Movie Review by Nigel A. Messenger
Starring: Winona Ryder, Ben Chaplin, Sarah Wynter, John Hurt
Director: Janusz Kaminski
A supernatural thriller about an ordinary man who on his 33rd birthday is destined to have his body taken over to give the devil human form.
Yes, the general idea has been done before, END OF DAYS for example has a similar theme only with a huge budget and massive special effects. LOST SOULS however clearly does not rely on big budget but instead uses grainy film quality and a colder more eerie feel to achieve it’s sense of imminent doom.
Ben Chaplin (Peter Kelson), the famous writer with a specialist interest in nasty killers and their psychological profiles, is to be unknowing recipient and host of the devil, and Winona Ryder is perfectly cast as a previously possessed and recently exorcised heroine who tries to warn Kelson and save him from his predestined fate. John Hurt starts the film off as a priest who finds and exorcises demons from possessed people, then crops up again towards the end of the movie to throw a spanner in the works.
There’s glamour present although greatly underused in the form of Sarah Wynter playing Kelson’s perfect girlfriend and of course in the form of the previously mentioned Winona Ryder, who has definitely grown up in the sexy looks department.
Overall LOST SOULS isn’t a bad movie, it just doesn’t really have enough going for it and misses out totally on any sub-plots that could have improved the film. Also the ending is a major let down, the whole film works towards the moment of Kelson being taken over then…well I won’t give it away but it definitely doesn’t have much of a punch. Nevertheless it’s worth seeing the movie if you’ve got 98 mins to spare.
