The Ninth Gate - 1999 Dean Corso is a New York City rare book dealer motivated solely by financial gain. Wealthy book collector Boris Balkan has recently acquired a copy of The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows by seventeenth-century author Aristide Torchia, one of only three copies known to exist. According to legend, the book is Torchia's adaptation of an older book written by the Devil himself and purportedly contains the means to ritualistically summon the Devil and, through him, acquire invincibility and immortality.
 Balkan believes two of the copies are forgeries. He hires Corso to authenticate all three copies, and acquire the legitimate copy by any means necessary. Balkan's copy of The Nine Gates had previously belonged to bibliophile Andrew Telfer, who committed suicide soon after selling the book to Balkan. Telfer's widow Liana wants the book back, as Telfer originally bought the book for her. Liana seduces Corso, but she fails to re-acquire her book.
 Meanwhile, Corso's business partner, Bernie, with whom Corso had hidden the book, is murdered; his corpse is posed in imitation of an engraving in The Nine Gates. Corso travels to Toledo, Spain, where the Ceniza brothers, book restorers, show him that three of the book's engravings are signed "LCF", which Corso understands to mean that Lucifer himself designed and cut them. Corso goes by train to Sintra, Portugal, to compare Victor Fargas' copy of The Nine Gates to Balkan's.
 After a struggle, Balkan traps Corso in a hole in the floor, immobilizing him and allowing Balkan to perform his summoning ritual unmolested but with Corso as a 'witness'. After arranging the engravings on an makeshift altar, in a mixed order, Balkan begins reciting a series of phrases related to each of the nine engravings. The phrases refer, poetically, to certain characters' actions throughout the film which make up the summoning ritual. Balkan then douses the floor and himself with gasoline and sets it alight, believing himself to be immune to the flames.
 Balkan's invocation appears to fail, and Balkan begins screaming in agony as his body burns. Corso frees himself and spares Balkan an agonizing death by shooting him. He then escapes the fire. Outside the building, the Girl appears to Corso and then has sex with him by the light of the burning castle. She tells him that Balkan failed because the ninth engraving he had used, despite being signed "LCF," was a forgery. Corso, following her directions, returns to the Ceniza brothers' shop.
 Upon arriving, he finds the store gone and the last piece of furniture being removed, from the top of which falls the authentic ninth engraving with a very different image than the forgery. On it, there is a likeness of the mystery girl. With the last engraving in hand, Corso returns to the castle it depicts and, having apparently performed all the ritual requirements, crosses the threshold of the Ninth Gate. | |
End of Days - 1999 In 1979, a priest in the Vatican witnesses a comet arching over the moon, described as the "Eye of God", heralding the birth of the one chosen to be the mother of the child of Satan. The priest is then sent on a mission by the Pope to find and protect the girl from Satan's presence at all costs. However, a few Vatican Knights (led by a corrupted cardinal) insist that she must be killed to prevent Satan's plans. Meanwhile, in New York City, a newborn girl named Christine York is identified by Satanists.
 Twenty years later, near the end of 1999, retired cop Jericho Cane, in a constant state of depression since his wife and daughter were murdered by hit-men, works for an elite security and protection company. He and his co-worker Bobby Chicago are assigned to protect a Wall Street banker. They are attacked by a priest named Thomas Aquinas, who is eventually captured and hospitalized. Unknown to Jericho, Aquinas somehow knew the real identity of the banker�he (the banker) has been possessed by Satan and now wields great powers.
 Satan smashes through the floor and confronts Jericho in his true form: a massive, winged, demonic creature. He enters Jericho's body and possesses him. Now controlled by Satan, Jericho attempts to rape Christine, but with the help of her begging words, he is able to fight Satan's control for a few seconds. Using what may be his only opportunity to redeem himself, Jericho impales himself on the sword protruding from a fallen statue of Saint Michael The Archangel, thus disabling his body for the few remaining seconds before midnight.
 At the stroke of midnight beginning the year 2000, the will of God frees Jericho's body and sends Satan back to the depths of Hell for the next thousand years. After being granted a vision of his wife and daughter smiling and waiting for him on the "other side" (Christine also sees them), Jericho dies contented. Christine thanks the deceased man for saving her life as she holds onto him one last time mourning over his death. Police, firefighters, and medical services arrive to help Christine as New York celebrates the start of the new millennium. | |
The Last Exorcism - 2010 The Reverend Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with his wife and son. Marcus, who lost his faith after the birth of his ill son, is accustomed to performing fake exorcisms on "possessed" individuals. He chooses an exorcism request sent by farmer Louis Sweetzer (Louis Herthum), who claims his livestock is being slaughtered by his daughter Nell (Ashley Bell) who is possessed. After listening to the details of the case, Marcus claims Nell is possessed by a powerful demon named Abalam.
 Prior to the exorcism, Marcus bamboozles the family into believing he is driving out a demon. After the ritual, Marcus and his film crew leave, believing they have cured her of a mental state that was misdiagnosed as a possession. That night, Nell appears in Marcus' motel room, apparently unwell. Marcus takes Nell to the hospital for tests, which conclude that Nell is in perfect physical condition. Marcus goes to see Louis' former pastor, Joseph Manley. Manley informs Marcus that he has not seen Nell for two years.
 Marcus returns to the Sweetzer farmhouse, where they find numerous occult and countercultural symbols on the walls, and Nell and Louis missing. Marcus and the crew wander into the woods, where they see a large fire and a congregation of hooded cultists, led by Pastor Manley. Louis is tied up, gagged, and blindfolded while hooded figures pray around an altar, atop which Nell is bound. She gives birth to an inhuman child. Manley throws the child into the fire, which causes the fire to grow rapidly as demonic roars emanate from within.
 Marcus' faith is resolved as he grabs his cross and rushes towards the fire to combat the evil. Iris and Daniel are discovered; Iris is tackled by a member of the congregation and killed with an axe. Daniel continues to run, until he stops to take a deep breath. He then looks around to see if he was followed, before turning back to find Caleb, who is wearing clean clothes and a bandage covering his wound. Caleb then decapitates Daniel and the camera falls to the ground, before it cuts out. | |
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