The Unholy

source: The Unholy

"The Unholy" isn't bad at all as far as religion themed horror goes. It goes too far into cheesy monster mayhem for its final act, which hurts the overall impact because up to then it's quite a serious and interesting enough look into the whole idea of temptation and the ability to withstand it. Co-written by veteran Philip Yordan and the films' production designer, Fernando Fonseca, it tells the story of a young priest, Father Michael (Ben Cross), who miraculously survives a 17 story fall. After this, he's assigned by an Archbishop (Hal Holbrook) to take over a church that has been shut down for three years due to the death of the former priest. It's up to Father Michael to vanquish the evil that returns to this location in order to collect pure souls, specifically priests and virgins. The film is set in New Orleans and, truthfully, it would have been nice to get a little more of that unique Old World flavour inherent in the city. As it is, the film mostly takes place in interiors. Still, director Camilo Vila maintains a very somber mood and works with cinematographer Henry Vargas to create some decent lighting schemes. The story has just enough twists to keep it intriguing, complete with a red herring. It benefits from the sturdy performances of its well chosen cast, with the engaging Cross as a man of principle and good intent. Holbrook is excellent, of course, and the late Trevor Howard is a joy as Father Silva, speaking his lines in an amusing sing song style. Jill Carroll is endearing as Millie, the young girl who becomes attached to Michael. Ned Beatty is likable as the police detective on the case, although his character is never properly paid off. William Russ has the most flamboyant role in the film as the club owner who dabbles in occult related imagery and rituals for the sake of a good show. But it's Nicole Fortier whom the audience is likely to remember the most: the ravishing redhead is temptation personified as the human incarnation of the demon. Bob Keen handles the special effects work, and does a good job, but the truth is the film would have been better served without resorting to traditional horror trappings that are unfortunately more goofy than anything else. Still, it's always nice to see a genre film espouse the power of faith, and the timeless idea of good vs. evil ensures a reasonable amount of involvement. Overall, a decently entertaining film. Seven out of 10.

I saw this originally back around 1990 or so back when Rhonda Shear was running the B Movie Friday Night show called "USA Up All Night." (Gilbert Gottfried did it on Saturdays.) USA Network, of course, butchered this film for "length and content" but I still found it to be a great film. Sure, it is not anything like the Omen series or the Resident Evil trilogy but it is a great movie for what it is. It is a shame that the hot redhead ended her acting career (apparently) after this movie. She was in one movie before this and nothing again. As I type this review, The Unholy is being aired on the Chiller Network. Only time will tell how much was cut out of it, as I am sure that they will not show it without editing.

I can't think of ONE good thing about 'The Unholy'. Well, that's not exactly true, Nicole Fortier is a major babe, and worth a freeze frame or two. But apart from her very brief appearances on screen this is your typical really stupid and cheesy 80s horror garbage. It features a ridiculous and theologically nonsensical premise, a very dull and charisma free leading man (Ben Cross, who had his fifteen minutes of fame earlier in the decade with 'Chariots Of Fire'), a talented supporting cast hamming it up (Hal Holbrook, Ned Beatty, and in one of his final roles, Trevor Howard, as a blind priest), more plot holes than I can be bothered to list, and an (anti)climax which contains some of the most laughably ineffective special effects ever seen in a horror movie. 'The Unholy' is utter garbage and not worth renting. Next!

This movie is about a priest that after the mysterious death of a former priest he is able to take over the church that was left behind from the previous priest. The priest encounters some strange people, stange places and strange happenings. First, he meets up with this Kiefer Southerland wannabe looking guy with a fake southern accent that tells him that he's seeing things and for the priest to watch over him while he sleeps. Then he meets up with a young lady who hangs around places like Gothic clubs and the man tells the priest to leave her alone. There is a black maid that lives there with him that shouldn't even be part of the movie. And the two priest, one blind and the other hiding secrets should get their act together and find out what to do with all these strange things going on. The ending is terrible but almost laughable with this rubber beast licking on the priest legs as he thinks he sees the young lady that he supposebly falls in love with. And who would ever put this pull acting nonemotional priest in this movie anyway. Avoid this one.

