Lost Souls (2000): Dir: Janusz Kaminski / Cast: Winona Ryder, Ben Chaplin, Phillip Baker Hall, John Hurt, Elias Koteas: The subject of demon possession worked to great extent in The Exorcist but since then too many films have attempted to copy it and never coming close to its greatness. Title could have referenced redemption but more than souls were lost in this clown act. It opens with an exorcism in an institution. It is believed that Peter Kelson, a young writer who has written books on evil and will be possessed. Winona Ryder delivers him a tape of the failed exorcism but playback reveals nothing. The woman in the room next door can hear it perfectly. Too many silly moments and little character development. Directing by Janusz Kaminski is stylish with tremendous production but the ending uses problematic issues of violence. Ryder delivers a laughable performance. John Hurt does his best in the role of a Priest but it has been conceived countless times by other actors leaving him with nothing to do other than follow the motions. Ben Chaplin is flat and only serves as a possible romantic interest for Ryder. Phillip Baker Hall is wasted and has performed better in more detailed roles. The Exorcist is perhaps the best this sort of sub genre can achieve, and this junk never comes close. This film is an uninspiring mess that should be lost down a deep dark hole. Score: 2 / 10

It would appear many horror flick fans had an expectation that this movie would be like The Excorcist, The Omen, Rosemary's Baby. Having watched the film, it's clear it was never intending to be like those films. So, that means horror fans will hate this film and say things like "dull" and "cure for insomnia" over and over again.Lost Souls is more like one of the more low key supernatural-themed X-Files episodes. Characters are introduced, there's a mystery presented, and motivations of almost all characters only become clear near the end. What this movie does well is let the mystery brew and keep the suspense going almost to the end. I think this is what totally irritated the horror film fans: they never get spinning heads or vomit, and that's really all they wanted to see anyway. No spoilers here but many folks complain about the end. Sure, the end is "abrupt" but it makes perfect sense if you were attentively watching. Its a reasonably good film if you like slow-paced moody flicks.

Janusz Kaminski is better known as Steven Spielberg's cinematographer in films like Schindler's List. In this film which aired late last night, this story is about Ben Chaplin, a psychologist Peter Kelson, and Winona Ryder, a French Catholic School teacher named Mia Larkin. Mia arrives and asks him about true evil. Slowly, the film does unravel to explain why she meets with him in the first place. I don't want to ruin the story but Peter Kelson's life is about to take a turn for the worse. Unexplainable things begin to happen to him and slowly a truth about his parentage comes up. There are lot of questions that are left unanswered. Maybe it's because it was edited for television. I would have liked to have seen more in the final scene in the church before the end of the film. I think the lack of explanation doesn't help the movie and the ending is rushed to finish the story.

"Lost Souls" is an eerie religious horror/thriller from first time director Janusz Kaminski, an Academy Award winning cinematographer. The movie follows Maya (Winona Ryder), a religious Catholic woman who is very spiritual and is a part of a small group of fellow religious people who perform exorcisms, investigate religious mythology, etc. But she becomes convinced that a famous writer, Peter (Ben Chaplin) has been pre-destined since birth to become a leader for Satan, after decoding the writings of an institutionalized man. When she approaches Peter about her findings, he is skeptical, as most would be. He's not religious and isn't a spiritual person by any means. But Maya and Peter both find themselves stuck in the middle of the bizarre happenings that have been predicted, and a final showdown ensues between the forces of good and evil.As far as religious-themed horror films go, this is a really good one. Religious horror films typically tend to get under my skin, it could be because I was raised Catholic, but they have always tended to scare me much more than say a slasher movie would. So, with "Lost Souls" being a film of this type, it did creep me out a little. The story has been done many times in various different ways ("The Omen" probably being most notable for this), but what I liked about this film was that it was crafted a little differently and wasn't quite what one would expect. The performances here were great, Winona Ryder and Ben Chaplin were both perfect and showed some significant talent. Philip Baker Hall and John Hurt have supporting roles as priests, and they were both also very good. To sum the performances up, the acting was all really wonderful and believable.The cinematography is what really soars in this film though - not surprisingly either, as the director is a cinematographer (who worked on both of Spielberg's "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan") and has won Academy Awards for his work. So naturally, the film looks stunning. Very flashy photography, dark and sometimes almost sepia-toned, and very moody and artistic all at the same time. I really liked the entire movie's 'look'. From what I've read on here it seems like the biggest problem people have with this film is the ending. I personally liked the ending. It was ambiguous. So what? It made you think a little and, while it was a inconclusive, it at least went out with a bang (literally). I've seen other films end in a similar fashion, but I think this film did it pretty well. It was daring and I liked that about it, and it didn't happen too fast.Bottom line - "Lost Souls" is a notch above most religious thrillers, and is very well acted with some amazing cinematography. While the ending may disappoint some, I thought it was at least fitting to the film and it changed the entire perspective of what had lead up to that point - it ended like that for a reason. Really not that bad. 7/10.