What Happened to Anneliese Michel? The Real Story Behind The Exorcism of Emily Rose

The What Happened to This Horror Movie episode on The Exorcism of Emily Rose was written by Jaime Vasquez:

The Exorcism of Emily Rose was released in September 2005 and made an impressive $145 million at the box office. Directed by Scott Derrickson, who would later become best known to horror fans for Sinister, the film was his big-screen directorial debut. Starring Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, and Jennifer Carpenter as the title character, it follows an agnostic lawyer who takes on an extraordinary case in hopes of making partner at her firm.

When the film begins, Emily Rose is already dead. Her story is told through the trial of Father Moore, who has been indicted for her death and accused of negligent homicide. But while The Exorcism of Emily Rose was inspired by a real case, the movie takes plenty of creative liberties. The real story is much more complicated.

So what happened to Anneliese Michel, the young woman who inspired Emily Rose? How does her story differ from the movie? And why is her case still being discussed nearly 50 years later? Grab your crucifix and some holy water. We’re headed to 1970s Germany to find out the real story behind The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

Who Was Anneliese Michel?

Anneliese Michel was born in 1952 in Leiblfing, Bavaria, in West Germany. The second of five daughters, she grew up in a strict but loving Catholic household. Anneliese was remembered as a sickly girl even during her childhood, something that was later interpreted by some as evidence that she had been targeted by demons. Around her sixteenth birthday in 1968, Anneliese suddenly blacked out while sitting in class. She initially dismissed it as fatigue. The following night, she woke after midnight feeling an enormous pressure holding her down. She said she couldn’t move or call for help. About 15 minutes later, when the nearby church bell rang, the sensation disappeared.

The incident has an obvious parallel in The Exorcism of Emily Rose, although the movie changes several details. Emily is college-aged and experiences the episode in her dorm room. The film also repeatedly emphasizes 3 a.m., the so-called witching hour, but there is no documentation that Anneliese’s real-life episode happened at that specific time. And being woken up at 3 a.m. would be more inconvenient than scary.

Anneliese Michel’s Seizures and Illness

Anneliese experienced a similar episode about a year later and saw a doctor afterward. Tests did not reveal an obvious neurological or psychological problem. Her doctor believed the nighttime episodes could be a disorder then known as a “grand mal seizure,” now called a tonic-clonic seizure. These seizures can cause a person to lose consciousness, experience sudden muscle stiffness, and then convulse uncontrollably. Other symptoms can include unusual smells or tastes, dizziness, nausea, and sudden anxiety, several of which Anneliese reported experiencing.

Her health continued to deteriorate. She suffered from several physical illnesses, including pneumonia and tuberculosis, eventually forcing her to leave school for an extended period and spend months confined to her bed. About ten months later, the feeling of stiffness and paralysis returned. She was hospitalized for an extended stay. Other patients reportedly noticed that her hands were contorted like the paws of a cat and that her pupils were so dilated that her eyes looked almost completely black.

Anneliese found great relief in prayer, which reportedly gave her a feeling of euphoria. But when her symptoms returned and she tried to pray again, she claimed to see a terrifying grimacing face in the sky. The experience lasted only a moment, but it frightened her enough that she became afraid to pray. Over the next six weeks, she reportedly continued seeing the faces.

The movie uses a similar sequence, with Emily seeing a frightening face in the sky and people’s faces becoming distorted. This is where the movie gets a little rough for me. It starts out very strong and then turns into a CGI horror fest for a minute. Practical effects, or even simply seeing the faces from a distance, would’ve been far more effective. I’m not sure if this looked good in 2005, but in 2026, it hasn’t aged especially well.

Anneliese’s Experiences Become More Disturbing

After leaving the hospital, Anneliese returned home acting differently. Her sisters later recalled that the once-happy girl they knew had become moody, withdrawn, and depressed. In October 1972, her symptoms persisted. She experienced lapses in consciousness, muscle stiffness, and phantom smells that she initially kept to herself. By the spring of 1973, she was hearing knocking sounds in her room. A doctor referred her to an ear specialist, but according to multiple accounts, other members of the household eventually heard the noises as well. They reportedly heard knocking and thumping in the closet, above the ceiling, and below the floor.

