Hostage to the Devil (2016)

Too much of everything

Perfect cast and a good story

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This was not bad. I thought it was interesting mostly

Same old crap. Why oh why did I waste my time watching this? Filled with old school priests who believe in the devil and exorcism, paranormal "investigators" who also seem to be into exorcisms, pseudo-psychologists who are into exorcisms, former book agents of the long dead exorcist, who believe in exorcisms. If you've ever watched any cheap paranormal TV show, you'll recognize many of them.And guess what? They keep you hanging on till the ending to find out what finally happened to the centerpiece of the documentary, the former priest, Father Martin.Save yourself time, skip to the last 10 minutes, you'll find out. And you won't have to hear the cries of "sainthood" by his 10 loving followers.

To be clear, 99% of the doc consists in interviews to disciples, demonologists, "religious demonologists", occult investigators, reality TV pseudo-stars. Except for a dying Robert Kaiser, there is no contradictory in it. With such ingredients, you can hardly have a decent result.The criticism Martin faced during his life is barely mentioned, but never explained nor contextualized. His most bizarre theories and revelations are not mentioned, let alone discussed or rebutted. His contradictions are left out. Disputed events of his religious and private life are either completely left out or (more rarely) vaguely hinted, but never deepened.Ultimately, Malachi is a fascinating and ambiguous figure who would deserve an in-depth, more neutral, less sensationalist movie. This one, is just a missed opportunity.

I'm a former Catholic who left the Church not long after reaching my teens. Watching this reminded me why I left, although the film is not really about Catholicism per se but seems to have been meant to capitalize on the current craze for the paranormal – ghosts, time travelers, ESP, demonology, etc.The film features Catholic clergy and paranormal investigators as well as a couple of people who profited from its subject, the late, former Jesuit priest and well-known exorcist, Malachi Martin. It also contains some old video clips and audio recordings of Martin as well as of some purported exorcisms (but nothing at all juicy or substantive is offered up in these).With every word uttered by Martin in the film (surely, he kissed the Blarney Stone), I became more convinced he was just a charming, eloquent con man who preyed on gullible Catholics uncomfortable with changes in the Church and having difficulty aligning their Catholic world view with the rapid advances in science and technology in the last half of the 20th century.Besides, there's always been a large measure of show business in Catholic rites and rituals. After all it was the only entertainment available for the impoverished masses throughout most of European history. As its ultimate carnival act, exorcism had it all -- the terror of the pit, the horrors of possession, and the thrill and exaltation of salvation. Hollywood didn't invent but merely regurgitated a tried and true horror formula that was around for centuries.Anyway, Malachi Martin surely was no saint, as some in the film seem to believe, but only a carny barker who was good at getting people into his tent.