Stigmata

love this movies. I ws definitely young as heck when I first watched this but I still have the same enthusiasm when I watch it

Exciting, had to get it !

I saw Stigmata when it first opened in theaters back in 1999. I was dating a short Catholic girl, and I walked out of the theater with a severely bruised right arm. This was evidence of how intense a film this is.It's definitely NOT The Exorcist, which is more suspense than horror, really. Stigmata is more of a mystery. Both films are steeped in Catholicism, of course, but The Exorcist was the dark side of the fight, whereas Stigmata--surprisingly--turned out to be optimistic, in the end.Frankie is a twenty-three year-old young woman who loves to party with her friends. She gets drunk, has semi-casual sex with a semi-serious regular date, and cuts hair in a hip salon. She's happy with her life. Her mother is a little eccentric, and picks up a Rosary in a small Brazilian village. She sends the Rosary to Frankie, and...Well, nothing at first. Frankie is a confirmed Atheist, and has no patience for religious faith. Then she gets her first Stigmata when she's alone in her apartment. The second one hits while she's on a runaway subway train, whose security cameras capture her contorted as if she's on a cross, and she receives bleeding lash marks all over her back.Eventually, a priest is sent in to hush the case up, but he soon realizes he can't ignore what he''s seeing. Frankie, Atheist or not, is displaying Christ's wounds, an occurrence typically limited to people with great faith.Some intrigue with the Church finds its way into the mix, but it is kept to a minimum (thank...well,God).I keep coming back to The Exorcist as a comparison, but they share a common element--handsome priest working with lovely woman, and not always following Church rule, strictly speaking. The next comparison I'd draw is that The Exorcist is a slow, quiet film for the most part. When we get to the final exorcism scene in the final act, that gets a little loud.Stigmata is a VERY rock & roll movie. Billy Corgan, of Smashing Pumpkins fame, provided the music, and there are super-loud club scenes and times where the scoring is heavy-handed--not a complaint at all. Director Rufus Wainright previously directed music videos, and that's truly evident in his shooting technique here. Lots of jump-cuts, splashy bright scenes laced with darker moodier parts. It's good filmmaking for the music video era. Stigmata has a fair number of jump-scares i it, too, and those are as unsettling as the music to keep us off guard.This film has an interesting story. The actors--Patricia Arquette and Gabriel Byrne, specifically--do a wonderful job.It's hard to explain why this film works, exactly. "Well, um, there's this hairdresser, and her mom sends her a Rosary from Brazil. Then she starts manifesting the wounds of Christ and speaking in ancient Aramaic And a handsome priest comes in, is skeptical, starts to believe, then The Church tries to shut her up, and thee are lots of birds."If you like supernatural thriller type films, you might like this. If you like "in your face" direction--think David Fincher after too many pots of coffee--then you'll probably like itas well.I gave Stigmata five out of five stars, the sameas I'd give The Exorcist. This doesn't mean they're equals as far as movies go. I think The Exorcist is one of the best films out of the 1970's, and certainly a contender for best in its genre.I gave Stigmata five stars, because I wasn't expecting it to be as great as it was. It really surpassed my expectations, and it did what it set out to do--and it nailed it.You won't be bored watching Stigmata, and I think it's safe to say, you definitely won't doze off.I had reservations about watching it again all these years later, wondering if it could still hold my attention.It could, and it does.

Love this movie because it is one of the few that tells some of the truth about the Roman Catholic Church; liars, hypocrites and murderers about sums it up. Like at least one other reviewer, I was so pleased that  The Nag Hammadi Scriptures  were mentioned at the end. These are the "lost gospels" (buried/hidden for safe keeping, actually) of the words of the living Jesus. Here are just a few juicy excerpts for all y'all with ears to hear...The Gospel of Thomas:56 Jesus said, “Whoever has come to know the world has discovered a carcass, and whoever has discovered a carcass, of that person the world is not worthy.”67 Jesus said, “One who knows everything but lacks in oneself lacks everything.”77 Jesus said, “I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all has come forth, and to me all has reached. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there.”78 Jesus said, “Why have you come out to the countryside? To see a reed shaken by the wind? And to see a person dressed in soft clothes, like your rulers and your powerful ones? They are dressed in soft clothes, and they cannot understand truth.”103 Jesus said, “Blessed is the person who knows at what point the robbers are going to enter, so that he may arise, bring together his estate, and arm himself before they enter.”The Wisdom of Jesus Christ:The Savior said to them, “I want you to know that all people born on earth from the foundation of the world until now are of dust, and though they have inquired about God, who he is and what he is like, they have not found him. The wisest of people have speculated on the basis of the order and movement of the universe, yet their speculation has missed the truth. It is said that philosophers voice three distinct opinions about the order of the universe, and they disagree with each other. Some of them say that the world governs itself, others say that divine forethought governs it, still others that fate is in charge. All these opinions are wrong. Of the three opinions I have just mentioned, none of them comes close to the truth. They are mere human opinions."The Book of Thomas:“Woe to you, prisoners, for you are bound in caves. You laugh, you rejoice in mad laughter. You do not perceive your destruction. Neither do you perceive your plight, nor have you understood that you dwell in darkness and death. Rather, you are drunk with fire and full of bitterness. Your hearts are deranged because of the smoldering within you, and the poison and blows of your enemies are a delight to you. Darkness has risen in you like the light, for you have surrendered your freedom to slavery. You have darkened your hearts and surrendered your minds to foolishness. You have filled your minds with the smoke of the fire within you, and your light has been hidden in the dark cloud. You love the garment you wear, although it is filthy, and you have been gripped by nonexistent hope. You have believed in what you do not know. You all live in bondage but pride yourselves in your freedom. You have baptized your souls in the water of darkness. You have pursued your own wishes.""Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it the number of a man. That number is [9]" ~ Revelation, 13:18

