Review of The Ninth Gate (1999) by Sarah C — 31 May 2009

Possibly Polanski's worst. The opening credits, while a tad dated, are rather mezmerizing, and the film has a strong, eery first act. Unfortunetly by the second act characters start to do and say things that we assume will be explained in some way.

They are not. By the film's final half-hour or so The Ninth Gate has thrown out any trace of believability or horror in favor of camp and ludicrous, nonsensical action. A scene with robed, chanting, Satan-worshippers isn't scary or original, a sex scene is not only silly but disgusting looking, and there is a truley hilarious moment where it is obvious Depp's stunt double is standing in for him.

It's almost as if Polanski knew he was working with trash, and decided he'd just get a kick out of starting a film out well and seeing how bad it could get. Even the special effects in the final scenes look intentionally fake.

Well, Polanski did write, direct and produce this, so he could do whatever the hell he wanted with it, and this is what came out. In the end, the opening and closing credits are the film's strongest moments.