Posted by jason on October 30, 2009
The movie is The Ninth Gate. Came out in 2000. Johnny Depp was in it. Roman Polanski directed it. Almost everyone I know of dismissed it….. When the credits rolled at the end my friends just groaned and got up to leave…. I sat still…. Felt like I’d just seen a part of the back of my mind projected onto the big screen…. I don’t have time to write more at the moment…… But more is coming………….
***days go by***
…..aaaaaaaaaaaand we’re back…..
….like I wrote in one of the comments below, it doesn’t surprise me that many people have such a low opinion of this movie… But it also doesn’t surprise me that I’m not the only who’s a fan… In lieu of an actual blog about it, I’ll just give you some bullet points…
1. What I thought this film did SO well was depict the experience of contact with something not human… So often, gods and demons and other supernatural forces are presented distinctly like us… In this film, the being in question is presented, subtly, as distinctly NOT like us…
2….and even when it IS kind of heavy-handed (morphing effect), there’s still a real kind of quiet about it… The eyes, for instance… It wasn’t obvious right away… And the floating was done so quietly, no big Matrix moment of heroic athleticism… Just matter-of-fact, as if this was simply what this being did… Finally, the posture and gait of this being… It was obvious that the body was being used as a vessel…. To me, anyway…. I thought it was a great touch…
3. What makes The Ninth Gate so different than most other “supernatural thrillers” is that there really isn’t much effort made one way or another to characterize Satan, or Evil… No howling, fiery monsters… No brooding fallen angels… No vengeful rebellious figures… No debonair, darkly seductive men… No lusty sirens, either… In fact there’s almost nothing in the way of sadism present…
4… and I think that’s really the point… You can see it in Johnny Depp’s face towards the end… He truly has no idea what he’s gotten himself into, and he has no frame of reference whatsoever for what is sitting on top of him… Same goes for what he’s walking into in the last shot before the credits… That’s what I love about this movie… Its illustration of the moments leading up to contact with the unknown, and then when that contact is made… While Depp’s character’s motives are all too human, the motives and concerns he is unwittingly expediting are quite inhuman, and, inherently, therefore unknowable to us…
5…. so the only thing that IS knowable is the dread, the sensation that something is not quite right…. Though, for whosoever actually inhabits this pre-human (or is it post-human) realm, it is COMPLETELY sensible… There’s a big part of the musical score, one recurring theme, and it really reflects that “business as usual”, unassuming sense of evil… A lot of movie music gets in the way of the important themes, I think… This refrain makes sure you keep going in the same direction as the theme…
omg, of course…frightening and hot at the same time…
Comment by Sondra — October 30, 2009 @ 1:57 pm
I saw and loved this movie! I thought of this when Jason played the clip of him talking to the listener who called in and said chicks like this guy, or something like that. Johnny Depp IS a chick magnet.
I felt that way regarding Oldboy, and the Cell and Seven which people called in and said was another good guess.
I feel bad that I’d forgotten this film…
Comment by Tiffanie — October 30, 2009 @ 1:58 pm
I was going to say Mrs. Doubtfire. Horrifying.
Comment by DUDE — October 30, 2009 @ 2:01 pm
i dont really see what thats freaks you out by it looks like a really sunny day at the top of a village in the desert….welli dont think i ccan really say untill i see it
Comment by Jared Creech — October 30, 2009 @ 2:01 pm
well i dont think there is such a big thing it looks like a sunny day in the desert. what is this movie about?
Comment by Jared Creech — October 30, 2009 @ 2:02 pm
Yeah, trippy movie! Loved it. I only know one other person who even remembers it.
Comment by Ryan Hammond — October 30, 2009 @ 2:07 pm
It’s about a book. “The Demon text”! Freaky…I promise.
Comment by Ryan Hammond — October 30, 2009 @ 2:09 pm
Dammit, I’ve even seen that one!
Comment by Maleah — October 30, 2009 @ 2:11 pm
GREAT Movie! I’m a little surprised that this one is the ONE that freaks you out the most. It was awesome though. I hadn’t heard of it until a friend showed it to me about 7 yrs ago. I watch it annually now around Halloween.
Jason – you should also see A Haunting in Conn. and – Trick Or Treat. It just came out on DVD and is another creepy film. You’ll appreciate it.
Comment by DR — October 30, 2009 @ 3:21 pm
Mouth of Madness. Sam Neil. That is one hell of a movie.
Comment by Timny Pafford — October 31, 2009 @ 12:03 am
Jesus christ jason…! that movie sucked because its plot had so many holes… I cant believe you found that scary!! I was so disapointed.. it started off cool and just took a downward spiral to a shit ending. I never have any desire to see it again. Im shocked anyone finds it scary. guess you found the 6th day terrifying too huh…lol
Still love you though… Id really like to corrupt you right!! Obviously you had a very protected childhood!!
wow. Still cant get past that. LOL I mean really!
Comment by marah — October 31, 2009 @ 10:39 am
Marah — Yeah, that’s a lot of people’s reaction… But there’s a difference between horror and terror… Most “horror” films are awfully miscategorized… To me, shrieking and fretting is a rational response to facing the prospects of being hacked to pieces by a malevolent stalker… Problem is, suspsension of disbelief becomes impossible in these circumstances… For me… There’s nothing CREEPY about it… Certainly nothing at all artful about it… If you want to see sick people committing acts of terror upon a helpless victim, there are videos online for you to look at… They are proliferating…
……horror is something different… Horror has dimension… Horror has perspective… The sense of horror expands and spreads with distance… I suppose “freaked out” or “scared” may be inappropriate words to use, in that those words usually get associated with quickened pulse, heavier breathing, sweating, etc… Throughout most of The Ninth Gate, that “fight-or-flight” phenomena DOES NOT come into play… There is a stillness… Frank Langella’s character even points out the silliness of the histrionics towards the end… But his character (forget the name) is no more knowledgeable than those he mocks… And his lack of knowledge has less to do with the seemingly contrived plot point than it does with his inability to grasp the larger point, which gets driven home moments later………………….. A point that I think many people miss…………….
…….i honestly do not have time to launch into all my thoughts on this film……. not right this second… i really want to, though… and i will…………………… and I’m open to hearing your ideas on corruption
Thanks Marah!
Comment by jason — October 31, 2009 @ 12:59 pm
Horror is gore, blood and violence. Terror is a state of mind. Terror is psychological. It plays on deep-seated fears, superstitions and emotions and is not easily reasoned away. Terror sticks with you.
The best “scary” movies have a good balance of both. But, I prefer Terror to horror.
I am actually freaked out that there are so many people that ENJOY watching people be gutted, decapitated, slowly tortured, etc. Hostel and Saw scare me only because I find it frightening that humans have not evolved past the spectacle of Roman rings full of murder, mayhem and animals eating people alive. This is not entertainment, or shouldn’t be.
Comment by Paula Sayles — November 2, 2009 @ 2:40 pm
Your absolutely right Paula, I think psychological is the best, it
sticks with you. One of the best movies for straight out creepy
psychological terror is “Burnt Offerings” not an ounce of gore
or violence, but one of the creepiest endings ever.
It also starred Karen Black, one of the creepiest looking women
around. This movie was made around 73 and it still creeps me out.
A must see Jason.
Comment by Dan Brown — November 2, 2009 @ 6:38 pm
Love this movie but definitely creepy. I thought the Exorcism of Emily Rose was creepier though. I only say that because the events are based on a true story, whatever that means.
Comment by Shaun — November 5, 2009 @ 9:28 am