THE CHURCH REVIEWED
“The Church” begins with a gathering of Satan worshipers getting butchered. In the present day, the slaughter site has become home to a Gothic Cathedral. This Church sits on a graveyard, but not a ton of people are aware of the fact. Originally intended to be Demons 3, the film works better as its own thing. It’s while you focus on the supernatural plot and less schlocky trappings that something will catch you by surprise.
Yes, Virginia! That is Captain Panaka as Father Gus. If you can get past the Asia Argento and Hugh Quarshie star-making performances, there’s some approaching mainstream fun that Soavi showers upon us. After all, this is a movie about undead sex demons defying their spiritual prisons to torture people in the 1980s. That being said, I hate that it takes 30 minutes to really get the film going. Slow burns are great in all, but World Cinema horror needs that extra little push.
While the finale was strong, it seems like there needs to be an effort to create a tighter edit. Am I advocating this for a nearly 30 year old movie? Sure. If the Coen Brothers can revisit Blood Simple after the fact, then Soavi can tighten up The Church.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- New Interviews
- New Exclusive Interview with the Director
- Trailers
A/V STATS
- 1.66:1 1080p transfer
- DTS-HD 2.0