Lost Souls is certainly one of the most gorgeous-looking movies to come out in 2000. The cinematography has a striking, visual texture reminiscent of old photographs, all the color bleeding out into rich and evocative shades of grey and black. The movie doesn't quite live up to its look, though it's not without its pleasures. The broader outlines of its story--about a true-crime writer (Ben Chaplin) who discovers, through the efforts of a former victim of possession (Winona Ryder), that he's about to become the Antichrist--lack any surprises or ingenuity. But individual scenes are largely well-written, spookily directed, and acted with commitment and intensity. Chaplin is particularly good, Ryder does her best, and a crew of superb character actors (including John Hurt, Elias Koteas, and Philip Baker Hall) flesh out the skeletally scripted supporting characters with skill and intelligence. Some of the special effects go a little overboard, but the movie is surprisingly free of the cheesy, demonic posturing and portentous speeches that afflict too many religious thrillers. Fans of The Exorcist or The Omen may find Lost Souls to be a modest but flavorful variation on the "devil-is-coming-to-get-you" genre. --Bret Fetzer
(15 votes)
2.
Years ago, priests exorcised a demon out of young Maya Larkin (Winona Ryder). Now she uses her unusual sensitivity to the same demons who once came after her to help the priests in other exorcisms. In one such case, a serial killer named Henry Birdson (John Diehl) claims to know the name of a man who will soon be possessed by Satan, beginning a reign of evil over the world. Maya discovers that the man in question is Peter Kelson (Ben Chaplin), an author of true-crime books who has both wealth and fame but no religious faith. At first Peter is skeptical, but a series of strange and mysterious clues indicates that he might indeed be the victim of a massive satanic conspiracy. Maya and Peter must work together to learn how to reverse what has already begun before time runs out. A haunting and creepy religious horror movie in the tradition of ROSEMARY'S BABY and THE EXORCIST, LOST SOULS features shocking, disturbing imagery and a deeply rooted sense of human mortality.
(15 votes)
3.
Maya Larkin (Winona Ryder) is a young woman whose very life was saved by faith. A dark and troubled past left her fragile and susceptible to demonic possession. She survived only after being pulled out of the Devil's grip by Father Lareaux (John Hurt), who subsequently became her mentor. He encouraged her to join with a group of priests who believe that the Devil incarnate will one day soon inhabit the body of a human being and plunge the world into the ultimate darkness. Peter Kelson (Ben Chaplin) is a charming, best-selling New York author who delves into the minds of notoriously brutal criminals, looking for the roots of their violent behavior. He holds the view that evil with a capital "E" does not exist and that Devil possession is a religious fiction. The victim of childhood tragedy in which both his parents were murdered, Peter turned away from Catholicism despite being raised in a devoutly religious setting by his uncle, Father James (Philip Baker Hall).
Maya and Peter's fates cross when Maya takes part in the Church-sanctioned exorcism of Henry Birdson, a violent socioopath who murdered his entire family. When the ritual goes terrifyingly wrong, Father Lareaux is left incapacitated and Maya is shaken to her very soul. Afterward, Maya decodes a final warning message left by Birdson which reveals, in numeric code, the name of the man whose body Satan plans to inhabit--Peter Kelson. But Kelson, a disciple of logic and scientific reason, couldn't possibly be the ideal vessel for the ultimate evil.
Or could he?
(15 votes)
4.
You have nothing to lose but your soul.
Two-time Academy Award-winning cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List) directs Oscar nominee Winona Ryder (Girl Interrupted) and Ben Chaplin (The Thin Red Line) in a riveting supernatural thriller.
For 2000 years, he has feasted on pain, sown the seeds of chaos...and waited. But now, the Devil will take human form and plunge humanity into eternal darkness - unless one woman can stop him. Maya Larkin (Ryder) must race against time and all the forces of evil to convince a born skeptic (Chaplin) that he's the unwitting, chosen pawn in a shocking Satanic conspiracy that will end the world as we know it. In the terrifying tradition of the Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby, Lost Souls is a pulse-pounding rush that'll scare the hell out of you!
(15 votes)
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