Review of The Ninth Gate (1999) by Alex R — 14 Oct 2011

Roman Polanski's The Ninth Gate is an average supernatural/psychological horror film that has a pretty impressive cast. The Ninth Gate has a great concept, however the film does leave a bit disappointed by the films conclusion.

What's really disappointing is that the film has such an engaging premise for the story; however the film takes too long to get to the point, and at times the film feels rushed as if the director doesn't know how to properly execute the ideas thrown before the audience.

The Ninth Gate is still a good film; however it could have been much better than this. Not saying that The Ninth Gate is a bad, but there is definite room for improvement. The film takes far too long to get to the point, and it's frankly a bit too slow.

But the pacing of the film is somewhat necessary to establish the plot that director Roman Polanski presents to the viewer. Sure it's long, but in the end there is a fairly good ending here, nothing remarkable, but good.

The cast here make this film watchable and they deliver good performances. Despite the films flaws, The Ninth Gate is pretty good film that despite the fact that many people don't like, it's not as bad as what many people have claimed to be.

However compared to Polanski's horror masterwork, Rosemary's Baby, this film doesn't even come close. The Ninth Gate has a very good concept for a horror film, and it succeeds at entertaining, however there is much to be desired from the end result.