Anneliese continued seeing faces, but they had become more frightening. She said they now had horns and told her she would be damned for eternity.

Her father, Josef, dismissed these experiences as symptoms of her condition. But even he was disturbed when he found Anneliese staring hatefully at a figure of the Virgin Mary, with extremely dilated pupils and hands contorted like paws, just as other people had previously reported.

The frightening experiences continued, and Anneliese began having suicidal thoughts. At one point, she said, “I feel like I’m in a deep hole.”

The Trip to Italy

Hoping to lift her spirits, Josef suggested that Anneliese join a trip to Italy organized by a parishioner from their church. The pilgrimage included a visit to the San Damiano shrine, and it would become a pivotal moment in her case.

Before Anneliese could even enter the shrine, she reportedly felt an intense burning sensation beneath her feet. She described seeing people there grinding and gnashing their teeth like zombies. She was also unable to drink blessed water from a holy spring and began avoiding sacred objects, including images of Jesus Christ. Even pictures and medals of saints reportedly appeared to sparkle so brightly that she had to turn away.

After witnessing the girl’s reactions, the parishioner told her parents that she believed something demonic might be tormenting their daughter.

Anneliese Michel’s Life at University

While attending university in Würzburg, Anneliese met a young man named Peter at a dance, and the two quickly became a couple. Meanwhile, a new medication did little to relieve her symptoms. She sank into a deeper depression, worrying about ordinary things such as choosing a topic for her thesis and whether she could be a good girlfriend to Peter. She confided in him about what she was experiencing, while the religious practices that had once brought her comfort now seemed to make her increasingly agitated.

One incident left both her mother and Peter particularly shaken. Anneliese’s facial features became fixed in a grimace, and she remained contracted in that state for nearly half an hour. The episode disturbed Peter enough that, despite never having been particularly religious, he began to believe she might actually be demonically possessed.

Her behavior became increasingly erratic. She would scream until she became catatonic, display what witnesses described as extraordinary strength, and perform hundreds of squats a day, sometimes reportedly as many as 400.

Peter even recalled seeing her squeeze an apple in one hand until it burst apart. At other times, she reportedly crawled beneath a table and barked like a dog, behavior that allegedly continued for two days.

Her family also described her eating increasingly bizarre things, including spiders, flies, coal from the fireplace, and even the head of a bird. She was also said to have urinated on the floor and licked it up.

The Church Becomes Involved

Getting help from the Catholic Church was becoming increasingly complicated. Father Alt, who became heavily involved with the case, was given letters from Anneliese and her mother. He said he couldn’t bring himself to read them because whenever he tried, he became nauseous to the point of feeling like he might faint. During Mass that same day, he reportedly felt overwhelmed by a sudden sensation of cold air and the smell of something burning, forcing him to lean against the altar. He later experienced a restless night despite taking a sleeping pill that normally worked.

Around May 1975, Anneliese began to feel better, but the improvement didn’t last. The death of her grandmother and her sister moving away had a profound effect on her, and she became increasingly withdrawn and isolated.

Some people wondered if Peter was the reason she kept her distance from everyone, but he said she pushed him away too. She even tried to break up with him, saying she was too depressed to love him. Peter assured her that depression was common and that he wanted to stay with her regardless.

Two priests who had personally seen Anneliese, Father Herman and Father Roth, had also previously observed patients in psychiatric hospitals. They said they didn’t believe she showed the same signs they had seen in conditions such as hysteria or schizophrenia.

As more priests became convinced that her problems might have a spiritual rather than psychiatric cause, the push for an exorcism intensified.

Anneliese Michel’s Exorcism

An urgent letter was eventually sent to the Bishop of Würzburg, Bishop Stangl, arguing that immediate action was necessary. Previous requests for an exorcism had been rejected by Stangl. When he finally gave his approval, however, it was only for the minor form of the ritual, a less intensive version that didn’t require the same level of Church authorization as a major exorcism. As Anneliese’s condition continued to deteriorate, the priests pushed for permission to perform the major rite. Stangl eventually approved the more intensive exorcism.

