Audrey Rose

A promising start and interesting premise eventually gets bogged down in a slow-paced and wordy second half, with a downbeat ending that neither satisfies nor surprises. There are some good performances here; the young girl is decent, and Hopkins once again shows the quality that would start landing him bigger roles. It's watchable enough, but definitely not one of the best from the versatile Wise.

A dragged-out "mystery" to which you already know the answer.

There is a spark of creativity in De Felitta's script, presaging his respectable directorial effort Dark Night of the Scarecrow, but besides its general triteness Audrey Rose is just too silly. The supernatural aspect might have worked better if there was more believability to the dialogue and behavior of the characters.

The major problem is that the film is blandly factual about the reincarnation plot, creating no suspense or sense of mystery at all. No viewer will doubt that Hopkins is just right, and the film's court room second half is odd to say the least. Since Hopkins is (presumably) charged with kidnapping a child, it's difficult to see how the "she's my daughter reincarnated" defense is supposed to work. Couldn't the prosecution just concede the point and note that he's still guilty of kidnapping?

Trite bullshit. Skip it.