Question: Through most of the film Malcolm is dead. All the other ghosts still have scars from how they died but why doesn't Malcolm have his mark which should be a bullet wound?
Answer: Because as Cole tells us in the middle of the movie, "They only see what they want to see." The movie shows us Malcolm as he perceives himself. He can't actually put on an overcoat, or change clothes. He sees what he expects to see. He goes outside in the cold to visit Cole, so he sees himself wearing an overcoat. He doesn't know he is dead - he doesn't see his wound. To preserve this misdirection throughout the movie, we are shown Malcolm as he sees himself.
Actually, we do see Malcolm and Cole sees him. The entry wound in his abdomen is tiny, and the large, obvious exit wound is on Malcolm's back, which we never see.
Question: When going to kill the Killians, how did the Horseman know that Thomas was hiding under the floor? Thomas stayed completely still and didn't make a sound.
Question: Isn't it common knowledge that Nicole found Tom's mask and put it on his pillow? I always wondered why Tom freaked out so much when he finds it. Is he afraid that Nicole knows where the mask is used? Or that someone else placed it there? And unless I missed something, how come this was never discussed between the two? You'd think Nicole would be asking why he left this in his safe?
Chosen answer: I think someone from the freaky orgy broke in and put the mask on the pillow to warn Cruise's character to keep his mouth shut. That's why Cruise's character is so upset-they got into his home and his safe.
I always assumed that she was a member of the orgy party. She was letting him know that she was there.
No, she wasn't.
Question: There is a LOT of changes if you compare the film to the book, and most of them I understand, since you always have to make some changes. But why did they change such things as characters names and genders?
Answer: The film makers changed the name of Amelia Sachs because it sounded too much like 'sex'. I have not been able to discover for certain why they made Thom into a woman, but possibly this had to do with Thom's homosexuality. It could be viewed as controversial that Rhyme's nurse is a gay man, and could possibly also bring Rhyme's own sexuality into question. To make the nurse female would avoid all such issues.
Question: Does "the girl" - as she's been called - have a name? And is she a (or the) devil?
Answer: She was not given a name, neither in the film nor credits. She is simply known as "The Girl". As to precisely who she is, it is deliberately left ambiguous. But the last engraving found by Corso does seem to indicate that she is the Whore of Babylon mentioned in the Book of Revelation.
Question: Why is Mike standing in the corner? Is he kept alive to be standing?
Chosen answer: During the beginning interviews with the townspeople, the one guy tells how the killer, Parr, would make his victims stand in the corner as he killed the other kids. He didn't like the way they would look at him, so he made them stand in the corner.
Question: Given she leaves the state while on parole, possessing a firearm, holding her ex at gunpoint, how does Libby avoid prosecution for these offenses?
Answer: Because there were exceptional and extenuating circumstances and, technically, Libby was never guilty of the crime she was convicted of and had to resort to extreme measures to prove her innocence. She may have had a gun, but it could never be proved that she held Nick at gunpoint, only that she shot him in self defense. Also, it's a movie, which often are unrealistic regarding details like that.
Question: How could Eleanor be related to Hugh Crain if all of Hugh's children died at birth?
Answer: Crain had two wives. All of his children from his first wife, Renee, died at birth and then Renee killed herself. Later we find out that Crain had a second wife, Carolyn, and they did have a child who survived. Carolyn is Eleanor's grandmother.
Answer: Nell learns she's the descendant of Hugh Crain's second wife (who ran away after learning of Crain's murderous nature).
Question: What's Ashley Judd's last line? I missed it in the cinema and when it was on TV the other day I remembered too late to turn on subtitles.
Chosen answer: Her last line is "I wish you love".
Question: When the generals daughter is being brought out in the coffin at the end, "Amazing Grace" is being played on the bagpipes. Is this a military thing for dead soldiers, and if so, why "Amazing Grace" and why a Scottish instrument in particular?
Answer: It's just a generic funeral song and the bagpipes are supposed to make it more...mournful.
Question: What is the meaning of the scene with the hooded blond woman throwing her child in the street? Frankie sees her, starts yelling, and the scene creates a mysterious mood, but I don't really see any connection to the plot.
Answer: Earlier in the movie Frankie thinks she's pregnant and is contemplating abortion. Hence the throwing the child away reference here.
Question: How did Anton not remember that he murdered his own parents when he was a killer all along?
Answer: He was either too high, sleepwalking or under the evil hand's control.
Question: Why does Satan go through the trouble of hiring protective detail at the beginning of the film? Bullets have no effect on him, and even if he was hit, he could just make the claim that the shooter missed. And it's not like he's overly worried about people discovering his true identity, since he blackmails and corrupts people throughout the movie.
Question: Can someone please explain what a snuff film actually is? I've heard that they don't exist, and they are just a rumor, but can someone clarify all this?
Answer: A snuff film is a movie where someone is actually killed on film, where the intention is to sell the movie afterwards. There are several other instanses where people are shown murdered on film (news reports, the Zapruder film, dictatorships documenting executions, etc.), but if the purpose of making the movie is not commercial, it is not a geniune "snuff" film. FBI experts and other law agencies state that they have never seen a genuine "snuff", and that it is most likely just a rumor, especially since the concept of someone willingly selling evidence of their own crimes to strangers and remaining undetected for 30 years, is highly unlikely. See http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_258.html for more details.
Answer: Metatron explains at the very end that God has no gender, and can appear on Earth as a man or a woman. Metatron's patronizing tone is indicating that there are far more important matters afoot than which gender noun to use to describe God.
Moose ★