![]() Alice regains hearing and a voice she never had and performs miracles through a power granted by the Virgin Mary. Fenn realizes it’s a hoax but winds up stumbling upon an even bigger case through a series of events that lead him to deaf, mute teen Alice ( Cricket Brown ). Cut to the present, where disgraced journalist Gerry Fenn ( Jeffrey Dean Morgan ) ventures into the small town of Banfield, Massachusetts, to investigate a strange case. From the POV of an unseen yet terrified woman, the viewer looks through an iron mask as men surround her, hammer the mask into her flesh, then set her ablaze. The Unholy removes all mystery behind its Virgin Mary-like entity from the opening scene set in 1845 New England. ![]() From the opening moments, though, it becomes evident that this latest entry in religious horror commits the cardinal sin of inducing boredom by way of tired tropes. At first glance, The Unholy, an adaptation of James Herbert’s 1983 novel Shrine, teases a new direction thanks to a town inundated by miracles attributed to a malevolent Virgin Mary. ![]() Mostly, these films tend to feature a lead character reclaiming their faith through a frightening confrontation with evil of the demonic or biblical variety. ![]() Solid 6 IMO due to acting and overall theme.Since The Exorcist’s release and subsequent success nearly fifty years ago, religious-based horror hasn’t deviated very often from the formula. But, hits a wall halfway through and never recovers. Entertaining for at least half the movie. It's like they spent a year recording the first half and a month on the second. Second half of the movie ignores the setup, ignores the characters and goes straight to the source of the problems. First half of the movie does a good setup job for the characters and direction. It provides the conclusions verses letting the audience figure them out. Even though the story felt like one we've seen a million times, I liked the premise and overall theme but the movie veers off and hits walls, then takes off at full speed before veering off into more walls. Directing and Editing were just OK and could have been better IMO. Of course, the movie didn't feel connected to itself after 52 minutes and goes wildly into warp speed conclusions. At times, it felt like the cast was not as connected to the movie as they could be. Cricket Brown was especially impressive because I believe this movie is one of her first larger productions and she gives the impression of being a pro in this department. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, William Sadler, Cary Elwes and Cricket Brown were all great. ![]() That all said, I think the cast was good. I'll admit, I'm a bit of a sucker for horror movies based around religion as generally they seem to be more interesting to me. However, it's definitely a fairly original take on the classic horror genre (demonic/possession). likely had an issue with the script and pacing. I think people that are genuine and gave the movie a low score. Almost like two different directors made this movie. Second half, feels like a rush to the finish line. First half sets things up and it's creepy and exactly what you'd expect. First half of the movie feels like a different flick than the second half. While The Unholy is DEFINITELY not a 10 or a 9. ![]()
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