Being a fan of horror movies, I have seen more than my fair share of movies about the Satan and his offspring, the Antichrist. In fact, “The Exorcist” is one of the best movies of all time, in my opinion. However, not every movie (or television show, for that matter) can be like “The Exorcist.”

I originally was interested in the series “Point Pleasant” because of the name. I live in Columbus, Ohio, which is just a short two-hour drive from Point Pleasant, West Virginia. It’s a small town on the Ohio River that was the sight of a flap of Men In Black sightings about 30 years or so ago. It ended with the collapse of the Silver Bridge, killing several dozen people.

If you’re interested about more information about this story, check out the book “The Mothman Prophecies” by UFO researcher John Keel. Or, if you’re really lazy, you can watch the awful movie they made a few years ago with Richard Gere. At the very least, you’ll get some accurate (and even more inaccurate) information about this city.

However, the television show “Point Pleasant” has nothing to do about West Virginia, the Mothman, the Men in Black or the real Point Pleasant. This show takes place in a quaint vacation town in New Jersey – a town that is visited by the Antichrist one summer.

What makes this different is that the Antichrist is HOT! Instead of being a smarmy kid named Damian or a little girl name Reagan, the Antichrist is a smoking blonde teenager named Christina (Elisabeth Harnois). Oh, and she doesn’t quite realize her fate at the beginning of the series.

The Antichrist washes up in Point Pleasant after a boating accident. She’s taken in by a local family, and things seem to be hunky-dory for a while... until the Antichrist’s father sends one of his demons named Boyd (Grant Show) to watch over her. Boyd manipulates the townsfolk and nudges Christina on her path of destiny.

However, instead of being your typical Antichrist story, “Point Pleasant” also shows her private life. She’s got a crush on a boy in town, and she’s sparring with the local slut over popularity. In a way, “Point Pleasant” is what you might get if “The Omen” would have taken place in Dawson’s Creek.

I’ll admit that the idea of the Antichrist as a real person with real problems definitely intrigues me. However, too many of the problems were basic teen angst plots straight from the WB. Here’s where the show falters. It doesn’t commit to either storyline until the end of the season, which is unfortunately the end of the show.

I feel that if this show would have stayed afloat for a couple more seasons, it might have gelled into something interesting. It gave a more serious twist on the occult than other shows like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Charmed.”

The DVD set has almost no special features. There’s a making-of featurette on the third disc, but that’s it. Things could have been salvaged with a few deleted scenes and a commentary or two.

So, ultimately, I’m a bit disappointed that the fascinating real story of Point Pleasant remains untold on the screen. I also wish the show would have had more time to gel... or at least taken a less secular approach to a subject with such heavy religious overtones. I have no problem with secular stories, but part of what made “The Exorcist” so realistic was William Peter Blatty’s experience as a Jesuit. Approaching an Antichrist story from a secular view is like trying to make “Jurassic Park” without consulting with paleontologists.



Specifications: Dolby Surround. Widescreen (1.78:1). Spanish language track. French and Spanish subtitles. English subtitles for the hearing impaired.