Philip French 

The Monk – review

Vincent Cassel impresses in the lead but this French horror fails to thrill, writes Philip French
  
  

the monk le moine
Vincent Cassel as Ambrosio in The Monk: 'a formidable presence'. Photograph: PR

The French moviemaker Dominik Moll has followed his admirable Hitchcockian thriller Harry, He's Here to Help and the impressive Pinteresque psychological drama Lemming, with a respectful version of Matthew G Lewis's notorious 1796 gothic drama about a 16th-century Spanish monk led astray by an evil emissary and doing a deal with Satan himself. Vincent Cassel, looking like a priest out of a Zurbarán painting, is a formidable presence, and the picture is atmospherically lit by Patrick Blossier, but it's a rather dull offering – tasteful horror for the carriage trade.

 

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