This month's films:     THE NINTH GATE (R) Release Date: March 31, 2000 Directed & produced by Roman Polanski Written by Roman Polanski , Enrique Urbizu and John Brownjohn. CAST: Johnny Depp - Dean Corso Frank Langella - Boris Balkan Lena Olin - Liana Telfer Emannuelle Seigner - The girl Distributed by Artisan Entertainment.             WHAT IT'S ABOUT:             More weirdness for Depp (see "Sleepy Hollow" elsewhere on this site) and a return to the genre for Roman ("Rosemary's Baby") Polanski, The Ninth Gate is a supernatural thriller about a rare book finder in Europe searching for a pair of ancient satanic texts which carry a curse of misfortune.     THE REVIEW (Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com)           What is THE NINTH GATE? Judging from the cryptic marketing campaign, you might be likely to dismiss it as another ridiculous action movie, with big fireballs and car chase scenes. Or worse, maybe you'll shun it as a metaphysical adventure -- yet another END OF DAYS. Fortunately, THE NINTH GATE is neither of these. In actuality, it's a mystery with Johnny Depp as the unlikely hero, Frank Langella as the perfectly-cast antagonist, and Lena Olin and Emmanuelle Seigner as the femmes fatale. Under the direction of Roman Polanski, you can rest assured that these characters get mixed up quite a bit en route through a serpentine plot that is far more interesting than its subject matter would imply: The search for a couple of rare books.     As Polanski's first movie since 1994's DEATH AND THE MAIDEN, the auteur has a lot to make up for in lost time. Apparently striking into more commercial territory, THE NINTH GATE offers Depp as a chain-smoking, rare-book-finding mercenary. Employed by Langella's publishing magnate, he is tasked with hunting down the two additional copies of "The Nine Gates," a book also owned by Langella's character and which he wishes to authenticate. Mystery ensues, largely owing to the subject matter of "The Nine Gates," which is purported to be a manual for summoning the devil. Now if only a couple of these books weren't forgeries....     Here's blood in your eye; Johnny Depp in The Ninth Gate, new this week from Artisan Entertainment.     An awful lot of THE NINTH GATE (based on the book "The club Dumas") is better than you'd expect, but a lot of its potential is wasted on repetitious scenes and a meandering storyline (the film runs about 2 1/4 hours). The fistfight scenes are weak, the car chases dull. The ending is particularly annoying, essentially leaving the interpretation up to the audience (and thus making it unable for loudmouth critics to spoil).     However, Depp and Langella are fantastic, playing off one another with demonic flair. Imagine Depp's SLEEPY HOLLOW character with a personality and you've got him spot-on. Seigner (aka Mrs. Roman Polanski), whom you might recognize from Polanski's BITTER MOON and FRANTIC, is starting to lose her credibility as a sex goddess, I will note. Still, despite a little snickering in the audience, Polanski still pulls enough tricks out of his sleeve to recommend this film. It certainly isn't CHINATOWN, but it does carry a punch.     Fire and brimstone in The Ninth Gate, opening March 10, 2000.     OPENING FRIDAY, MARCH 17:               New Line Cinema presents Final Destination, written by Jeffrey Reddick, Glen Morgan and James Wong and produced by Warren Zide, Craig Perry and Glen Morgan. James Wong directs. CAST: Devon Sawa (Alex Browning); Ali Larter (Clear); Kerr Smith (Carter); Kristen Cloke (Valerie Newton); Sean W. Scott (Billy); Amanda Detmer (Terry); Chad E. Donella (Tod). Rated R. Opens in theaters March 17.     WHAT IT'S ABOUT:             Alex Browning (Devon Sawa), is embarking on a trip to Paris with his high school French class. In the plane's cabin, buckled-in and ready for take-off, Alex experiences a powerful premonition. He sees the plane explode in a fiery blaze moments after leaving the ground. Alex panics and insists that everyone get off the plane. In the melee than ensues, seven people including Alex, are forced to disembark the ill-fated aircraft. Back in the departure lounge, Alex and his friends , all watch as Alex's horrific premonition proves tragically accurate when the plane explodes in a catastrophic fireball. Ironically, even though Alex's intuition saves lives, after the crash he is plagued by both guilt and suspicion. Ominous portents of doom as well as the FBI, dog his every step. Alex comes to believe that somehow, he and the other survivors have briefly cheated death, but will not be able to evade their fate for very long...         Scenes from "Final Destination" starring Devon Sawa, coming to theaters March 17 from New Line Cinema.     "EXORCIST" POSSESSING THEATERS AGAIN (from E!- Online) MARCH 18, 2000 — A new version of the The Exorcist is returning to theaters this year--but right now, the most thrilling possession could be the movie tickets themselves. More than 25 years after the demonic flick first scared the (un)holy hell out of moviegoers, a revamped version of the classic makes a preview run in just three college towns starting this weekend. The Exorcist--The Version You've Never Seen takes its head-spinning tale starring Linda Blair and Max von Sydow to Athens, Georgia, Ann Arbor, Michigan and Austin, Texas, before going into wide release later this year. Offering some 12 minutes of new footage, the William Friedkin-directed film is reportedly scarier than ever (if that's possible) and includes footage that makes for a happier ending. But the those behind the film say it's now back to its original, nightmare-inducing state. Not that the cut version was any Sunday dip in the holy water. The film remains a horror classic, as it chronicled the demon possession of a 12-year-old girl and a priest's attempts to rid her body of evil. Made off a $12 million budget, the film went on to become the then-second biggest moneymaker in American movie history next to The Godfather. It also won an Oscar for best adapted screenplay and a Golden Globe for best picture in 1974. According to the Austin American-Statesman, novelist and Exorcist screenwriter William Peter Blatty appeared at the city's world premiere screening this week, and said the film has returned to its truest form. "I liked it the first time I saw it 26 years ago," he tells the Statesman. "This version has been my idea for years. I wanted it always." In addition to drawing in a new generation of horror fans--presumably coddled by the recent rash of comedy-horror--the new scenes will likely boost the shock factor for longtime fans. "This is the version the author first saw and has always wanted," Friedkin tells the Associated Press. "The restored new footage--plus one or two little surprises--make the film more suspenseful, as well as spiritually deeper."     Previous Reviews: Sleepy Hollow (1999) Fight Club (1999) The Sixth Sense (1999) The Blair Witch Project (1999) The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)               Click below to return to