The Ninth Gate

1999
R
2h 13m

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

201K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer0:30

Psychological Thriller Mystery Thriller

Dean, a rare book dealer, is hired to find the last two copies of a text that holds the key to summoning the devil. However, things change when he finds himself at the heart of paranormal ev... Read allDean, a rare book dealer, is hired to find the last two copies of a text that holds the key to summoning the devil. However, things change when he finds himself at the heart of paranormal events.Dean, a rare book dealer, is hired to find the last two copies of a text that holds the key to summoning the devil. However, things change when he finds himself at the heart of paranormal events.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

201K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

1,434

489

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 wins & 5 nominations

Trivia
The Don Quixote that Corso buys at the beginning of the film is the very famous Joaquin Ibarra edition, published in 1780, which is generally considered as the best, and most beautiful one. He also mentions the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (Venice, 1499) printed by Francesco Colonna, dubbed "the most beautiful book ever printed". These amazing illustrations can be viewed on the internet.

Goofs
In the film, the book "The Nine Gates" displays an inverted pentagram on its cover to represent its Satanic content. However, the inverted pentagram only became associated with Satanism and evil in the late 19th century due largely to a work by the French occultist Eliphas Levi. As the books were said to be in their original 17th century Venetian bindings, the appearance of the inverted pentagram is an anachronism.

Quotes
Boris Balkan: There's nothing more reliable than a man whose loyalty can be bought for hard cash.

Crazy credits
The opening credits are displayed as if they were hidden in a bookshelf, deeper and deeper into the nine gates of the title.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Drowning Mona/My Dog Skip/What Planet Are You From?/The Next Best Thing/Miss Julie (2000)

Soundtracks
Havanaire
by Camille Saint-Saëns
Published by The Boston Music Company - Boston Mass.

User reviews815

Review

Featured review

9/10

Proves You Don't Need A Ton Of Action To Make A Good Thriller

What makes this movie rather unique in this day-and-age is to see a horror- occult movie that has very little action. That may turn off a lot of modern-day viewers and critics but I thought it was refreshing.....as long as the story could still keep one's attention, which it did. It also did it with a pretty long movie: 133 minutes. I have played this movie several times for friends and no one has gotten bored.

The attraction is (1) decent acting; (2) some great sets; (3) an involving story; (4) interesting characters and (5) low profanity.

What keeps most viewers interested is simply wondering what is going to happen next in "Dean Corso's" (Johnny Depp) quest to figure out the hidden message. Without giving anything away, this is a classy, solid thriller.....and more importantly, fun to watch.