************************************

    I copied and pasted the info from this link

    http://spiritualmirror.proboards23.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=music&thread=1123927234

    It sounds like to me,that Analisse suffered a mental breakdown

    due to her uncontrollable epilepsy,and to add she was a devout

    catholic, and with the movie the Exorcist being releassed around that time could had been possible with such religious fevor, and a neagtive outlook,acompanied with maybe a nervouse breakdown that she fed into her mania.

    There could have been other undiagnosed neurological disorders

    wrong with her back then.

    I am Christian, and I believe in the supernatural somewhat.But this

    case just sounds like neglegence of someone who was very ill physically and mentally.

    In anaycase, its so sad that she went slowly insaine.Possessed or not.

    Say a prayer for Annalisse at any rate.

  170. There’s a book titled “The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel” by Felicitas D. Goodman – but I can’t find any copies.

    Maybe that would give some insight into what happend to Anneliese Michel not Emily Rose.

  171. I am slightly uncomfortable with the idea that Hollywood is profiting off of a young woman’s terrifying episodes- But I am not the least bit surprised. After all, our culture and economy thrive on the anxieties of our people. The thing that worries me the most is the focus of the story being misplaced on to the lawyer as opposed to the battle between the church and the law or even the events that occurred during Annaliese’s (Emily’s) possession. There is an epic battle occurring between Christianity and science- And we’re all supposed be worried about that pseudo-malcontent (Linney) and how she can’t get a date? I’ve seen only one movie before in which this bait ‘n switch occurred and even though i totally forget what that movie was- I still remember the feeling of utter disappointment.

  172. All I have to say is the mind is a powerful thing. If you believe you’re hearing voices or seeing devils you can make it real, not in reality but in your mind. If she had any form of mental illness, it would only make things worse. Speaking long lost languages..gibberish..eating spiders..mental illness…

  173. “Based on a True Story” means that something about the story is quite possibly, factual. If you want to put it up against “The Amityville Horror” there are actual events that happened that spawned these movies. For proof – check out http://www.amityvillemurders.com

    People made up the story about “the amityville horror” yes, but people were really murdered in cold blood in a house in New England. REAL events “inspired” that movie. Granted Hollywood decided to take advantage of someone else’s misfortune, like ALWAYS, and hence the movie was born.

    Possession IS a real thing, and I agree with the people who say if you believe in God, you believe in the devil. There are some weird things that happen that you CANNOT explain, and I fully believe that there are other forces at work here.

  174. Did Annaliese snap and go nuts? Or did her body get invaded by evil spirts? Could she have simply been a victim of Munchausen Syndrome, feeling invisible to the world, hating where her life was headed and tired of the pressures of college?

    Could she have been another caught up in the hysteria of the movie the Excorcist and become convinced or convincing that she was indeed possessed by something? Could she have been merely “starving” for attention?

    How hard could it be to talk gibberish at will, senselessly tear up religious pictures, eat spiders if our appetites permit us to and pee on ourselves? I mean *gasp* I’m sure everyone around us would be shocked and appalled. >.>

    Anyways, what I’m wondering is if when she ate the spider, was she like, “Oooh a spider! Wait…What’s that voice? You mean that I can eat it? Yum!” Or was she like, “I will devour this spider in honor of satan and the dark forces, grrrr!” Or more of; “Hmm…A spider…They would really think I’m possessed if I ate it…Can’t wait to see the look on their faces. Ew! Ew! *gulp* Gross.”

  175. I absolutely agree with sandra and delphina. I am not an expert (no one is) on religion but If you know anything about religion and believe in God than you would TRUTHFULLY know about 2 important things. There is a difference between demonic possession and an opression (i think thats how you spell it). And it is REAL. If you read the Bible you will know that a demon can not possess a “Born-Again Christian” but that doesnt mean you get away from it all together. This is where an opression COULD take place. It basically means that a demon can use your weaknesses against you to bring you down. I for example am DEATHLY AFRAID OF THE DARK. I dont get much sleep at night and even with my fiance in the room I am still shaken up. But you would be to if you at one point in your life experienced a hundred burning fingertips grabbing you and holding you down at night. SCIENCE PLEASE TRY TO PROVE WHAT THAT WAS! I think Hollywood is WRONG for using the events in this girls life to DISCUSTINGLY create ENTERTAINMENT for people who are JUST AS SICK for going to see it. All these new “DEMONIC MOVIES” (ex: constantine) should OPEN PEOPLES EYES because the truth is DEMONS and the DEVIL himself exist and these movies are candy compared to what it is Really like. I know there are many who disagree with me and you have a right to opinion God created us with the ability to choose.

