The Eighteenth Angel

... a horrible mutated rat! LOL

Okay, it's not tooooo bad. Not, toooo bad. Nobody ever said raising a teenage daughter would be easy.

The Eighteenth Angel is, at best, a very below par 'horror' film. I say this because, it's just not horrific. The storyline is essentially a standard 'evil cultists wish to summon Satan to Earth' type thing, something which has, to be honest, been done many times before. In addition, the cast, even the normally entertaining Cook, do nothing to raise the believeability level of this sad little film. The end result is that you find yourself A) Laughing at the film for it's flaws, and B) Not even giving a damn for the characters, neither of which should be results of watching a 'good' horror film (Check out Ring or Nightmare on Elm St.). So while this film does have many flaws, it's biggest letdown is that it is simply not scary, and what more should you be looking for in a horror film. In short, don't see it unless you're a big Cook fan.

"The House of Yes", "Family Rescue", "She's All That": all decent movies starring Rachael Leigh Cook. That's why Rachael was the only reason I wanted to see "The Eighteenth Angel" (well, that and the fact it was shown just after The X-Files). The short version: not even Rachael (as Lucy) can save this disaster.

Here's the longer version: Some of the acting is so bad it's more frightening than the horror plot (a Satanic church wants the Antichrist back and all they need is a demon clock saying when they should sacrifice 18 angelic children). The worst performance is given by Maximilian Schell: instead of acting like a satanic priest he acts like he's the evil penguin in a children's story. When he recites the satanic verses, you think he's reading the recipe for pork chops. The more the story evolves the more ludicrous it gets. If you know the horror cliches, all you have to do is make a list and wait for it to come. Oh look, spikes: somebody's bound to get killed by them. (check) Oh look, nice horses: they are probably going to kill someone. (check) Let's wait for the cameo of a cemetary. (check) Etc etc. (check) Watch out for painful mistakes: father Simeon is praying to the Devil in a pentagram (check), but apparently the makers of this movie didn't know what a pentagram is. It certainly isn't what they used a movie. (If you don't know what a pentagram looks like: watch Jacob the Liar: in that movie they needed a Jewish star, but they used a pentagram.) Add the final ingredient: referring to and stealing from other movies. Maybe they can get away with referring to Brian de Palma's Obsession (the church scene), but it's hard not to spot they borrowed some ideas from The Exorcist. Once again: bad copying only makes a bad movie worse.

So it's best to skip this movie? Yes, unless you like watching Rachael Leigh Cook. In this movie she is a teenage model, so there's lots of posing and looking nice. But she was much better in the movie list I started this review with, so that's not really an argument. Also, skipping The Eighteenth Angel means you don't have to see the ending of a movie which gets worse every scene. You'll clap your hand when the titles get there: not because the movie was good, but because it's finally over.

In Boston, the music teacher Hugh Stanton (Christopher McDonald), his wife, the writer Norah Stanton (Wendy Crewson), and their teenager daughter Lucy (Rachael Leigh Cook) are a happy family. On the day of Hugh's birthday, Norah and Lucy organize a surprising party for him. Norah is researching the Etruscan civilization and has an interview with the notorious Father Simeon (Maximilian Schell), who is the leader of a sect that worship Satan, and she brings Lucy with her. They meet Father Simeon and Lucy leaves her mother to receive the guests of the party. Out of the blue, her mother commits suicide jumping off the roof of the building. While grieving the loss of her mother, Lucy turns into a rebellious teenager and soon she is invited to move to Rome by a modelling agency to take photos against the will of her father. The reluctant Hugh travels with Lucy to satisfy her dream and the farmer Maria Elena (Enrica Maria Modugno) lodges them in her farmhouse. Meanwhile, Father Simeon and his sect believe that Satan will reborn soon and will choose a beautiful youth among eighteen called "angels" to return to Earth, and Lucy is the Eighteenth Angel.

Revisiting "The Eighteenth Angel" (1997) in 2024, the impact reduces since the prophecies for the year 2000 did not realize. But in 1998, when I first saw this film, it was not original but much better. The dark plot of the need of (6+6+6) angels to Satan returns to Earth is interesting, and not bad as indicated in many reviews. It is also one of the earlier films of the filmography of Rachael Leigh Cook. Maximilian Schell is excellent in the role of the evil father that worships Satan. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Décimo-Oitavo Anjo" ("The Eighteenth Angel"

I'm quite surprised by the low ratings users have given this movie. I think of all the direct to video genre films of late The Eighteenth Angel is the pick of the crop. Great acting, an original plot, and great surprisingly good visual effects combine for a great intriguing film.