Review of The Stone Council (2006) by Michael L — 21 Feb 2009

This is actually a dubbed movie, and it's original French title is "Le Concile De Pierre". It's based on Jean- Christophe Grange's young adult fantasy novel "The Stone Council", and my comments here are only going to focus on the movie itself since I've never read the novel.

The movie stars Monica Bellucci [who sports a short hairdo and looks almost frumpy here] as Laura Siprien, an interpreter based in Paris who adopts a Central Asian baby boy from an orphanage somewhere in Russia. When Liusan [Nicolas Thau], the boy turns 7, he begins experiencing nightmares [mysteriously also shared by his mother] and a weird mark in the form of a circle appears on his chest. Laura takes him to the family doctor who dismisses it as nothing to worry about. Well, it turns out there is a lot to worry about as Laura discovers that Liu is apparently "The Watcher", born once every 100 years and whose death can bring immortality to those who capture and sacrifice him in the course of a ritual. The rest of the movie centers on Laura's efforts to save Liu from a gruesome fate, discovering in the process that most of her friends are in on the conspiracy.

Though the first half an hour was actually quite interesting [in setting up the main story arc], the rest of the movie soon slides into a mess of cliches. Those who are familiar with movies such as Rosemary's Baby, Ninth Gate, The Prophecy etc will recognise elements from these movies in "The Stone Circle". In short, there is nothing unique about this movie,except perhaps the scenic setting in the latter part of the movie, which was shot in Mongolia.The lead actress Monica Belucci does a decent job with the limitations of the script, but even she can't save this plodding fantasy-horror movie.Catherine Deneuve as the arch villain is wasted in her role, and I was frankly surprised to see her in this B-movie. I wouldn't recommend this as a purchase, and only as a rental if you've absolutely no other choice of supernatural movies.