The reasons why Lost Souls was badly regarded become pretty obvious when you see the film. There are two that come to mind. It is stupid, and not exiting. On the other hand, it's not exactly unwatchable either. If nothing else, at least Janusz Kaminski's antique looking photography makes a nice picture, but in fact Lost Souls did a bit more for me, only a bit though.
Maya Larkin is a teacher at a seminary school. She and her Catholic colleagues are convinced that Satan is about to enter human form, more specifically, the body of author Peter Kelson. His name was mentioned by a patient in a mental ward who was subject to an exorcism that went wrong and left Maya's tutor Father Lareaux on death's doorstep. Now Maya is going after Peter, hoping to find him before Satan does.
One of the reasons I like Lost Souls is sort of a matter of personal taste. I've always loved Winona Rider, she has a great screen presence and her body of work shows a wide variety of faces. One could argue however that this is her most superficial role, but even so, she is not a lazy actress. Too bad the script didn't give her quite enough of a character.
There are three things that Lost Soul could use; a brain, an energy boost, and perhaps another ten to fifteen minutes in running length. The ending is rushed and is about as anti-climactic as cinema can get. When I see this kind of thing happen, sometimes I want to think that maybe there was a longer ending planned, but something went wrong in the editing room.
None of us can ever know. What we do know is that Lost Souls is dumb, and while it is probably destined for obsurity, it's not unwatchable.
Maya Larkin is a teacher at a seminary school. She and her Catholic colleagues are convinced that Satan is about to enter human form, more specifically, the body of author Peter Kelson. His name was mentioned by a patient in a mental ward who was subject to an exorcism that went wrong and left Maya's tutor Father Lareaux on death's doorstep. Now Maya is going after Peter, hoping to find him before Satan does.
One of the reasons I like Lost Souls is sort of a matter of personal taste. I've always loved Winona Rider, she has a great screen presence and her body of work shows a wide variety of faces. One could argue however that this is her most superficial role, but even so, she is not a lazy actress. Too bad the script didn't give her quite enough of a character.
There are three things that Lost Soul could use; a brain, an energy boost, and perhaps another ten to fifteen minutes in running length. The ending is rushed and is about as anti-climactic as cinema can get. When I see this kind of thing happen, sometimes I want to think that maybe there was a longer ending planned, but something went wrong in the editing room.
None of us can ever know. What we do know is that Lost Souls is dumb, and while it is probably destined for obsurity, it's not unwatchable.