  176. To believe in god is to believe that the devil exists. Yes, the mind can do strange things to a person. I know of many who see things and others who mutilate themselves due to internal pain they feel but if this girl did all of these things without realizing what was happening to her then of course she was acting without any control over her actions and thus our society is taught a lesson. This girl suffered just as Jesus did because of our sins and if things don’t change with us all we are likely to see more and more of these instances in the future. Just so that you know….my fathers cousin in Mexico had a wife who was possessed and he said that the movie The Excorcist is like Disneyland compared to the real thing.

  177. For those epilepsy patients who posted I respect your opinion and your experience on this subject. At the same time, Annaliese Michel not only had seizures and lost muscle control. She also ate spiders, spoke a foreign language she never learned, exhibitted a split personality destroyed religious objects and refused to eat. These symptoms cannot all be attributed to epilepsy. Perhaps she did suffer from ‘unresolved sexual development’ but I can’t see how that would cause her to eat spiders or speak a foreign language.

  178. I agree that the ” Based on a True story” advertising really gets the viewers all stirred up and believing that they are watching a movie in Truth from Beginning to End. Not So. Alot of viewers today believe in movies such as “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Amityville Horror” and the recent “White Noise”. All of these movies claim in the beginning of the film “Based on a True story”. And if you research these movies you will find that they are totally opposite. and in Truth,really not even scary at all. These Movie directors just know how to make a good horror movie that will make them alot of money. For example,the movie “The Exorcist”. Just two years ago,the real boy (now a older man) speaks out about being outraged at how he has had to deal all these years with the humiliation of how these Movie makers have portrayed him. The real story is plain and simple. He was a only child that lived with his parents. His grandmother also resided with them. his mother and grandmother were very strict catholics. He admits that he was a very rebellious child. He said that his mother and grandmother would have to yank him out of bed to get him ready for church. He spoke about him and his best friend always having spitting contests to see who could spit the farthest. He admits that he started spitting at his mother from across the room when she would tell him to get ready for church. In those days they had wooden floors and wheels on the beds, So,when he would get agitated with his mother he would make the bed sway back and forth. Long story short– His mother was furious with him and said that he needed to go to church so a priest could pray over him and cure him from his demons. (evil acts). Word got around in the neighborhood that his mother was taking him to church to get blessed by a priest and next thing you know,it was all over the news that “local boy posessed”. and thats where the based on a true story comes from. You see?? So farfetched from the Truth. You should research all those movies. I think that you can find it on a website called: ReelorReal It’s interesting reading!!! Also,I just want to say that we may never know the truth about what really happened to Annaliese Michel but we do know for a fact that she is sitting by Our Heavenly Father in his Kingdom,living eternally in Peace.May GOD continue to bless her family and All of You!!!!!

  179. I hate when people say someone is weak for believing in religion or even something like demonic posession then say “science rules all”. First of all, I myself am not religious and personally dont believe in “other worldly” things, and do believe in science. However, if i show up at home and my sister were to start telling me intimate secrets about my life no one else knows in some language she never learned, i might change my opinion on these things. To say someone is weak for relying on religion like a crutch to explain things is just stupid, and that person is equally weak for claiming science can explain everything when it can’t. Besides, no one on this forum is an expert in this story, psychology / psychiatry, religion, or exorcisms. SO STOP PRETENDING LIKE YOU ARE!

  180. That doesn’t sound like a plot, it sounds like a small character description taken out of context from the entire plot text.

    And, just to remind people, this is a movie. It’s made for entertainment. It’s being advertised as a horror-type flick. If you’re not into that sort of film, don’t go watch it. Simple as that. Relax a little. They aren’t killing babies or torturing animals here. They are making a movie for entertainment purposes and some people will enjoy it. People like to be scared. To suspend reality a little while and get into the horror of another’s life so it can possibly ease the pain on their own life a bit. Help them get through their everyday everyday.

    And on the Based on a True Story advertising campaign… Well, it’s the truth! They aren’t saying, “This is the biography of what ACTUALLY happened.” They are saying, “We saw this story, and then we got these ideas on how to make an intense, horror-style thriller that sort of relates to this story we saw.” And that’s it. It’s ADVERTISING! Of COURSE they are putting it out there to want some people to come see the movie. SOME people are fooled into that sort of one-liner nonsense and assume all sorts of things about it. The advertisers for the film have to come up with all sorts of ways to pull people in and make them want to see it. It’s their job. It’s how they feed themselves and their families and make a living.

