Lost Souls
Directed by Janusz Kaminski
New Line Home Video 2000

reviews by Terry Wickham

There is no reason anyone should have ever made this movie. It was stupid, pointless and not scary. It's kind of amazing that Janusz Kaminski worked with Steven Spielberg on Schindler's List, The Lost World, Amistad, Saving Private Ryan and did not learn a thing from him. This is his directing debut and he should stick to cinematography. The movie comes off totally unbelievable, laughable and worse, it's boring. I actually had to force myself to stick with it because of this review.

A journalist Peter Kelson (Ben Chaplin) writes novels about killers, but in every other way lives a calm, almost serene life. One day he is told he will suddenly transform into the devil, on the exact moment of his 33 birthday. This comes across odd since he has never shown propensity for evil, in fact he doesn't believe in good or evil. The way he finds this will suddenly happen to him is through a persistent young woman named Mara Larkin (Winona Ryder), who was once possessed. Maya has been working for the Catholic Church assisting a couple priests in attempting to exorcise evil out of a man named Henry Birdson (John Diehl). This man has been writing numbers, which are actually codes proclaiming the coming of the anti-Christ. Maya takes his writing and eventually deciphers it to discover that it points out that the Devil will manifest itself as Kelson.

After she learns this, she pursues Kelson and tries to convince him that this is going to happen. It's all a bunch of hogwash explained through corny dialogue, stilted characters and very little cinematic activity. The bottom line is who cares. The movie moves a turtle's pace, lacking suspense and without dramatic purpose.

Considering Janusz Kaminski is an experienced cinematographer, it's surprising that the film has shoddy camerawork. Most scenes are unlit, or lack enough lighting to make the situations real. A courthouse, mental institution and most of the houses used in the film have little to no lights. This anemic visual approach, along with the unmotivated tilted camera, piss-poor framing by camera operator really is a distraction. It's not enough that the story is stupid; the dialogue silly and there's no action.

For these reasons listed above, I can't recommend this.

Official Website:
http://www.newline.com

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