In September 1975, an exorcism was performed. As expected, the priests initially struggled to get anywhere. When they demanded that the demon identify itself, there was no immediate answer. Learning its name was considered essential to the ritual, as addressing a demon by name is a repeated part of the rite. This was depicted in The Exorcism of Emily Rose, with Father Moore repeatedly demanding that the demon reveal its name.

Eventually, Anneliese reportedly said that six demons were inside her: Cain, the biblical figure who murdered his brother Abel; Judas Iscariot; Nero; Adolf Hitler; Lucifer; and a disgraced 16th-century priest named Father Fleischmann. The movie changes this considerably. Hitler and Fleischmann are replaced by figures from demonology, Belial and Legion, and the film takes the idea a step further by having each entity identify itself in a different language.

Forty tapes were reportedly recorded during the exorcisms, and the ritual was performed a total of 67 times.

The Exorcism Tapes and Anneliese’s Final Months

Dr. Richard Roth, one of the physicians who treated Anneliese, later listened to the exorcism tapes. He was allegedly so disturbed by what he heard that he began praying again. That detail also makes it into the movie when the character of Dr. Cartwright appears midway through the story as a potential star witness, only to leave the film almost as quickly as he arrives.

Anneliese reportedly said things such as, “Go on, pray all day, I’m not leaving.” The demons had supposedly promised to leave her body on October 31, 1975. Father Renz, who assisted with the exorcisms, said he believed the demons left one by one. But it turned out to be a lie. Anneliese once again spoke in defiance, saying the demons refused to leave her body.

Father Alt was also experiencing strange phenomena of his own. At his house, he reportedly heard doors slamming and knocking and smelled something burning. His housekeeper and her daughter allegedly noticed the same things.

During the exorcisms, Anneliese’s behavior reportedly became increasingly extreme. She performed hundreds of genuflections in rapid succession, allegedly bit and punched herself, and appeared to speak with one voice while another voice screamed. Dr. Roth advised against continuing the exorcisms because he believed they were becoming too much for Anneliese to handle.

Anneliese nevertheless agreed with the priests that she didn’t need to be placed in a mental institution. She also reportedly maintained that she shouldn’t see a doctor. She said she had been told by the Virgin Mary in a dream that her suffering would end in July. That prophecy sadly came true.

How Did Anneliese Michel Die?

Anneliese Michel died on July 1, 1976. Dr. Keller, the physician brought in for the postmortem examination, refused to certify her death as being from natural causes. A pathologist determined that she died from starvation and dehydration. There was no obvious underlying physical cause, and her organs reportedly appeared healthy.

Anneliese had increasingly refused or struggled to eat, reportedly because the demons discouraged or forbade her from doing so. At the time of her death, she reportedly weighed only 68 pounds.

Her death immediately became a subject of intense debate. Some people believed she had never been possessed and that what happened amounted to a form of medieval treatment imposed on a seriously ill young woman. Those who believed in the possession theory were divided as well. Some felt the demons had killed her and that evil had ultimately won. Others believed Anneliese’s death had been a sacrifice and that she had sent the demons back to Hell, allowing good to triumph over evil.

The Trial of Anneliese Michel’s Parents and Priests

Father Renz, Father Alt, and Anneliese’s parents were indicted for negligent homicide. That’s another major difference from The Exorcism of Emily Rose. In the movie, Father Moore is the only person charged and put on trial.

A nun named Sister Dorothea later claimed to have received messages from Anneliese saying that she had died as a penance to benefit Germany, young people, and priests. Father Alt reportedly believed these messages. Dorothea also claimed that Anneliese wanted her body exhumed before the trial to prove that it had been supernaturally preserved.

Her parents eventually received permission to have her remains exhumed in February 1978. News of the exhumation spread, and a crowd gathered that February day. But when Anneliese’s remains were examined, her body had decomposed normally.

