Fallen (1998) - ★★★

Director: Gregory Hoblit
Writers: Nicholas Kazan
Stars: Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Donald Sutherland, Embeth Davidtz, James Gandolfini, Elias Koteas

Fallen is a decent thriller with a good story and great actors. It could have been a great movie, considering the material there was to work with. Unfortunately, it comes across a little too corny and not urgent enough, which made me lose interest in the characters and their outcome. However, there were great parts in the movie and I enjoyed myself some of the time. It gets a solid 3 Stars from me.


This is a demon movie that you probably have never seen the likes of before. It's not a demon that causes you to projectile vomit. This demon makes you commit atrocious crimes and kills you once it gets bored of occupying your body. When it decides to target Detective John Hobbes (Denzel Washington), we are sent on a hit-and-miss adventure where the man and the demon compete in a battle of wits.

The highlight of this film is definitely John Goodman. He is the most memorable and enjoyable thing to do with Fallen. When he sings 'Time' by The Rolling Stones, it gives me chills. In the end, he completely outclasses Denzel, who's character was a faultless man with no depth in his personality. The only thing we know about Hobbes is that he is a really good guy who looks after his mentally disabled brother.

What separates Fallen from other movies is its terrific premise of the demon. This thing intrigued me immensely, due to the way it occupies its victims and toys with their lives. However, the film almost ruined the evil essence of the demon by giving it a childish and annoying personality. At times it came across as a jerk, rather than a sadistic spawn of Satan.

In the end, it was the demon and John Goodman that stole the show. Everything else was just average and bad. It's worth a watch if you love thrillers or demonology. If you just want to watch a really good movie, I suggest you settle for The Silence of the Lambs.