The Ninth Gate (DVD) Reviews

Roman Polanski directs this creepy, supernatural, mystery thriller, The Ninth Gate. Johnny Depp plays Dean Corso. Corso is a book dealer living in New York. He is hired to get copies of a book called, 'The nine gates of the Kingdom of Shadows', a book that the Devil was involved with. Corso is gripped by this mission and starts to ...  Read the complete review

All this fuss over a book? There's been many a yarn about books in the past but I don't think I've ever come across one written by the devil. This film has plenty of atmosphere and of course it has the mysterious Johnny Depp playing the role of a amoral book collector. You'd hardly think a book collector would facilitate a ...  Read the complete review

Dean Corso is a ruthlessly ambitious rare book collector and seller, who will do anything to make money. Then he is hired by book collector Boris Balkan to hunt down the last remaining copies of a satanic manuscript, with the aim of then working out which of the copies is the authentic version. Corso soon realises that other people are after the ...  Read the complete review

Understated, flowing camerawork summons up an impression of developing intrigue.....we are drawn into the mystery surrounding the Book of the Nine Gates....... Decently unsettling, but it begins to tire with the suspension of disbelief - or the retention of belief - in the portrayal of evil, which does not exhilarate or surprise ...  Read the complete review

Having experienced the dark world of Roman Polanski for the first time a couple of years ago on a friend's recommendation I didn't hesitate when I saw one of his more recent offerings, The Ninth Gate, in HMV. My first taste of Polanski was the excellent Rosemary's Baby and so I was quite looking forward to seeing his latest dance with the devil. ...  Read the complete review

Johnny Depp and Roman Polanski, eternal guardians of the flame, masters of the dark arts, the occult and all things which are not quite right or comfortable, combining effortlessly on 2000's devilish little thriller Ninth Gate to produce a work which should, based on all the ingredients, really be something extremely special ... EXCEPT... ...  Read the complete review

How dangerous can a book be? Well the answer is very, when the book in question has had author input from the devil. This is what happens in Ninth Gate, the only thriller I've ever seen that gives libraries and book dealing a bit of an edge. The 'Nine Gates of the kingdom of Shadows' is a 17th Century manuscript supposedly ...  Read the complete review

I must state at the very start that Roman Polanski has always been one of my favourite directors. He has over the years, made some acknowledged classics (Repulsion-1965, Rosemary's Baby-1968, Chinatown1974) and a few under rated but nonetheless outstanding films (The Fearless Vampire Killers 1967, Tess 1979, Frantic-1988 and the strange Bitter ...  Read the complete review

‘The Ninth Gate’ is only director Roman Polanski’s third film since 1988's ‘Frantic’, now living in exile in Europe (don’t ask) Polanski gives us this thoughtful and well crafted tale of the occult. The film stars Johnny Depp as Dean Corso a New York book dealer who's renowned as one of the ...  Read the complete review

On the list of my favourite films of all time this one is probably around the middle. It's certainly not the worst film that I've ever seen, but it's not going to sweep the board at the Oscars either! In fact, this film can only be classed as average in every way (in my humble opinion). To be honest I'd never heard of ...  Read the complete review

It seems to me that Mr Polanski had his tongue firmly in his cheek when he made this film, casting Johnny-my-cheekbones-are-pure-sex-Depp as an unattractive' and unsure book detective. Good start. The whole style of the film is of a Victorian detective novel - somewhat exaggerated with sexual overtones and prissy characters (Depp ...  Read the complete review

Rated: R - Playing Time: 133 Minutes Director: Roman Polanski There is a little nudity and it is about trying to raise the Devil. (I would not recommend it for the young ones.) Johnny Depp is Dean Corso who knows a lot about rare books and how to profit off them. He is hired by a client Boris Balkan (Frank Langella) to find ...  Read the complete review

The Ninth gate is a plodding film with miscast stars and misguided plot. The film stars Johnny Depp as a famous book seller hired to track down a copy of an infamous devil book in order to vouch for the authenticity of his hirer's copy. Soon, he is beaten up, his friends are killed and just because other people are after this book, and the ...  Read the complete review

Roman Polanski is hardly a prolific director so when he does bring something new out you might expect it to be rather good.It usually isn't. Johnny Depp is a great actor, so when you see him in amovie you think that he may have been able to pick and choose a role in a great movie. He usually doesn't. It wasn't my choice to rent ths ...  Read the complete review

I must say, I really did enjoy this film. I guess that it's lukewarm reception from the critics, and from a lot of film fans means that it's a matter of personal taste. But if you're into the devil worship sub-genre of horror films, or if you like 1970's style horror mysteries, this has a lot to offer. The plot is the ...  Read the complete review

As good an actor as Johnny Depp is he's not really tested in this run of the mill thriller with a super natural edge.Its not a spooky film and over complicates things by being overly long and a bit of a flat ending when it need something more cataclysmic. Roman Polanski directs in his old fashioned style with lots of dated camera shots and ...  Read the complete review

The sub-genre of diabolical horror has strong forefathers: Tourneur's Curse of the Demon (50's), Polanski's own Rosemary's Baby (60's), the powerhouse double bill of The Exorcist and The Omen (70's). Descending through the patchy but atmospheric Angel Heart (80's), ludicrous but entertaining Devil's Advocate ...  Read the complete review

On the front of the box, to describe the movie, it says, 'The only thing more terrifying than serching for the devil..is finding him'. What a load of crock. I mean honestly, with a built up title like that, you would think that there was going to be some supernatural occurances, but alas, it is a very manipulative title, like a tabloid ...  Read the complete review

Director Roman Polanski [ Fearless Vampire Killers, Rosemary's Baby ] delivers a mediocre offering. It has been about 5 years since his previous film, Bitter Moon, which was no better. Johnny Depp [Nightmare on Elm Street, Legend of Sleepy Hollow ] is a duplicitous book-dealer. He is hired by Frank Langella [Masters of the Universe, ...  Read the complete review

I think Johnny Depp will one day be remembered as a uniquely flexible actor who could take on a wide array of roles with great authority. His inclusion in this movie was the one thing that convinced me to give this movie a try. But it sucked big-time, regardless of his presence. The characters are given no opportunity to develop. I have ...  Read the complete review