The following month, another crowd gathered. This time, it was for the trial. The courtroom only had room for 100 people, meaning some people had to be turned away. Josef asked if those present could kneel and pray, but the judge denied the request.

Father Alt was the first to testify. He said that if Anneliese had needed medical help, he and Father Renz would have recommended that she see a doctor. He testified that her starvation was caused by the demons’ influence over her.

What Did the Doctors Say About Anneliese Michel?

A psychiatrist, Professor Sates, was called to the stand. He believed Anneliese could have survived if she had been forced into treatment, including tranquilization, force-feeding, and electroshock therapy. His testimony makes it into The Exorcism of Emily Rose mostly intact. Since Sates had never personally examined Anneliese and was there to provide expert testimony, there wasn’t much for the filmmakers to change. In the movie, Dr. Briggs makes essentially the same argument.

Other doctors who testified believed Anneliese had died as a result of epilepsy, mental disorders, and an extreme religious environment. The specific form of epilepsy they believed she had was temporal lobe epilepsy, which can cause seizures, hallucinations, and changes in behavior.

From 1968 to 1976, Anneliese reportedly saw at least eight different doctors. Their diagnoses varied, and there was a period when it seemed as though she was simply going in circles. In a private conversation, Peter said Anneliese once asked why the doctors didn’t simply admit that they didn’t know what was wrong with her. That innocent question makes the entire case all the more sad.

What Happened to the People Responsible for Anneliese’s Exorcisms?

Father Alt and Father Renz were found guilty and received six-month prison sentences. Their sentences were ultimately suspended, with three years of probation. Anneliese’s parents were also found guilty and received the same prison sentence, but the court exempted them from punishment because it determined they had already “suffered enough” from the tragic loss of their daughter.

The movie handles the outcome differently. Father Moore is found guilty, but the jury recommends a sentence of time already served, meaning he’s free to go. Not even a little roadside community service for the Padre. More importantly, though, it makes the entire trial feel somewhat inconsequential.

In real life, the judge believed the exorcisms had aggravated Anneliese’s illness. He stated that she could have survived if she had been taken to a clinic even a week before her death.

While refusing medical treatment was Anneliese’s constitutional right, the judge believed her epilepsy had evolved into psychosis. He determined that by May 1976, two months before her death, she was no longer capable of making her own medical decisions.

How Accurate Is The Exorcism of Emily Rose?

The connections between Anneliese Michel’s real story and The Exorcism of Emily Rose are more structural than faithful. The film takes the basic elements of the case (a young woman, a mysterious illness, alleged demonic possession, an exorcism, her death, and a priest facing criminal charges) and builds a courtroom horror movie around them.

It also changes numerous details. Emily Rose is American rather than German. The movie invents Father Moore, changes the demons who allegedly possessed her, condenses the complicated medical history, and turns the real-life criminal case into a more streamlined courtroom narrative.

But the film’s central idea remains connected to Anneliese Michel’s story: a young woman suffering from a condition that neither medicine nor religion seemed able to resolve, and a group of people who became convinced that something supernatural was happening to her. And Jennifer Carpenter’s performance is one for the horror books.

The Exorcist and the Anneliese Michel Connection

Interestingly, Anneliese’s story sometimes bears more resemblance to William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist, which became a cultural phenomenon around the same time her case was unfolding. That makes some of the similarities between the two stories even eerier.

But beyond the details, the movies, and the endless debate over whether Anneliese was actually possessed, there was a young woman who suffered for years before her death. Her case raises questions that are still relevant today, questions about life, death, faith, medicine, and the afterlife. What actually caused her long illness? Could everything she experienced be scientifically explained? Or was there something happening to her that remains beyond our understanding?

Nearly 50 years after Anneliese Michel’s death, those questions remain. And perhaps that’s why her story continues to fascinate, disturb, and divide people to this day. And that is the real story behind The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

A couple of previous episodes of this show can be seen below. For more, check out the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel—and don’t forget to subscribe!

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