STIGMATA
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): 1/2
Having exhausted the possibilities of extreme violence as a way to shock
audiences, filmmakers are always looking for other methods to give the
viewers cheap thrills. STIGMATA uses the Church, specifically the
Catholic Church, as a rich source of cheap exploitation. Although other
films, most notably THE EXORCIST, have explored similar themes, most of
them are literary classics compared to STIGMATA.
As written by Tom Lazarus and Rick Ramage and directed by Rupert
Wainwright, the movie tries every tired trick in the book. Loud sounds
explode suddenly and often, like fireworks on the Fourth of July.
Filmed with harsh, rock-video sensibilities, the film features buckets
of blood, lit as if by the neon from a sleazy motel sign. No idea is
too crass to be included. The low point, in a movie full of nothing
but, is the stranger on the curb who drops her baby wrapped in swaddling
clothes under the tire of a speeding car in heavy traffic.
When we meet Father Andrew (Gabriel Byrne), he's on his way to work at
the Holy See. Three gaudily dressed prostitutes shake their breasts at
him and offer to give him "the Vatican Special."
An organic chemist turned priest, who admits he hasn't prayed in a very
long time, Father Andrew works in the scientific investigation arm of
the Vatican. This, in case you didn't know, is the one with all of the
sophisticated instruments to look into cases of religious miracles.
Father Andrew just finished verifying that a stone statue actually shed
warm, human tears. He's told to forget it. His superiors, led by a
nefarious, double-dealing Cardinal Vignielli (Jonathan Pryce), seem to
employ a host of researchers in order to hide what they discover.
The Vatican, it turns out, is more secure that our weapons' labs.
Documents are divided into threes with every third page given to a
different religious order to study.
Normally, Gabriel Byrne is able to bring a sweet, honest intensity to
his parts, but all his attempts this time to infuse his character with
at least a hint of humanity are utter failures. To be fair, the
hackneyed material he has to work with makes the project impossible.
Frankie (Patricia Arquette), "an accredited cosmetologist," who lives in
a room with a thousand candles, is sent a gift by her mother. Although
Frankie assumes it is a necklace, her mother has to set her straight.
"It's a crucifix, dear," she tells her daughter.
The picture cuts to Frankie in the bathtub. After a dove flies
overhead, Frankie starts spurting blood in some of the places where
Jesus had nails driven into him on the cross. She convulses violently
as if she were having sex with the devil.
Arquette displays all of the talent of someone taking Acting 101 at a
community college. Between long, vacant looks, she bursts into brief
spasms of unbelievable, emotional tantrums.
Father Andrew is sent to look into Frankie's situation. He explains how
extremely devout people, something she certainly isn't, sometimes have
been known to bleed in the places where Christ was cut. These
spontaneous, unexplained events are known as stigmata.
Frankie is not a happy camper. She blames the God she never knew for
causing all her misery, as she continues to feel nails being driven into
her hands and feet. "You know what is scarier than not believing in
God?" she asks her girlfriend. "Believing in him!"
The horror movie part is increasingly subsumed by a story about a vast
Vatican conspiracy to cover up the "missing Jesus Gospel." Religious
leaders have people murdered so that the Church is not undermined.
Chief among these supposedly revolutionary and unknown thoughts of Jesus
are that "The kingdom of God is inside you and all around you."
Never coming close to achieving the level of laughably bad, the dry and
ludicrous STIGMATA never rises above painfully bad. Search as one
might, there isn't a single interesting or original moment in it.
STIGMATA runs 1:42. It is rated R for intense violent sequences,
language and some sexuality and would be acceptable for older teenagers.
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Have I seen this movie: Yes
And what did I think: review coming soon!
