I knew nothing of this man Malachi Martin when I looked into watching Hostage to the Devil but I enjoy a good exorcism story as much as the next and going into this I believed it to be a straight up movie and not actually a documentary on the gentleman's life. It wasn't actually until I came on IMDB some 20 minutes into the film to check out previous reviews of this documentary to see if this was one of those fake 'spoof' type of affairs and while I I believe this person existed now, throughout the film I still got this air of inauthenticity about it. Perhaps it was because the film was too pro-Malachi and his beliefs to establish a balanced view of the man with just one dissenter who I felt was made out to be a bitter dying man because Martin allegedly started an affair with his wife. It was an absorbing watch however and a curious look at what many 'rational' minded group of people could just have easily labelled Martin as a charismatic con artist.

Within our postmodern society, it's become trendy and cool to identify oneself as a Satanist, either in some self-perceived sophisticated sense or as an avowed atheist, which by extension would require denying the existence of a spirit world and within it intelligent evil. Little do these ones know or care to know. They imagine themselves as being above such 'superstitious nonsense' and perhaps even have taken on the image of Baphomet as their mascot of sorts, a figure meant to represent their Goth/nihilistic lifestyles and metaphysical ignorance. Enter Malachi Martin's world, in which the Devil is real and very much alive!

For anyone unfamiliar with Martin, the documentary provides some background info on the former Jesuit. He was born in Kerry, Ireland in 1921, and was virtually destined to become a theologian and Catholic priest. This fascinating man of God was multilingual and was even said to have assisted in translating the Dead Sea Scrolls. A highly intelligent clergyman, Malachi Martin would go onto leave Rome in 1964 to become an American citizen and to pursue a writing career as an exorcist. Upon settling in the US, the ex-Jesuit, we are told, had little money and at first had to support himself by working menial jobs (dishwasher, cabbie) in order to make ends meet.

I should point out at this point that I highly respect the late Malachi Martin and am one who firmly believes in the supernatural (i.e, phenomena that cannot be rationally explained away by scientific materialism). I do not say this based entirely on my biblical upbringing (religious training that has never really left me). Although I wouldn't describe myself as Christian, I don't think a person needs to be one in order to accept the reality of a spirit realm or to acknowledge the truth of what scripture has to say on the matter, as with the verse referred to in the header for this review.

I suppose it all depends on one's worldview as to whether this movie would be appreciated or not. As one who had read and enjoyed the book of the same title prior to viewing this documentary, it was with great anticipation that I sat down to watch this.

Although the movie could have been better, overall it does not disappoint. The doc contains various TV and audio clips of Martin speaking during his days as an author/exorcist, as well as appearances by John Zaffis, Lorraine Warren and -- a special treat for me -- the late, late-night radio host, Art Bell, whose show I used to be a regular listener of back in the day.

Really now, who could not have liked Malachi Martin? Here was a refined intellectual, mild and soft-spoken, personable and accommodating; a man of remarkable depth and humility. In the movie, we're introduced to a former intelligence agent who was a close friend of Malachi's. This guy gladly gave of his time and voluntarily would chauffeur Martin to various places he needed to be. The scenes that feature this particular interviewee are some of the best. Yet every person, saint or otherwise, has their critics. Heck, if Christ himself was crucified, then it should be of no surprise that the rest of us, as imperfect humans, would have our own fair share of critics, too. In the movie, which is pretty objective and fair in its treatment of its subject, we meet another former Jesuit priest by the name of Robert Blair Kaiser, author of "Clinical Error." What to make of what he has to say here about Martin? (Truth-teller or character assassin?) The personalities of Martin and Kaiser could not have been more different: the former, introspective and theologically serious; the latter, somewhat cynical and seemingly frivolous in faith, akin to those laughable Catholic priests in "Religulous" -- pseudo/nominal sky pilots and apparent aftereffects of the Second Vatican Council. According to the semi-snickering Kaiser, Martin was primarily if not solely in it for the money and fame that came from the lecture circuit and publishing contracts. As if these negative comments weren't enough, Kaiser goes onto relate quite the shocker, which if true would help to explain why this alleged cuckold comes across sounding so vindictive and smeary as he does in the movie.

It must be noted that HOSTAGE TO THE DEVIL is not based on the 1976 book of the same title, in that not one of the five case studies presented in print is highlighted let alone even mentioned here. As a professional penman, there can be no doubt that Martin was a gifted writer (granted, if not a wee verbose and a bit too ornate at times for my liking). I've read the book repeatedly and can say that it is both an absorbing and insightful work and well-worth the patience it takes to complete. It has a lot of interesting things to say pertaining to modern-day exorcism, as well as to the reasons for the decline in belief in the Devil, not only among the laity but surprisingly and sadly among the clergy, also.

My favorite part in "Hostage to the Devil" is a lyrically penned passage that has Martin speaking with a Father Gerald, an aged and frail fellow, and putting to the father the question if he has any regrets being a priest. The response Malachi receives is heartbreaking. Sad also is what would become of Martin, in his experiencing a premature demise. Was Malachi pushed off a ladder? A physical one, yes, but I think many would agree, certainly not Jacob's!

This was not bad. I thought it was interesting mostly