"The Unholy" starts out terrific, with young priest Michael (Ben Cross from "First Knight") surviving a fall from a 17-floor building without a single injury! He's then pointed out as the "chosen one" by the spooky blind father Silva (the last role for veteran actor Trevor Howard) and given custody of a small parish where the last two incumbents were brutally murdered. Regretfully enough, the movie then turns in to a tedious mess with miserable make-up effects and incomprehensible plot twists. The poorly written script attempts to bring a exhilarating story about repressed sexuality and ancient demonology but it never really succeeds in doing so. In his parish, father Michael encounters strange omens and wicked people, leading him straight to a final confrontation with "The Unholy"; a hot chic-demon who directly serves Satan himself. Ben Cross' wooden performance makes this movie all the more boring, while the truly cool actors are given too few screen time. Ned Beatty wastes his time wandering around as the over-worried cop and Hal Holbrook is the archbishop whom's character I hoped had more depth. The music is good and – even though the demon effects are laughable – the ordinary gore moments are worthwhile. Best sequence unquestionably features a guy who literally vomits gallons of blood and then suffers from a spontaneous combustion! The only thing I learn from this kind of movies is that the evil-way-of-life is a lot more fun...although good eventually always triumphs, anyway. Beware when you're looking for Catholic-themed horror movies, folks. They are either uninspired Exorcist-ripoffs or tame and meaningless junk like this.

A demon preys on priests caught in the act of sinning. This horror film has one of the best cast ever put together in a horror film, scary special effects, a well plotted and interesting script, and solid direction. However, even though the film seems to have all the right ingredients for success, it simply never gels together. Nicole Fortier is absolutely flawless as the demon. Rated R; Nudity, Graphic Violence, and Profanity. *This film has one of the best trailers ever in cinema history.

Some unutterable evil is happening on the dark streets of New Orleans and it is up to Catholic priest Ben Cross to stop the spirits that are killing people when they are in the act of committing sins. The film benefits from established actors like Ned Beatty and Hal Holbrook, but it is the unknown William Russ that gives the stunning performance in the film. But the film goes more for shock value than anything else and a truly interesting idea becomes somewhat trivial with typical cliches that dominated films like this in the 1980s. All in all "The Unholy" is good for a scare, but overall it is a film that misses the mark and could have been so much more. 2 stars out of 5.

Running through some old horror magazines I came across this title. I was rather surprised by the big names in it and the fact that it isn't a popular flick. So it has to deal with some problems. We're running late in the eighties and by then horror wasn't that popular anymore. The slashers were passé and every item they could use to make a horror they used. Here are some names that should attract a lot of attention. Ned Beatty was in it, one we knew from so many flicks but to name one classic, Deliverance (1072), also on the list was Hal Holbrook (Magnum Force 1972 or The Fog 1980). Trevor Howard in one of his last flicks, he died in 1988, we knew him from Ghandi (1982). So really good thespians but were they failed was the fact that they aren't shown that much. On the other hand the movie do deliver at some points but also has some weak parts. There are some parts were there is a bit too much of nothing going on but the mast ten minutes are worth watching. And the first part is also worth mentioning because it is sometimes a bit gory. The demon is played by Nicole Fortier who only appeared in two flicks, Scared Stiff (1987) and this one. She was running in her nudies all through this flick and even has some full frontal nudity. It's weird that she vanished from the screen after this flick, she really had a good looking face. But don't forget to watch the effects and that's what make sit also worth watching. No CGI, this is the real stuff. There are indeed some gory parts with someone hanging upside down on a cross and having his intestines hanging out. Once the priest is having his confrontation with the demon it's also worth watching but the monster itself looks a bit ridiculous for that time. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it a lot, okay here and there a small yawn but overall worth watching. Gore 2/5 Nudity 2/5 Effects 4/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

I love 80's horror movies but they usually don't scare me; i mostly watch them for gore/special effects/monsters/nudity, etc. you don't find in the watered down PG-13 crap that passes for horror today. I gotta admit this movie actually creeped me out pretty good. THE UNHOLY involves an evil demon that takes the form of a major babe in order to seduce priests so it can claim the innocent for Satan or something like that. It reminded me a lot of the Italian horror movie THE CHURCH which i also enjoyed. Both take place mostly in big Catholic churches and are filled with satanic hallucinations. I won't give it away but the opening scene is simply awesome. The movie slows down in the middle but remains stylish with music that almost gives it a similar feeling to the THE LOST BOYS. It also has lots of cool blue and red lighting which makes it look very 80's. (I mean that in a good way, not that the film looks too dated or anything.) It picks back up towards the end and was actually starting to get scary until a couple of cool but funny looking demons show up. There is some sweet gore scenes, cool slimy monster effects, and even some nudity. The pace coulda been a lil faster but the awesome finale makes it well worth it. If you like this i would also recommend THE CHURCH and vise versa.