    The real crappy part of this is that most people don’t understand what the difference is between “based on truth” and “is the truth” mean. Are they trying to exploit the girl’s experience? Honestly, I don’t think so. If anything they are trying to draw people’s attention to it in a way that’ll make people think. How many people talking about this became interested in Annelie Michel after seeing that “Based on a True Story” thing and looked it up on the internet to find out what it’s all about? MOST of you damn people did! You were sucked in by the advertising to figure out what this Emily Rose was all about. I doubt that a single one of you knew a damn thing about Annelie Michel before you browsed on the net about it. The advertisers did their damn jobs. They got you interested in it, they got you wanting to see the movie. Or they showed you what sort of movie they were making and you realized it’s not for you.

    I think the lot of you need to get over yourselves. Relax and watch a movie. ANY movie. If you’re interested in what happened to Annelie, then go research it. If you wanna go see this movie to find out what happened to her then you obviously aren’t paying attention to the advertising. Because they are advertising a scary, nail-biter, summer popcorn flick. Not your biographical study on what may or may not have happened to the poor girl.

  181. I’m a christain and I do believe the devil could take over someone’s body if that person is a weak person. GOD only knows what Anneliese Michel went through. May her soul one day find peace!

  182. OK you guys. Lets please stop acting like TONS!! of movies, especially horror movies were “not” based on true events, because they were!! Yes I hate to break it to you guys but they base movie ideas (of all kinds) on true events “ALL THE TIME”!! Helloooo, have you guys been asleep or something?

    OK, lets get this straight, she was diagnosed with a medical condition, and she heard voices that she claimed were voices from demons, and she saw horrible faces when she was praying that made her think she was possessed. The church refused to grant her an exorcism many times before finally giving in. She claimed the voices told her to do things, such as not eat, which eventually led to her starving to death. Her sister claimed she said she did not want to go to a mental facility where she would be forced to eat. And finally, yes the priests thought they were helping her, but wether they were or not, we do not know , and never will know the truth, so there is no need to argue about it. And YES they really did audio tape the sessions with her to document them.

    NOW, all that said, we have to go back to what we started with.

    THIS IS A MOVIE “”BASED”” ON A TRUE STORY, NOT A RETELLING OF THE REAL STORY!!!!!

    That is why they changed the names, and the year that it is happening in. As well as I am sure a TON of other things in the story, to make it a good, watchable, scary “HORROR MOVIE”.

    It was never meant to be a true to life retelling of the actual story, but instead, it is what it was meant to be, which is a hopefully, “SCARY” horror movie which will freak us out, and make them a bunch of money!

    They are just using the “Based On A True Story” angle to get us interested in it. (notice the word “BASED” in it there)

    So come on guys, lighten up, and if you want to learn more abought Anneliese Michel, then just Google her name. You can find a ton of info on her out there.

  183. I’d really like to get my hands on those audio recordings. That might explain a few things… or perhaps just leave us with more questions. Whatever the case, I’d love to hear them. Sources say they exist.

    Just a thought.

    -Brandi

    If you have any information regarding the recordings, shoot an email my way. [email protected]

  184. The preists never told her to “fast” she refused to eat at all saying the demons wouldn’t allow her to and nobody had the heart or will to force feed her. She died of starvation.

  185. to the person who wrote earlier about Epilepsy you ARE NOT SMARTER than the average

    it is a neurological disorder — a physical condition — which causes sudden bursts of electrical energy in the brain. overcooked

    These electrical discharges produce sudden, brief seizures which vary from one person to another in frequency and form.

    A seizure may appear as

    a brief stare

    an unusual movement of the body

    a change of awareness, or a convulsion.

    A seizure may last a few seconds or a few minutes.

    Epilepsy is —

    not a disease

    not a psychological disorder

    not contagious.

    and for all thos who dont know….here

    Identifiable Causes

    brain injury to the foetus during pregnancy

    birth trauma (lack of oxygen)

    poisoning from substance abuse or environmental contaminants (lead poisoning) they did it to them self so good rott away fucker.

    aftermath of infection (meningitis)

    head trauma (car accident, sports injury, shaken baby syndrome)

    alteration in blood sugar (hypoglycemia)

    other metabolic illness (hypocalcemia)

    brain tumour

    stroke

    the rest is not their fault but if they took to many drugs then good, you deserve it fucker!

