Fall brings to mind a wide-range of topics-cooler weather, returning to school, and unfortunately, second-rate movies. "The Order," though, starring Hollywood heartthrob Heath Ledger, is not one of those pictures. Ledger's latest movie is not only the most pathetic of excuses for a horror film, but could possibly even rival "Gigli" for the worst movie of the year. The movie, which pits a Carolingian priest (Ledger) against a Catholic, demonic "sin-eater" (Benno Furmann), is almost as tedious as sitting through a five hour sermon. Alex Bernier is working as a priest in New York City when he finds out his mentor has supposedly committed suicide in Rome. Unconvinced that the elder priest actually took his own life, Alex prepares to travel to Rome with Mara Wilson (Shannyn Sossamon), who has escaped from a mental institution after previously trying to murder him. The plot of the movie only gets more ridiculous, as Alex, his former assailant Mara, and his fellow Carolingian priest (Mark Addy) discover once in Rome that their mentor was killed by a sin-eater named William Eden. A sin-eater is defined in the movie as one appointed to literally consume the sins of his fellow Catholics who have been ex-communicated by the Church so that they may be absolved before they die. As the movie roles on with the momentum of a snail, Alex continues to struggle between his duty to the Catholic Church while at the same time fighting his growing love for the psychotic Mara and being courted by William to be his successor as the next sin-eater.

"The Order" reunites Ledger with Sossamon and director Brian Helgeland, all three of whom worked together on the teeny-bopper classic, "A Knight's Tale." While the trio's last effort together resulted in a huge box office success, the group's effort in the horror genre fails miserably. "The Order," classified by movie critics as a "supernatural romantic thriller," is utterly deprived of any bone-chilling moments. Instead of deliciously terrifying scenes that make you want to jump out of your seat in fear, all the supposed horror movie did was cause my friend to fall asleep in her chair. Furthermore, Ledger and Sossamon completely lack any on-screen chemistry, explaining why the actress was not cast for Ledger's romantic interest in "A Knight's Tale."

The screenwriting could not even save this horrible horror flick. Alex and Mara's motto throughout the movie was, "We'll be together till the wheels fall off." Wow, I mean nothing says "I love you" like "We'll be together till the wheels fall off." That is almost as deep and compelling as J. Lo's come-on to Ben in "Gigli," "Gobble, gobble." I wish I could give you some more ridiculous quotes from the movie, but it was hard to hear the lines over the man continually yawning beside me, or the women in the front row sighing loudly throughout the entire film.

The acting in "The Order" is also some of the worst I have ever seen in a movie, and this coming from the girl who actually had to sit through "How to Deal" this past summer with her Mandy Moore-obsessed younger sister. Ledger, screaming and crying with as much feeling as a rock through the entire film, looked more like a little boy playing tag with his friends rather than a man being chased by demons from hell. While undeniably good looking with an incredibly sexy accent, Ledger's performance in "The Order" seriously brings into question whether he can do films that require dramatic acting. Perhaps he should just stick to teeny-bopper flicks where all that's really required of him is showing up and looking hot. Sossamon puts in a lackluster performance as well, contributing to the overall tediousness of the movie.

While I understand movie production companies putting out their big blockbusters during summer and saving their less prominent projects for the fall months, "The Order" is just one of those moves that should have never left 20th Century Fox Studios. I honestly expected a better effort from director Brian Helgeland, who received an Oscar nomination for working on the adaptation of "L.A. Confidential." Furthermore, perhaps Ledger and Sossamon need in their future roles to stick to portraying characters that don't actually require any real, genuine emotion. "The Order" overall is such an embarrassment to the motion picture industry that leaving the entirety of the film on the cutting room floor would have been the smartest decision the producers would have made in their production of this movie.

I honestly pity any of you who viewed "The Order" over the weekend or are still planning on seeing the film to see how this insanely stupid movie ended.