Non stop action and supernatural special effects held my interest as well as Arquette's remarkable physical performance as the victim of strange witchcraft. Beautiful photography from around the world as a dead priest comes back to life through the powers of a stolen cross and telepathy.This movie reminds me of the Exorcist with a very sudden possession of an unassuming hair dresser and dramatic entrance of birds, visions, and flying objects suddenly arrive, finally unleashes cuts all over this women showing one spirits rage. Filled with short, rapid-fire takes, edited to a fast beat and punctuated with blasts of high tension violence of a women who has lost control. An interesting detective who is a renegade priest comes through to try and save this woman and investigate. Finally coming to a shock, surprise ending about the church in Rome and what they have been hiding from the public for centuries. Fascinating horror movie that I enjoyed watching for a second time, recommended.

I saw this film years ago and was reminded of it recently so bought it. It's a great film with the wonderful Patricia Arquette (Medium) and equally wonderful Garbriel Byrne. Arquette is Frankie Paige, an atheist hairdresser who loves to drink and go clubbing with her mates. When her mother sends her a rosary that she buys from a pedler whilst on vacation in South America as part of a small parcel of souvenirs (unaware that it was stolen from a newly deceased and highly devout priest), Frankie starts to experience the stigmata, (the 5 wounds of Jesus Christ before and during his crucifixion). A Vatican priest called Father Keirnan (Byrne) who specialises in religious phenomenon (but with a scientific background) hears about her and goes to investigate. When Frankie starts to write in Aramaic (the language spoken in the time of Christ) the words of Christ which go against the church (Rome), it brings out the dangerous aspect of an institution (the church) that seeks to hide the truth from the masses to protect it's position (and wealth). Thus begins a very real and heart-opening journey for both Frankie and Father Keirnan on many levels.The acting is fine and there's a great soundtrack as well as being nicely shot.

"Stigmata", is a modern classic. It's full of style and riveting drama in equal measures.Unfortunately, this new much awaited UK Blu-ray, does not pass muster in any way.I found the picture quality, though perfectly watchable; sadly lacking in the detail and tight definition that a film like Stigmata cries out for.View on a Sony 40" TV, the picture is full of grain and crawl on close inspection and brings nothing to the table that the UK MGM DVD does not.If you already own the last MGM DVD edition, (featuring the 2 version options before the film starts), don't bother with this.The extras are the same as the previous DVD edition, except the extremely important option to watch either version of the film.The Directors ending is here, but only available as an extra, not as a full film viewing option, which was extremely disappointing.I will be keeping the MGM DVD as I prefer to watch the Directors Cut.Anyone who has a region free Blu-ray player, should buy have a look at the US MGM Blu-ray, as it will probably be a much better transfer.EUREKA! seem to have simply took the original transfer used by MGM for the original DVD release, and slapped it on a Blu-ray disc without any work being done on it at all.This type of poor effort, especially on a film that is only 17 years old, is made all the more annoying, when you see the meticulous effort that was put into the new transfer's to Blu--ray of such classic's as 55 Days at Peking, The Sand Pebbles, Lawrence of Arabia and Zulu.Stigmata, a beautiful film that has been sadly treated for it's UK Blu-ray debut.

If you own the dvd of stigmata this is DO NOT BUYthis so called HD1080 transfer is a joke,this like watching a slight dvd upgrade..you would be hard pushed to tell the difference between this blu-ray and the dvdIf you own a blu-ray like the mummy or apollo 13 you will be disappointed with this release,but you will have a nice looking coaster..be warned.Picture quality 2/5 bad,bad,bad

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Patricia Arquette is wonderful as the protagonist Frankie Page, inadvertently readying herself for her future role in the excellent TV show Medium. Stigmata does unfortunately revert to some of the old "possession" images that audiences have gotten used to, but the filmmaker's intention to show real emotion and originality is thankfully present and correct. I prefer the happier theatrical ending, where Frankie survives, cradling doves just as Saint Francis of Assissi did <3.