    Important

    Status epilepticus,

    a prolonged or continuous seizure state,

    is a life-threatening medical emergency.

    Status epilepticus can be convulsive

    (tonic-clonic or myoclonic)

    or non-convulsive

    (absence or complex partial).

    A person in non-convulsive status epilepticus

    may appear confused or dazed.

    If seizures last 5 minutes or more,

    or occur one after another

    without full recovery between seizures,

    immediate medical care is required.

    anyway it has been proven that people with this illness are seeing things, hearing things ect ect, I feel bad for them, just think what would you do looking into the eyes of someone looking at you as a freak when indeed your not, and also not knowing how to help you, sad…very sad, except for the ones who did to many drugs, you deserve it fucker!!!!

    Anyways there are no gobblins or ghosts, mind you i wish there were, man would I fuck the shit out of them, and whats that movie with pacino and reeves, devils advocate or somthing like that, man i would so screw those demons just to get my dick wet ” just for the record”.

  186. Well, either its tru or not, who knows, is it a mental Illiness or not who knows. But I do know one thing,

    If all of you people believe in the devil and demons, then its as true as the saying these days “every woman needs to be bare foot and pregnant in the kitchen doing dishes and serving me dinner”! Say this to your woman or any woman and watch how quick you get smacked!

    Same fucken thing here, you are all going to get a smack, its not true, ghosts, whatever else is for halloween. Funny eh, when was the last reported “case” of this? 1995? 1998 what year are we come on, but wait after this movie yup a whole lot of retards are going to have a field day, hehehe. I believe in a higher power, of course the devil, hell guess what we are the devil and we live in hell with all the bullshit we create.

    You want to see possessed, watch my dick grow stand on alert and then throw up with no hand movement,

    FUCK OFF LOSSERS GET A LIFE, and leave the people with mental illness alone show some fucken respect, or I will shove a cross up your ass!

  187. First off, if anyone is a TRUE Christian, following the footsteps of JESUS, unlike most of the churches out there, one would only have to say “Be Gone” and the demon or demons would leave. Does anyone out there read the BIBLE anymore? Is there any passage in the Bible that says a believer, in order to exorcise a demon, had to get out a set of beads, throw some magical demon fighting water, and stay up for a weeks on end to get rid of it? The only time the Bible says anything related to someone being possessed and having trouble getting rid of the demon was 1st: It wasn’t Jesus, 2nd: Jesus told them for that particular demon the person doing the exorcism was to have fasted first. Not the other way around. Starve the person having the problem. Give me a break! Look people if you believe in the Bible and what it says about Jesus ya can’t go wrong. That’s just me though. The Lord sends his rain on the good and the bad.

  188. I have no real opinions since it’s such a grey area. I do feel sorry for people that go through these experiences, whether they can be explained by science or not. Maybe science has found ways to explain disorders caused by the supernatural. You know, just give it a name. For instance, a demon causing someone to experience seizures, hear voices, etc…call it epillepsy or schizophrenia. Even though it can be explained down to the last little chemical, synapse, tumor, etc…something had to cause it. You could use that same rationale for creation…we can explain the development of everything down to the tiniest detail, but do we really know where it all began? Who the heck knows?! I’m just playing devil’s advocate. Sorry for the pun. :) I guess it all boils down to what you choose to believe. Bottom line is nobody is right, b/c definitive proof will never be achieved b/c we have the power to question everything. Sorry for my ramblings.

    Anyway, someone already posted it, but I’ll do it again: http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_1253.html

    It’s a good summary of what the story is really about.

  189. Hmm . . . I do believe that possession is possible but I don’t think everyone displaying some sort of eratic behavior is necessarily possessed. Some people do have genuine disorders (take “Jared” for example).

    I suppose it’s comforting to believe that science can explain everything. When faced with the alternative . . . that there are forces out there that are beyond us, well . . . frankly that can be a little unsettling and frightening. But I believe there are simply things that science just can’t and will never be able to wrap up in a neat little logical package.

    That’s my stand on possession.

    As for this movie, I doubt they’ll do an accurate portrayal of the events. This girl was supposed to have been possessed for quite sometime and they’re going to sum that up in . . . what? . . . 2 -2 1/2 hours. Obviously something is going to get left out, changed around, or put in that wasn’t in there in the 1st place just to make the movie more dramatic.

