Lost Souls (2000)

A Catholic teacher meets an atheist journalist, whom a group of Catholics and priests believes has been chosen by the devil himself to be the Antichrist.

Director:

Janusz Kaminski

Writers:

Pierce Gardner (story), Betsy Stahl (story)

Stars:

Winona Ryder, Ben Chaplin, Sarah Wynter

2 nominations.

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
John Beasley	...	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
Ming Lo	...	Michael Kim

Storyline

A group of Catholics go to a mental institution to perform exorcism in the murderer George Viznik. Father Lareaux, Deacon John Townsend, Father Frank Pageand the teacher Maya Larkin, who was possessed and exorcised in the past, unsuccessfully try to exorcise the man and Father Lareaux is deeply affected and falls into a coma. Maya brings the Viznik's coded writings and after deciphering it, she concludes that the writer Peter Kelson might be the Antichrist to be incarnated by Satan. She seeks him out but the atheist Peter, who has been raised by his uncle Father James, does not believe in her. But when strange things happen to him, Peter meets Maya and they investigate together the chance to save his soul.

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Plot Keywords:

priest | mental institution | antichrist | exorcism | devil worship | 

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Taglines:

You have nothing to lose but your soul.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence/terror and some language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Almas perdidas

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,954,766, 15 October 2000, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$16,779,636, 19 November 2000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$31,355,910, 26 November 2000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Prufrock Pictures, Avery Pix, Castle Rock Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Janusz Kaminski's directorial debut.

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Goofs

(at around 29 mins) When Maya and Peter meet for the first time, the word processor screen on his laptop repeatedly changes. The screen alternates between a whole-page layout and split-page depending on the shot.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Maya Larkin: Look at you. Come here. I told you, you've got to double-knot those things. One of these days we'll have to get you some zipper shoes.

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Crazy Credits

The initial credits appear as numbers morphing into letters plus a reversed shadow.

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Connections

Referenced in E! True Hollywood Story: Winona Ryder (2002)

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Soundtracks

Tijuana Lady
Written by Ian Ball, Paul Blackburn, Thomas Gray, Benjamin Ottewell (as Benjamin Jo Attewell), Oliver Peacock (as Oliver James Peacock)
Performed by Gomez
Courtesy of Virgin Records Limited under license from Virgin Records America, Inc.

User Reviews

How Can You Go From "Little Women" and "Washington Square" to This?

Winona had just had a big hit with "Girl Interrupted," and Ben Chaplin was impressive doing Montgomery Cliff's "The Heiress" part in "Washington Square." So what possessed them to do a cheesy "Exorcist" meets "the Omen" and "Rosemary's Baby" formula movie? In any case, the movie has a good opening twenty minutes and promises real scary stuff to come. You don't know anything about the characters or what's going on and that makes it a little frustrating, but you can forgive the movie for that. Unfortunately, the movie becomes less scary the more the silly plot and characters gets revealed. Probably the silliest moment comes when Winona tells Ben that he fits the profile for the "antichrist" because he's never been baptized. It is hard to see how Winona Horowitz could say such a thing with a straight face.

Apparently the first time director is a great cinematographer. That is usually not such a good thing. Yes, Stanley Kubrick did make the transition, but most cinematographers are too concerned with the lighting and have no idea how to direct actors. That turns out to be the case here, where everybody is just doing monotone line readings.

I confess my love for Winona, but even her presence only makes the film barely watchable and not quite enjoyable or fun.