The Church
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DVD Cover Information Actor: Asia Argento, Barbara Cupisti, Feodor Chaliapin Jr., Hugh Quarshie, Tomas Arana Director: Michele Soavi Brand: RYK DVD: Region Code 0 Audio: English (Unknown); Hungarian (Original Language); Italian (Original Language); Latin (Original Language) Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen Picture Format: 1.85:1 Running Time: 102 minutes DVD Release Date: 2007-10-30 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Model: 827058107594 Studio: Blue Underground Product features:
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Movie Reviews of The Church
Movie Review: Michele Soavi and Dario Argento take us to church.
Summary: 4 Stars
THE CHURCH begins in medieval times, with a group of knights arriving in a small village believed to be inhabited by "witches." These knights seem to be religious crusaders of some sort (Teutonic Knights I think they're called) and they investigate allegations that a young woman in this village has the "mark of the Devil" on her. Sure enough, a bloody cross like stigmata is indeed on the bottom of her foot, confirming everything the knights need to know. The leader of this crusade kills the girl by crushing her face in with his iron clad hand, and then proceeds to massacre the whole village with his band of knights. After this horrible act is done, they decide to bury all the bodies in one spot and build a church on their massive grave. Meanwhile, all of this is seen by a young girl in the woods (played by Asia Argento) who is eventually caught and killed by one of the knights. The audience never finds out if her body is buried with the rest of the suspected "witches."
Fast forward to modern times (well, 1989 anyways) and we now see that the church is in the middle of a huge city. The church itself seems to be the location of much activity, including renovation and tourism. In a twist of strange coincidences, a young girl who lives in the church with her Mother and Father looks strikingly similar to the girl killed at the beginning. Also played by Asia Argento. Meanwhile, a new librarian is hired at the church to organize all the books. Eventually he stumbles across an old piece of parchment (found in one of the walls of the church) that leads him into the basement, and the site of a strange cross on the ground. Thinking he's found a valuable relic or treasure, he starts digging at what looks like a sewer grate with a six eyed Devil carving on the top. Unknowingly he unleashes a terrible curse and becomes possessed by an evil demon.
All of this leads to a group of tourists and a class of school children becoming trapped inside the church (once the evil is unleashed, the church was built to lock everyone inside, preventing the demons from escaping) and how they survive the night. Meanwhile, the young girl (Asia Argento) seems to be the only one who knows a secret way outside of the church through the basement. It would also seem that she's the only one who can lead everyone to salvation, with a vague connection to the young girl at the start of the movie.
*Whew!* If the plot seems like it's all over the place, thats because it is. I'm sure I missed a detail or two in my summary, but I just wanted to give a basic outline for the plot without exposing too much of the actual story. If I have one major gripe about this film, it's that THE CHURCH seems to be all over the place with no real goal. You might even be able to call this a "messy" film if it weren't for the sense of maturity and intelligent craft behind the over all production. This is the type of Horror movie that uses style and well done acting over a coherent story line. It's hard to say where this film starts to unravel in terms of plot, but it's an easy thing to over look since everything else is so well done.
Outside of my small problems regarding the story, I really enjoyed this movie. Personally, THE CHURCH speaks to me in terms of what I like to see in a 1980's Horror film. I'm a child of the late 80's and I tend to gravitate towards the movies of that time period. It's kind of hard to describe why I like that era the best in terms of Horror, but anyone who's a fan of Robert Englund's interpretation of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA or John Carpenter's PRINCE OF DARKNESS knows what I'm talking about. Movies from the late 80's just had a certain dark and brooding vibe about them. I'm not really sure why, but maybe it had something to do with Horror directors trying to get back to their more serious roots. Horror movies like A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4 : THE DREAM MASTER and SLEEPAWAY CAMP 2 : UNHAPPY CAMPERS embodied a humorous vibe that became popular in the mid 1980's. Those are good Horror films mind you (I love Freddy after all) but by the late 80's, even Freddy was going back to a darker edge with A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 5 : THE DREAM CHILD.
It wasn't a total throw back to the glory days of Horror (the late 1970's and early 1980's) but it was a welcome return to more sinister Horror. Also, the over all camera aesthetic during that time period was changing from film to video, which changed film making into an easier method. Gone are the days of technicolor and messy reel to reel film. Sometimes filming a movie with "video" worked, other times not so much.
Regardless of the time period or camera methods, THE CHURCH is a good Horror movie if you ask me. I would even be willing to say that it makes for a nice companion piece to PRINCE OF DARKNESS, being the fact that they're so much alike. Both films have similar elements (both are set in a church) and they both have their own fair share of problems. If you're willing to look past the story issues and pacing problems, THE CHURCH is a nice little Gothic Horror movie. The cinematography is simply amazing and the over all film even has a "Fantasy" vibe to it. If you watch the movie, just observe the camera work alone. It sweeps and crawls with a dream like quality that evokes memories of Ridley Scott's LEGEND and Jim Henson's LABYRINTH. We can thank Dario Argento for the amazing production value.
Another thing I liked about this movie was the haunting soundtrack. It was done by Keith Emerson and ex members of the Italian band Goblin. The music has very dark and brooding vibe to it that sets the stage for the movie. I liked the score so much that I bought a few tracks of it online for my personal music collection.
Gore Hounds, never fear! THE CHURCH is full of gruesome deaths and shocking latex make up effects! Some of the prosthetics used in this movie are so horrifying, that you wonder why the director didn't use some of them sooner! Whatever the reason, they're worth the wait. Some people think the special effects are a little corny but I couldn't disagree more. The prosthetics and puppets are on the level of GHOSTBUSTERS but much more evil and adult oriented. Personally, I really enjoyed the "old school" special effects used here. I understand they're not for everybody (I know someone who dislikes the prosthetics used in THE NEVER ENDING STORY because they're "fake looking", which I think is a bad reason to dislike any film) but this movie has a lot more going for it besides the special effects. The Gothic atmosphere alone is good enough to keep any avid Horror movie fan's attention until the very end.
Over all, I really liked this film. THE CHURCH is everything I love about late 80's Horror, with some minor pacing issues. In retrospect, I can see how some people might dislike this movie. Yet, if you're a fan of films like PRINCE OF DARKNESS, then I think you'll have much to enjoy here.
Highly recommended!
I've said my bit.
Over and out.