  190. Fuck all you superstitious morons who believe in demon possession. Get a clue! Especially the person who claimed to be a psychology major. That makes you extra fucking stupid to be a psychology major and still believe that demons can cause mental illness. Pay attention in class nextime you worthless retard.

  191. Apparently, the exorcism of Anneliese Michel was recorded. by what means I don’t know, maybe only sound (probably seeing as it was around 1973). Maybe they meant it was recorded on paper! I got that from the trailer to the film btw.

    As to the film, why change her name? and have they moved her into the USA aswell instead of Germany? Gimme a break! Can’t Hollywood do anything right?

    As to the existance or not of possession, The phenomenon is not restricted to the catholic/christian world. There is the belief in ancient chinese folklore, Tibetan, and probably India aswell. Since all these different societies have their own exorcism methods. The demons therefore cannot be restricted to one religion i.e. christ/catholicism and if that is true then the demons cannot be susceptible to only one method of exorcism. Given that this is the case it is only logical to conclude that so called demonic possession is simply a manifestation of a mental illness or pysical illness such as epilepsy. Primitive people have over the years from many culures sought the help of the shamen or priests, sometimes a person got better sometimes not. It shows how primitive the whole idea of putting your trust in these religions is, they still believe in demonic possession! Maybe one day we will learn.

  192. I grow dreadfully tired of movies that use the term “Based on True Events” to stir up such a frenzy in movie-goers. People are so desperate to believe in the supernatural that they’ll buy into anything that the media is shoveling out. “The Possession of Emily Rose” is no exception. This is nothing more than Hollywood taking advantage of a tragic incident where faith blinded good people into doing a terrible thing. As they say, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

    The brain is complex and mysterious. And when it malfunctions, it can produce horrifying results. There are thousands of people walking around right now who hear and see demons, angels, vampires, whatever. But these phantasms are nothing more than misfiring synapses, tumors, or chemical imbalances. There are no more supernatural than the common cold.

    And the brain doesn’t even have to be malfunctioning for people to believe in demons and their ilk. During the 80s, the U.S. had a rash of satanic cults and ritual abuse; child accusing family and neighbors of cannibalism, satanic worship, and sexual abuse. Indictments were handed out, and lives were destroyed. This was nothing more than mass panic fueled by negligent psychology and religious hysteria. And all we have to do is look back a few years to the insanity caused by “The Blair Witch Project.” I’ve met people that STILL believe this really happened… even after seeing the actors appear on Jay Leno.

    There are many things in this world that cannot be explained. That does not, however, automatically mean they must be supernatural in origin. It just means science doesn’t understand it yet. Humans inherently need to believe in the paranormal for it is a sign that something lies beyond death. But the truth is simply this: A young girl died needlessly and Hollywood is trying to benefit from that fact. Few things can be more terrifying than that.

  193. Mental instability is not possession and it varies quite a bit. I do believe that possession is possible and no one is going to know what happened to this girl, ever. So there really is no point in worrying about it. Protect your own soul and your own mental health.

  194. possesion is real, how could you be so blind. What will it take for you people to understand there are things out there we just cant expalin with medicine and books. I am a psychology major and i know that they are things out there that cannot be explained.

  195. okay… im with the chick umm wut is an unsettled sexual developement?? i hate movie makers, they just want the money wut abt wut she went thru?? oh yeah and it says that her body doesnt decay

  196. My only comment is that I visit the links from Bob Larson and found him to be every bit as overzealous as the priests responsible for Anneliese’s death. He’s an absolute lunatic.

  197. When they say the possession was recognized by the catholic church. Just who in the catholic church recognized it? And just what is the protocol of such a recognition? Is it decided by comittee or can a any ordained priest claim this. And is there official documentation or record of this? Was there an official statement made by the church to the press? Was it only recognized after her death to defend the negligence of the priest? It would not be the first time in history the church did damage control with a little smoke and mirrors propaganda.

  198. What is “unsettled sexual development” referring to exactly? I understand how someone without a knowledge of epilepsy could misconstrue a seizure as part of possession but I can’t even find a diagnostic description of unsettled sexual development. I’m curious as to what aspects of her episodes this is supposed to be explaining. It seems perfecty likely that she had a medical condition and it was just the paranormal influence of the time that led to claims of possession. The Exorcist having just been released, its not unlike when the movie Sybil was released and resulted in outbreaks of multiple personality disorder (a rare and many would say nonexistant mental disorder). Still, I am a christian and I would like to know more about her condition if anyone has heard of it.

