Fallen (1998)

Fallen in Philly has sight gags.

First may I say that this is an excellent movie on Spiritual forces that motivate people to do evil. The script involves a Philadelphia Homicide Detective who accidentally stumbles on the reality of the Devil. Detective "Hobbes", which if you do some checking, the double "b" was the ancient name for the Devil in England. A tribute to " Quatermass and the Pit", a British horror movie on Evil and Martian inheritance,is played very well by Denzel Washington and John Goodman as his partner serves a great supporting role. As explained by others, spirits move by either contact or death of a host. Once known, they hound the discoverer to his/her death, ala' "Mary Rose".
By control of people, places and events they can lead you to do what you don't wish to do and force everything against you. When we encounter "possessed" people, we see what they see. A slightly off color spectrum, not quite as good as the human eye. This was similar (along with the background music) to "Wolfen" with Albert Finney, and the quick movement is obviously drawn from that film.
As to sight gags, there is one scene where Hobbes feels that he is being followed. He sees a shadow climbing the train station (looks like North Philadelphia Station). When he gets to the top, The " presence" is felt but Hobbes can't see him. However, if you look closely at the station sign, you will see the word "Willoughby" very clearly. This of course was the mythical station of Gart Williams, who jumped off the train in a famous "Twilight Zone" episode to escape the stress of his corporate job where he sees a peaceful community set in the 1800s and walks off with the old conductor in that time, but is in fact the name of a funeral parlor in the modern world as his actions are chalked up to suicide where he is said to have jumped from the train shouting "Willoughby"
Little things like these keep showing up during the film. Strange artwork inside buildings, all related to the Devil or Angels and The "witching hour" phone calls at 3AM. The humans involved who know living like mendicant monks, afraid to get involved with others because of the fear of peril for the innocent. Also the Rolling Stones music "Time is on my side" and "Sympathy for the Devil", all very appropriate in their roles for this work.
Very close to the spiritual truth, save for the mortality of evil and certain mumbo jumbo. Philadelphia locations are excellent. Geno's versus Pat's steaks continue their war in this work and there is a lot of Septa Rail line filming, sections of Manayunk, City hall courtyard and the old Holmesburg Prison. All nicely disguised and done well. Very entertaining and well acted. October 24, 2008

Cheesy But Good

Well acted by all particularly James Gandolini in a small part and John Goodman who always delivers. Denzel is a good cop who gets caught in a web of evil. Cinematagrapy is terrific as well as the music. Not for younger audiences. September 30, 2008

An unsung masterpiece.

I can't believe this movie eluded me for so long. I've seen all sorts of horror movies... slasher, goth, psychological, and zombie flicks. However, Fallen is easily one of the best I've ever seen. Seriously, I'd put it up there with The Exorcist,The Silence of the Lambs, and Se7en. Even though it clearly has religious themes in it, religion is not an important factor in order to enjoy the movie. Denzel Washington does an excellent job at portraying Detective Hobbes, who is bent on trying to find a copycat of the serial killer Reese. But we soon find out that Hobbes is not hunting a copycat serial killer, but a demon called Azazel, who can jump from person to person simply by touching them, which he uses to taunt and toy with Hobbes. Through discovering a person who Azazel possessed in order to kill people, he found a cop who sent out to kill him, but ultimately failed. He meets his daughter, an angelologist. Together, they try to find a way to kill Azazel. There's more to it than that, but that's all I'll get in to so as to not spoil it.

The last 15 or so minutes of the film are some of the most powerful I've seen in any film. The action, the dialogue, and the unveilment of Hobbes' plan. There's even a twist near the end which is very unexpected, yet still fits within the story. There is a theme here, which I believe is that there is evil in everyone, no matter how good or innocent we may consider them to be. Overall, this was an incredible film and I recommend it to anyone looking for an ingenious thriller. July 14, 2008

If demons can jump from person to person, I wonder if God can...

Fantastic movie on such a difficult subject. I mean, I never believed in demons much before I saw this movie, but after seeing it, now I'm not so sure, especially after some things I've seen in real life that are eerily similar. But on the positive side, I suppose if a demon can jump from person to person at the touch of a hand, I'm confident the Almighty can do the same, if He so chooses. June 27, 2008

INTERESTING PREMISE, BUT SLOW MOVING AND TOO LONG!

I liked this film somewhat and thought the premise was very interesting. The cast is excellent, but the pacing is slow and everyone involved seems to be too calm considering what's going on. The film suffers from being too long and a good 20 minutes trimmed off would have helped a great deal. Denzel Washington holds it all together in this ultimately predictable thriller, but I doubt I would sit through it a second time. I rate it 2 1/2 stars for a good premise and cast. May 31, 2008

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