Personally, we haven't had a good horror movie that attacked the church since "The Exorcist" in 1973. Finally we have another one. This movie not only is entertaining, gory, and creepy, but thought provoking as well. I'll get back to that in a moment. Ok, the story is fairly simple, to the untrained eye. In the beginning of the story Father Andrew Kiernan (Gabriel Bryne) is sent to somewhere in Brazil to study a crying virgin Mary statue. From there we go to Pennsylvania and meet a girl named Frankie Paige (Patricia Arquette) who suddenly begins to suffer from the five wounds of Jesus, otherwise known as the Stigmata. The five wounds of Jesus refer to his crucifixion. First he was nailed to the cross not by his hands, but by his wrists. Second he was whipped across the back. Third he was given the crown of thorns to wear. Fourth he was nailed to the cross through his feet. And Fifth a spear was put through his side. Just to tell you, this is probably not the order that Jesus received these wounds, but it is the order that most stigmatics go through. Anyway... the Catholic Church sends a scientific priest (I know that's an oxymoron, but just let it go. Suspension of disbelief, remember! K?) to study and most likely debunk the stigmatics. Father Andrew Kiernin is sent to study Frankie's stigmata. He discovers that she is an atheist and decides that she is not a stigmatic. As the story goes on, Frankie receives a grand total of four of the five wounds. She is also possessed by a goodly old priest and magically becomes Jesus' messenger and writes in a dead language called Aramaic (the language of Jesus). As every story goes, there is a bad guy too, and he's a priest too! Played by the great Jonathan Price, Father Derning is determined to keep the messenger of Jesus quiet, because what she has to say could destroy the Catholic Church. This movie has many interesting points and raises many interesting questions. There were whores! They were the coolest whores and I just had to say that! There are also plenty of action scenes, including fighting priests and priests driving way over the speed limit and recklessly!!! A must see according to us, with the music by Billy Corgan and Rupert Wainwright as the director, this movie makes you think about the Catholic Church and why they debunk miracles. Makes you wonder, huh?

Starring: Patricia Arquette, Gabriel Byrne, Jonathan Pryce, Nia Long, Thomas Kopache, Rade Serbedzija, Enrico Colantoni, Dick Latessa, Portia de Rossi, Patrick Muldoon, Ann Cusack, Shaun Toub, Tom Hodges, Lydia Hazan, Duke Moosekian

Director: Rupert Wainwright

Released: 1999

Time: 100m/ 1 hour and 40 min.