Supernatural summer follows up with "Stigmata," "Stir Of Echoes"

Seemingly embraced by countless avid moviegoers, the supernatural force found in this summer’s most successful movies is gearing up within two post-summer flicks to be released this Friday--the Kevin Bacon vehicle "Stir Of Echoes," and the religiously-based thriller "Stigmata." They follow on the heels of three or more mega-popular horror-based films that arrived sometime this summer, including the recent box-office survivor "The Sixth Sense" starring Bruce Willis. One has difficulty finding the words to describe the sudden success of this genre, especially when the years preceding it were filled with no more than dumb slasher movies and poor commercial business. Nonetheless, the financial and (sometimes) critical figures speak for themselves: horror movies are hip again. It is no question as to whether these two upcoming movies might experience the same kind of commercial success as the others have.

The 13th Warrior / *1/2 (1999)

For one moment, let's just say you are Antonio Banderas' biggest fan –you've seen all his movies, read all magazine articles about him, memorized his dialogue and even wept when he was denied Oscar accolades for "Evita." Without a doubt, you love the guy. And why shouldn't you? This is someone who, behind all those mystifying good looks, can act his way out of a quicksand pit. With that in mind, ask yourself this question: are you the proper candidate to see his latest picture, "The 13th Warrior," and walk away from it confident of his decision making? I sincerely hope not.