The Ninth Gate (1999)

Sometimes cults don’t want to make babies or deal with kids, sometimes they just want to meet the man himself. “The Ninth Gate” is all about that, somewhat, in that the story is about a rare book dealer’s adventure in trying to authenticate a book that was supposedly written by the Devil’s apprentice and details the way in which to summon the Devil. This film is Roman Polanski’s second supernatural themed movie and is unfairly compared to his critically acclaimed work “Rosemary’s Baby”. This is indeed a different film and should be treated as such; I myself thought it took elements from both “Rosemary’s Baby” and another of his classics, “Chinatown”, to form an entertaining horror/film noir mix. Granted, “The Ninth Gate” is not as great as “Angel Heart” in that manner but it is still a fun movie. A bit slow at times, a little uneven, this movie still managed to keep me engaged. The ending does lack a little luster, wherein I was hoping for some sort of revelation but at the same time realizing that I would probably consider anything otherworldly as coming across as cheesy.

Simple non-spoiler synopsis

Dean Corso (Johnny Depp) is hired by Boris Balkan (Frank Langella) to authenticate his copy of The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows and then acquire the real copy by any means if his is not the real version. There are only three copies of the book and it is rumored to be an adaption of an older book that was written by the Devil himself. Corso’s adventure takes him from New York to parts of Europe, those in possession of the book are killed off violently, Corso is stalked by a menacing figure, is followed and aiding by a beautiful and mysterious woman, witnesses a satanic ritual performed by the sect known as the Silver Serpent, and gets beat up/knocked unconscious from time to time. 

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

"Rosemary's Baby" is the ultimate movie concerning cults in the horror genre, thank you very much. It has all the elements that you need - an old building in New York with a storied history, a dedicated cult whose leaders live next to Rosemary, a cult tempting enough to seduce and recruit Rosemary's husband, and the complete helplessness of Rosemary as her due date comes closer and closer. And she has sex with the Devil itself! “Rosemary’s Baby” is highly regarded among many film institutions and is often thought of as one of the better horror movies ever made. The director Roman Polanski co-wrote the script and tried his best to follow the contents of the book that was written by Ira Levin. I have read the book and I will agree that it is a very faithful adaption.

Rosemary Woodhouse and her husband Guy move into the Bramford, an apartment building with a dark history, in New York City. Guy is an actor who is trying to find his break into movies while Rosemary is a simple housewife. She meets a young woman named Terry one day while doing her laundry. Terry tells Rosemary how she is living with an older couple in the same floor as Rosemary and Guy. They promise each other that they will do their laundry together in the future but that doesn’t come to pass because later that night Terry kills herself by jumping out of a window. Guy and Rosemary meet the Castevets, the couple that Terry was living with.

The Castevets take an immediate liking of Rosemary and Guy and become a major influence on their lives. For example, on the night that Guy and Rosemary decide to try to conceive a child, Minnie Castevet brings over a chalky chocolate desert for them to eat. Rosemary hates it and hides the contents when Guy leaves the room. But later that night she is drugged and has vivid memories of seeing the Castevets and others standing around her naked and chanting, and then having sex with a hairy wild beast-man. She realizes and declares “This is no dream!” before passing out again. In the morning Guy claims that he had sex with her while she was passed out, which doesn’t sit well with her.

Soon, Rosemary finds out that she is pregnant and Guy and the Castevets become ecstatic. Minnie begins to come over unannounced with a friend and doesn’t leave Rosemary alone. She even gives Rosemary a charm filled with odd smelling herbs, the same charm that Terry had shown Rosemary the day that they met. Rosemary begins to suffer from stomach pains and losing weight instead of gaining which causes concern for her friend Hutch. He looks into the matter, including a closer look into the Castevets and the history of the Bramford. He discovers that Roman Castevet is really Stephen Marcato, the son of a resident who was a Satanist and was killed as a martyr. Rosemary eventually discovers this through a trail of clues that Hutch had left behind before he mysteriously fell into a coma and died. To her horror, she finds out that everyone surrounding her is a member of a Satanic Cult, including Guy who was seduced by the opportunities to further his acting career. Rosemary is trapped in her own personal Hell and ends up giving birth to the son of Satan. The movie ends when Roman convinces Rosemary that she doesn’t have to join their cult but that she should still be a loving mother to her child, which in the end is all she ever wanted to be.