Dorian [Pact with the Devil] ** (2003, Malcolm McDowell, Ethan Erickson, Victoria Sanchez, Christoph Waltz, Amy Sloan) – Classic Movie Review 12,179

The story was first published in 1890 in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine.

Malcolm McDowell and Ethan Erickson star in the 2003 film Dorian [Pact with the Devil], updated from Oscar Wilde’s novel about an ambitious young man who sells his soul to the devil, ageless while his portrait ages horribly in the attic.

Producer-director Allan A Goldstein’s 2003 UK-Canada-Germany horror thriller film Dorian [Pact with the Devil] is an intriguing and acceptable, but low-budget and uninspired chiller, adapted and updated by Peter Jobin and Ron Raley from Oscar Wilde’s only novel The Picture of Dorian Gray about an ambitious young man who sells his soul to the devil, ageless while his portrait ages horribly in the attic.

Malcolm McDowell (as Lord Henry Wotton) and Ethan Erickson (as Dorian Gray) star, with Amy Sloan as Dorian’s girlfriend Sybil Vane, Christoph Waltz as Rolf Steiner and Victoria Sanchez as Mariella Steiner – and they are all reasonably effective. If only it had a bigger budget and maybe was a bit sexier, it could have been quite good.

The cast include Malcolm McDowell, Ethan Erickson, Victoria Sanchez, Christoph Waltz, Amy Sloan, Karen Cliche, Jane McLean, Ellen David, Bronwen Booth, Jennifer Nitsch and Ron Lea.

Dorian [Pact with the Devil] is directed by Allan A Goldstein, runs 95 minutes, or 89 minutes, is made by Blue Rider Pictures, Cinema 4 Films, Dream Rock, Moonstone and Tele-München, is released by Remstar Distribution, is written by Peter Jobin and Ron Raley, is shot by Eric Moynier, is produced by Allan A Goldstein, Harry Alan Towers and Charmaine Carvalho, and scored by Larry Cohen.

Filming location: Montréal, Québec, Canada.

The 1970 film Dorian Gray with Helmut Berger is also produced by Harry Alan Towers.

After half a dozen silent movie versions, it was first filmed in the talkie era with Hurd Hatfield as The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1944.

It was notably remade for TV in 1973 as The Picture of Dorian Gray with Shane Briant, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1976, TV with Peter Firth), in 1970 as Dorian Gray with Helmut Berger, in 2004 as The Picture of Dorian Gray with Josh Duhamel, and again as Dorian Gray in 2009 with Ben Barnes and Colin Firth.

The cast are Malcolm McDowell as Henry, Ethan Erickson as Louis / Dorian, Christoph Waltz as Rolf Steiner, Victoria Sanchez as Mariella Steiner, Jennifer Nitsch as Bae, Ron Lea as Detective Giatti, Karen Cliche as Christine, Amy Sloan as Sybil Vane, Hunter Phoenix as Isabella, Carl Alacchi as James, Bronwen Booth as Trina, Henri Pardo as Trina, Luigi Tosi as Cop At Crime Scene, Daniela Ferrera as Woman #1 At Dorian’s Loft, Jane McLean as Woman #2 At Dorian’s Loft, and Ellen David as Diana Baker.

The films are: Dorian Grays Portræt (1910), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1913), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1915), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1916), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1917, Germany), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1917, Hungary), The Picture of Dorian Gray with Hurd Hatfield (1945), Dorian Gray with Helmut Berger (1970), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1973, TV with Shane Briant),The Picture of Dorian Gray (1976, TV with Peter Firth), Dorian (2003, with Ethan Erickson and Malcolm McDowell), in 2005 as The Picture of Dorian Gray with Josh Duhamel, as The Picture of Dorian Gray in 2007, as Dorian Gray in 2009 with Ben Barnes and Colin Firth, as The Picture of Dorian Gray in 2018 and again as The Picture of Dorian Gray in 2021.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,179

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