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Today’s Prayer Focus
  • Michael PeñaMichael Peña, age , American actor and musician, —“Moonfall,” “Fantasy Island,” “Jexi,” “Ant-Man” 1-2, “CHiPs” (2017), “Cesar Chavez,” “The Shield” TV series, “Narcos: Mexico” TV series • Faith: Scientology • Worldview: Liberalism
  • Woody HarrelsonWoody Harrelson, actor—“Zombieland” 1-2, “War for the Planet of the Apes (2017),” “2012,” “No Country for Old Men,” “The Hunger Games,” “The People vs. Larry Flynt,” “Natural Born Killers” • Faith: Considers himself spiritual and leans toward Hinduism with admiration of the Hindu Yogi Paramahansa Yogananda. He was raised by a reportedly devout Christian mother and attended a liberal Presbyterian college (Hanover) where he says, “I was actually considering being a minister. …I was very religious growing up.” • Worldview: self-identifies as an anarchist, Socialism, Environmentalism (activist), Veganism

Please take a moment now to pray for these influential people (prayer suggestions).

MOVIE REVIEW

The Ninth Gate

MPA Rating: R-Rating (MPA) for some violence and sexuality.

Reviewed by: Brad D. Francis
CONTRIBUTOR

Moral Rating: Extremely Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Adults
Genre: Thriller Drama
Length: 2 hr. 7 min.
Year of Release: 1999
USA Release:
Relevant Issues
Johnny Depp in “The Ninth Gate”

Sin and the Bible

Satan

Is Satan a real person that influences our world today? Is he affecting you? Answer

Devil

Demons

Fornication

Featuring Johnny Depp, Frank Langella, Lena Olin, Emmanuelle Seigner, Barbara Jefford
Director Roman Polanski
Producer Roman Polanski
Distributor Artisan Entertainment

“The Ninth Gate” is just plain evil. Let me just give you all fair warning in case you haven’t caught on by the pentagram on the movie ads: this film is about Satan. If you may or may not still be interested in this movie, read on.

Johnny Depp stars as book merchant Dean Corso, a shady, but likable character who sees money as his main goal, but knows his business.

Bring on the plot.

Antique book collector Boris Balkan (Frank Langella, ultimately a laughable villain) reveals to Corso his “private collection”: all ancient books dealing with the devil. The pinnacle of his collection is a book entitled “The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of the Shadows,” a book allegedly written based upon the author’s experience with a mythical sort of bible written by Satan himself. Somehow, this book of which only two other copies exist is supposed to summon the devil if handled correctly. Corso is given the task of examining the three books to assess their authenticity.

Scene from “The Ninth Gate”

This movie’s moral flaws are numerous when you chalk up the whole theme. Corso has sex with two different people (one of whom we suspect is a demon). The first encounter “only” reveals groping and the like, whereas the second is much more graphic and shows a woman’s naked breasts. The language is what you’d expect from an R-rated film, and the violence is moderate.

There is very little redeeming quality in this movie. It seems everyone is corrupted, and I don’t think we see any characters who aren’t ultimately demonic.

The ending is really dumb, very anti-climatic. It was as if the producer suddenly looked at his watch and said, “Oh my! We’d better end this movie in the next thirty seconds!” The story does weave an intriguing tale… for a while. Then the writers lost direction and clearly never found it again. Don’t be too disappointed.

In the end, most Christians will want to avoid this movie completely. The glorified Satanism probably won’t do anybody any favors, and it’s really not all that exciting to watch in any case. I was entertained for two hours, but there’s no value beyond that. Johnny Depp is likable, but he can’t (and doesn’t) carry the movie by himself.

Beware “The Ninth Gate.”


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
This was perhaps one of the most sickest demonic films I’ve seen. There is nothing good at all about it. I think this movie is an indication of where films are going, being that there were several movies like this from the past year. Ex. “Astronaut’s Wife”, “Stigmata”, “Prophesy” etc. The acting was good, but the story and direction of the film were evil. My Ratings: [1/3½]
Jay, age 20
This movie was horrible… aside from the demonic influences (and things that generally tie in with that), the story was poorly written. This had the worst ending in a movie that I’ve seen in quite some time. As a Christian, I can say… “Stay away… there are no redeeming qualities” As a movie goer, I can say… “Stay away… the movie was horrible.” My Ratings: [1/1]
Heath Crumbacker, age 29
Movie Critics
…Much of the story deals with demonology and devil worship (and a book that reportedly can summon the Devil)… Several sexual encounters take place, one that’s implied, but shows some groping, while another shows nudity and movement.
ScreenIt!
…Some doors are best left unopened. Some books are best left unread. …So much trouble for a book… a book that was, in reality, never written. The plot device of there being a guide to Satan’s kingdom is a pure fantasy, for no such book exists.
Michael Elliot, Movie Parables

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