Lost Souls (2000)

Director:

Janusz Kaminski

Writers (WGA):

Pierce Gardner (story) &
Betsy Stahl (story) ...

Release Date:

13 October 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Deliver us from evil.

Plot:

A small group of Catholics led by an ailing priest believe that Satan intends to become man, just as God did in the person of Jesus...

Plot Keywords:

Mental Patient | Priest | Teacher | Christianity | Code

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Winona Ryder	...	Maya Larkin
Ben Chaplin	...	Peter Kelson
Sarah Wynter	...	Claire Van Owen
Philip Baker Hall	...	Father James
John Hurt	...	Father Lareaux
Elias Koteas	...	John Townsend
Brian Reddy	...	Father Frank Page
John Beasley	...	Det. Mike Smythe
John Diehl	...	Henry Birdson
Paul Kleiman	...	Paramedic
Bob Clendenin	...	Mental Patient (as Robert Clenendin)
Oliver Clark	...	Mr. Silberman
Michael Mantell	...	Kleiman
Brad Greenquist	...	George Viznik
Lo Ming	...	Michael Kim 'Robert' (as Ming Lo)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence/terror and some language.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18PL (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Finland:K-15 | USA:R (certificate #36647) | South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA (DVD rating) | Australia:M (original rating) | Chile:14 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Hungary:16 | Mexico:B | Netherlands:12 | Norway:18 | Peru:14 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Avery Pix

Trivia:

"Deuteronomy Book 17" is not a reference to the Bible.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The thumb visible in the close-up of the scene in which Peter is preparing a fishing bait isn't his.

Quotes:

John Townsend: God will forgive me. The transformation is near.

Soundtrack:

TIJUANA LADY

End of the world as we know it, and I feel... bored.

Look, I'm a sucker for a good eschatological/apocalyptic thriller. Something totally fascinates me about that stuff. After the sheer stupidity of the illogical 'Stigmata' and especially the lame-brained 'End Of Days', I had a lot of hope for 'Lost Souls'. Sadly, it fails to deliver. Hollywood disappoints yet again!

Winona Ryder plays a troubled young woman who believes that Satan is planning on being reborn in human form, and kicking some Christian ass. Ben Chaplin plays a crime writer who Winona thinks is the Devil in waiting. Instead of just shooting him and doing the world a favour, she forms an uneasy relationship with him. What exactly she plans on doing is hard to say. That's the whole problem with this movie. The 'Se7en'-esque visuals are more important than a decent script. The characters motivations don't really make sense, and as soon as the plot looks like it's going to go is some kind of interesting direction, it doesn't. After a certain point you give up even caring what happens, surely a bad sign in a movie where the whole fate of mankind is at stake?!

Ryder used to be effective as alienated teens back in the late 80s in favourites like 'Beetlejuice' and 'Heathers', but lets face facts, movies like this and 'Girl, Interrupted' show how limited her range really is. She hasn't grown as an actress and is basically just not believable.

Ben Chaplin showed some flair for light comedy in 'The Truth About Cats And Dogs', and had a few outstanding moments in Terrence Malik's wildly uneven and overrated 'The Thin Red Line', but he fails to interest here. Ryder and Chaplin don't show any on screen chemistry or rapport, and this sinks the movie even further into terminal boredom.

The talented character actors in the supporting cast - John Hurt, Kevin Baker Hall, Elias Koteas, John Diehl - are all wasted by the dull and cliched script. Add to that one of the most anti-climactic endings in recent memory, and you've got yourself one lame "thriller" that is a real lost opportunity.

If movies about Satanism, demonic possession, Occult conspiracies and/or The-End-Of-The-World-As-We-Know-It are your scene, avoid this snoozefest and go straight to 'Rosemary's Baby' and 'The Exorcist', both stylish AND genuinely scary classics. After that try the hugely overlooked 80s supernatural Demi Moore flick 'The Seventh Sign', and the more recent Christopher Walken vehicle 'The Prophecy', or the fantastic Spanish comedy/horror 'The Day Of The Beast', both from the mid-90s. These movies all feature more intelligence, originality and suspense than 'Lost Souls' could ever dream of having.