  199. The release of this movie makes me sick. I have had Epilepsy since the age nine. I know first hand what strange noises can come from a seizure patient while having a seizure. I also know, as someone mentioned that you can during a grandmal seizure urinate on yourself, as you have zero control when it comes to muscles. It happened to me one time, thank goodness my mother was there to help me back inside the house. Those of us living with Epilepsy have a tough road in life, but we are strong willed. What others may conceive as odd or the devil’s work is merely a Neurological disorder that we can’t help. We didn’t wish this on ourselves, nor are we attention seekers. We may look as if we are “out of it” during a seizure, but one thing we all can see is the scared look on peoples faces. Imagine how you would feel if someone was afraid of you just because you were had a disorder? Not so long ago Epileptics were sterilized so they couldn’t have children. We have come a long way, but I’m afraid this movie will not help people understand what hell we live with daily, it will just take us back in time. Next time you see a seizure patient just remember this…The only difference between you and I is that more of my brain works than yours. That’s why we have seizures, it’s like an “overload” in the brain. I assume that’s why so many of us are musicians, artists, politicians, etc…

  200. The Catholic Church is very careful when diagnosing posession. Only when a person has sought medical care in vain will the Church consider it. Ther certainly recognize mental illness, and those Priests were doing everything they could to save that poor girl.

  201. Everyone has their own beliefs. I am a christian and I do believe that there are demons and spirits in this world. Never say never. Anything is possible. I think the priest’s were doing everything in their power to help the girl, not hurt her.

  202. The fact of the matter is, that no one knows for sure whether or not she was possessed. It is possible that she had a very rare and complicated mix of rare illnesses, and it is just as possible that she was possessed as well. My own opinion is that the “devil” causes the mental instability, which is what true posession is. I don’t truly believe that people are taken over by spiritual forces. Others believe it because they have to or want to, it gives them a sense of gradeur. I believe in christianity, but I also believe that it’s own understanding is outdated and archaic.

    Well, we’ll see if the movie is any good…..(doubtful, though)

  203. Hey, I’m really interested in finding out what REALLY happened to this girl. If anyone knows where I can get true information like old newspaper clippings or websites with information about the actual exorcism please email me and let me know. .. … Thanks!!

  204. This girl had a neurological disease. She was diagnosed with Temporal Lobe Epilepsyan along with a documented unsettled sexual development, these influenced Anneliese’s Psychosis. Some of her behavioral characteristics included:

    – insulting, beating, and biting family members

    Рrefusal to eat regular meals (claimed the demons wouldn’t allow her)

    – consumption of spiders, flies, coal, and her own urine

    – destruction of Crucifixes, paintings of Jesus, and Rosaries

    – tearing of clothes from her body

    – urinating on the floor

    – acts of self-mutilation

    The Psychiatrists, which have been ordered by the court, also talked about “Doctrinaire Induction”, claiming the priests gave to Anneliese the contents of her psychotic episodes. A recognition that the country had been thrown into a paranormal panic with the release of the movie THE EXORCIST two years earlier was added to the arguments. The possibility of that influence affecting the perceptions of mentally ill patients was well documented.

  205. I wouldn’t say with authority that exorcism is real. However, I personally do believe in it and find the evidence compelling. For hiu, yes, nsometimes people do get possessed like that. Possession has not been a conclusion the church has jumped to in a long time. The church fully supports theory of mental illness until things that science cannot explain occur. The big one is the fluent speaking of a language the purported possessed individual does not know. Often times these languages are extinct, increasing the inexplicability of the situation. Other things on the checklist include telekinetic occurances, extended use of incredible strength (extended to weaken the possibility of massive adrenaline rush), and intimate knowledge of people the possessed has not met. Not everytime does the checklist have to be filled, but more than one item that cannot be explained by science must be observed. So, Michael, you say it is overzealous to believe in possession, I say it is overzealous to stick to mental illness when things outside the scope of scientific explanation occur. Religious people aren’t the only nuts (though many time they are nuts), but ANYONE, believer, skeptic, theist, athiest, is a damn nut if they will not modify their views when new information they cannot explain with their own beliefs comes to light. Yes, the vast majority of the time psychology is on the money… but please, read up on a subject before you come to a conclusion about it.

  206. This can’t really be based on a true story, people don’t truely get posessed, at least not like that. Obviously the priest was a loony and took advantage of the girl’s medical condition or something.

  207. Anneliese Michel went through enough hell when she was alive. Must her family suffer through an inaccurate retelling of what really happened? For God’s sake, if you’re going to tell a story, do it right!

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