October (Web-only) 2000

ARTICLE TOOLS

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The supernatural thriller Lost Souls won points with Christian critics for its reverent portrayal of a Christian heroine, but was nevertheless slammed for its hokey story. Conversely, The Contender was praised for its well-plotted script but dismissed for a perceived attack on the Christian faith. Meanwhile, newcomers Get Carter, The Ladies Man, and Dr. T and the Women were deemed offensive and inartistic.

No one expected much from Lost Souls, an end-times flick that sat on the shelf for a year. But it performed fairly well at the box office, besting the crop of new films this week. The audiences were apparently more enthustastic than critics. "More hokey than horrific," says the U.S. Catholic Conference, "the tangled script of director Janusz Kaminski's heavy-handed film minimally develops its characters before surrendering to an ends-justifies-the-means conclusion." The one bright spot was lead character Maya Larkin (Winona Ryder), a devout Christian who discovers that atheist journalist Peter Kelson (Ben Chaplin) will be possessed by Satan and become the Antichrist. Peter T. Chattaway of B.C. Christian News says "Lost Souls does make at least one significant departure from other films of its ilk. Most demonic-possession movies, from The Exorcist to End of Days, revolve around protagonists who are losing faith or never had it in the first place. In Lost Souls … the story is told primarily through the eyes of Maya, who remains a true believer from beginning to end." Still, the movie falls prey to other errors of its predecessors, including incorrect prophecies and a passive role for God. Preview's John Adair notes that "none of the indications of Satan's possession of the Antichrist come from the Bible. … ...