at the same time that norah stanton ( wendy crewson ) be research an esoteric etruscan religious order and the order be secretly a satan worship cult prepare for the return of their exalted one . a mystical clock be calibrate to satan come . he require eighteen potential angel to choose among for his adopt earthly form . norah and her family become mix up in the nefarious plot . especially important be her extremely attractive and wannabe model daughter and lucy ( rachael leigh cook ) . after norah apparent suicide and the order and it affiliate conspire to bring lucy and her father to italy and where it a literal race against the clock for lucy life . well and this certainly isn not the first film for which i be way off of the mainstream public opinion a reflect on the internet movie database and and it certainly will not be the last . maybe it that i tend to be a sucker for satanic or catholic voodoo horror film ( with the exception of believing that the exorcist ( 1973 ) be severely overrate there go that contrary to mainstream opinion tendency again ) and but i love the eighteenth angel . i really have a hard time comprehend the negative review this film have receive . a number of people have complain about some minutia or another in the eighteenth angel be implausible . for example and lucy smuggles her pet cat on the plane to italy . i agree that it would be difficult to do this in real life and but the film be fiction and not a claim about how the real world be and and hello . if youre worry about real world plausibility and if youre not go to like a film because of a lack of real world believability and then why the heck would you be watch a film about satan . religious mythology be about as implausible a we can get . horror in general doesn not tend to be predicate on the real world . hopefully and you do not believe that there be really such thing a vampire and the frankenstein monster and freddie krueger and or force that will possess you so that you have to chop off your hand and turn your appendage into an extended chainsaw instead . youre not watch this film with an understanding that youre go to see documentary like material unless you have mental problem . the question be whether the eighteenth angel succeed a a kind of dark fairy tale that essentially what the horror genre be and with the exception of psycho or serial killer film ( and those count a horror because theyre monster while they just happen to be real life monster ) . a a dark fairy tale and this film kick butt . the eighteenth angel have some stylistic resemblance to the omen ( 1976 ) and which shouldn not be surprising because david seltzer and the scripter and also write that early staple of the genre . part of the eighteenth angel success rest on the fact that almost everyone except the stanton seem suspicious theyre all candidate for involvement with the satanic cult . seltzer smartly avoid either directly confirm or deny conscious involvement from most party and leave the viewer to come to their own conclusion . even norah may have be involve in the plot and or may have end up involved after meet with father simeon ( maximilian schell ) . be never show exactly what lead to her suicide and except that we can see it be either voluntary or cause by some supernatural force . william bindley direction be fantastic . the eighteenth angel be worth view for it cinematography ( by thomas e. ackerman ) alone . bindley contrast a nice range of superbly construct set and practical location with expansive and impressive landscape and external shot . he also routinely incorporate a number of extended cinematographic technique and such a different film stock and a wide range of approach to light and exposure from wash out and or white out and brightly lit and generously apertured snippet to shot with dark and chiaroscuro like shadow and silhouette . the clock and count down to satan earthly manifestation and make regular appearance and and while this isn not an unprecedented device for enhance suspense and the construction of the clock face be intrigue and it just a interestingly shot and edit a the rest of the film . the performance be great . cook be more than convincing and especially once she enter alice in wonderland territory a her dream begin to come true . christopher mcdonald and a her dad and hugh and be so frumpishly fussy that you want to slap himthat overbear and overprotective personality be exactly what the character call for . i also love schell a the creepy two face priest . a a satanic or catholic voodoo film and the horror emphasis isn not on gore or action so much a odd and often subtle event that be unnerve . the eighteenth angel be full of those . still and there be some fairly visceral makeup effect and which be extremely well do and be work into the plot with just the right amount of psycho like depravity and bizarre ambiguity . the climax of the film also have somewhat of a gothic action feel and and there a beautifully nihilistic denouement that should boost any horror fan rating a point or two . if youre look for plausibility and youre in the wrong business . but if youre look for a marvelously dark fairy tale tell with a lot of style and you have come to the right place . this film deserve much more recognition than it have receive to date .