Some wags have dubbed the film Touched by a Demon. A title like that, in fact, works as a good synopsis of the film's story. Detective John Hobbes of Philadelphia (Denzel Washington) has come to see the execution of Edgar Reese (Elias Koteas), a serial killer he has brought to justice. Reese acts like a man possessed. Even after the murderer has died in the gas chamber, however, the murders, all done with Reese's m.o., don't stop. What is even more alarming and confusing is that each murderer ends up being the next victim.
Tracking down an obscure comment Reese had made in his death row cell, Hobbes finds the orphaned daughter (Embeth Davidtz) of a police officer who had committed suicide under mysterious circumstances some years previously. Her statements make Hobbes begin to think that he may be up against some kind of supernatural force. His incentive for solving the murders grows when it appears that he is being framed for the killings.
Thankfully, writer Nicholas Kazan (Frances, Reversal of Fortune) does not rely on shock tactics. While some might call the eventual resolution a surprise or twist ending, I am more inclined to call it inevitable. The writers and director rely more on what truly is frightening to the human soul rather than what is conventionally scary. What could be more frightening than the idea that true security from evil is ultimately impossible and that the police and our other trappings of civilization are impotent?
The attempts by the director and cinematographer to present a "demons-eye view" of the world through tinted, out-of-focus and otherwise altered film stock is less successful. I do appreciate, however, attempts to film characters as viewed from above, perhaps a sort of tribute to similar scenes in Wings of Desire.
Atmosphere is provided through several key film elements: cinematography, depending mostly on dark scenes and somber colors, art direction, which portrays Philadelphia as a place where everything is covered in a thin layer of grime, and alienating music by opera composer Tan Dun. Most of all, however, atmosphere exudes from the screenplay, which depicts an enemy too awesomely powerful and elusive to either capture or escape from. One scene, where the murdering spirit hops from one host to another, all of them whistling the Rolling Stones' "Time is on My Side," best illustrates Hobbes's dilemma. What can he possibly do against such a foe?
Unfortunately, this scene, about halfway through, represents the high point of the film. Perhaps the writers put themselves in a bit of a spot. How can their hero possibly contend against such a being?
Denzel Washington, who just may be Harrison Ford's successor in "everyman" roles, makes a convincing Hobbes, overwhelmed and disbelieving. John Goodman may be typecast in sidekick roles and Donald Sutherland and James Gandolfini as cops, but then doesn't make them any less appropriate here. This film is not a true standout in either the positive or negative sense. It does work, however. It is rare that such an unsettling work is produced with such conviction.
Three stars
Copyright 1998 by Dale G. Abersold
