The Ninth Gate (1999)

            Next up for your Satanic Sunday, we have The Ninth Gate, directed in 1999 by Roman Polanski.  I can’t lie, watching a Christopher Walken movie then a Johnny Depp movie is never a big issue with this ghoul.  This movie is and has already been a favorite of mine, considering the way the movie focuses on and reveals the Devil (mostly through a focus on books, which I love).  The fact that Mr. Depp is the protagonist doesn’t hurt one iota.  But I digress.

            The premise of this flick is that JD’s character (Mr. Corseau) is a book buyer/seller.  He is hired by one Boris Balkan to authenticate a rare book about the Devil.  There are three known copies on earth, and Mr. Balkan believes his to be a fake and wants Mr. Corseau to travel to find the other books and check each against his copy to discover any dissimilar marks or text.  Corseau likes money, and this client is offering a sum he cannot refuse, regardless of his seeming distaste for the subject matter.  He takes on the job and begins researching the book.  He attempts to seek information about the book in various ways, and notices immediately that he is being followed by a smoking man (hired by Mrs. Tolfer to retrieve the book).  He also finds himself running into the same woman over and over…both in the States as well as in other countries.  She seems to lead/protect Corseau throughout his journey. 

            As Corseau is able to examine the other copies of the books, he notices that the engravings in the books are different, some of them signed by a ‘mysterious’ LCF.  It didn’t take him long to discover what those initials stand for.  The soundtrack to the movie is just as glorious as the cinematography, though I’d have to say most of the death scenes were pretty lame sauce (with the exception of Balkan burning himself alive…that was just brilliant).  Emmanuelle Sergner was probably the weakest link, as “The Girl,” her acting was somewhat atrocious.  This isn’t a gore fest, it definitely has more plot to it than those typically do, and much of the storyline is not just about moving the plot forward but its also about character development.  Corseau goes from a complete non believer to a full-fledged Hell seeker/aficionado. 

            The Body Count was actually decent in this film, with a total of seven (though I’m mildly surprised the number was not nine).  Number of killers?  Three.  Boob Count? One.  Cheap Thrills?  None.  Actual Thrills?  One-ish.  Raven’s Scream Meter says: 4 out of 5 Screams!  Definitely worth a watch if you are into movies about the Devil and the occult, but not if you are looking for a blood bath.  I hope you enjoyed the review, feel free to leave comments if you so desire – and thanks as always for reading!  Xx ~ Raven