Reviews: Nine Lives (2002) Movie Review
Genres: Horror, Thriller
Subgenres: Possession, Supernatural, Desolate, Party
Our take on Nine Lives (2002) explores its plot, scares, and horror highlights to help fans decide if it deserves a place on their watchlist.
Nine Lives (2002) is a low budget movie UK/American thriller horror movie that is about 85 minutes long and was filmed in Wrotham Park, Barnet, Hertfordshire, England, UK. Director, producer and screenplay writer Andrew Green failed at making his first movie and did not work in the film industry after Nine Lives. Nine Lives revolves around Tim (Patrick Kennedy - Atonement (2007), War Horse (2011), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), A Good Year (2006)) inviting eight friends for a weekend to celebrate his 21st birthday in his Scottish mansion.
Tim’s eight guests are Pete (David Nicolle - Hiroshima (2005), Band of Brothers (2001)) who is his former college roommate. Laura (Amelia Warner - Quills (2000), Æon Flux (2005), Mansfield Park (1999), The Echo (2008)) who is Pete’s former girlfriend. Emma (Rosie Fellner - The Trip to Italy (2014), Distant Shadow (2000), The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)) who is Laura’s best friend. Lucy (Vivienne Harvey - The Dead Outside (2008), Sparks (2009), Carmen’s Kiss (2010)) who is Emma’s former roommate. Jo (Paris Hilton - The Bling Ring (2013), Pledge This! (2006), House of Wax (2005)) who is Lucy’s New York socialite friend. Tom (Lex Shrapnel - Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), Flyboys (2006), Lines Seal Team Eight: Behind Enemy Lines (2014)) who is Jo’s Manchester boyfriend. College friends Damien (James Schlesinger - Captain Webb (2015)) and Andy (Ben Peyton - The Bill (1984), Make Me a Supermodel 2006 (2006), Making the News (2009)).
Tom found a book about a local Scottish lord named Murray that was put to death in 1746. Tom unknowingly summons Murray’s spirit when reading the book that screams a reign of terror on the birthday celebration. Murray possesses Tom’s body and turns his eyes black. Tom/Murray did not hesitate to start a killing spree. SPOILER: Tom/Murray kills Jo and then Emma as she was going to bed. Tim manages to kill Murray, but Tim dies instead of Murray and Murray continue his killing spree. Five of the remaining survivors stuck together in a room and tried to figure out what in the world is going on. Laura found the book and discovered that Murray will transfer his spirit to anyone that kills his possessed body.
I gave this movie a two because I was interested at first in seeing who Tim invited to his party. I thought the movie was going to be about Tim seeking revenge on his former girlfriend and her friends of friends, but the movie had a twist and proved me wrong. After the twist was revealed, the movie went downhill from that point on and never picked up. It was the same old horror movie where people end up killing each other because of spirit possession. The film lacked directorial skills, a good screenplay, good actors, good camera man and did somewhat good special effects. The special effects were worse than anything I have ever seen.
Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- Nine Lives Rating Scores
- Our Score: 2/10
- Overall Score: 2.78/10
- IMDB: 2.4/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 4.0/10
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