October 24, 2017
Written by: Dario Argento, Franco Ferrini
Starring: Hugh Quarshie, Tomas Arana, Feodor Chaliapin Jr.
Budget: $3,500,000
Quote: "Filthy liar! Here we'll wash your mouth out with soap, here!"
Trivia: Though it was originally conceived as another entry in the popular Demons series, director Michele Soavi insisted that the film stand alone and not be connected with the films Demons (1985) or Demons 2 (1986). In an interview Soavi referred to the Demons films as 'pizza schlock' and wanted La Chiesa to be more sophisticated.
This movie is one of nearly a half dozen movies that are claimed to be the third pseudo-sequel to the Argento/Bava Demons films. However, the director Michele Soavi insisted that this movie is not another Demon movie which he felt was beneath him. He even went so far as to call them "pizza schlock," stating that his movie is a more sophisticated higher art. In many ways he is correct, this movie does not look or feel like a Demon movie. The Demon movies are really fun celebrations of American-influenced Italian gore, that never took themselves too seriously, and have become horror classics. The Church, while not a terrible movie, is yet another forgettable Italian demon flick with a sense of pretentiousness to it. The director's air of superiority is a bit off putting considering the film is no more high brow than any other Italian demon movies. And we don't need movies like this taking themselves too seriously... Alright, I should probably not get so defensive. I love the Demon movies and felt the need to address the bit of trivia I found on the movie. The movie is actually pretty good with an interesting story and some great gore scenes.
The movie begins with a band of Medieval knights massacring an entire village that they believe are devil worshippers when they notice Satanic marks on their bodies. After killing everyone (man, woman, and child) they bury them in a mass grave and build a grand church on top of the grave as a means to imprison the village's evil. Jump cut to modern day when some librarian, out of curiosity, opens up the evil held under the church. Not only does this let out the evil but it also triggers a Medieval security system which causes all the doors to shut locking the people and evil inside the church (demons and people locked inside one location... now why would someone associate this movie with the Demon films?). Finally, the church father discovers a way to make the church self destruct causing the building to collapse upon itself, killing everyone but Dario Argento's daughter Asia.
What makes the film so enjoyable are the creative kill scenes that it constructs, the Gothic cathedral setting, Satanic imagery, and its Italian penchant for over-the-top characters/acting. Some of the kill scenes are brutal. During one scene a guy commits suicide (or demon possession or something) by jumping on top of a jack hammer. In another scene a person has a metal pole impaled through their neck creating a brutal image. There is yet another scene where a subway train absolutely annihilates a woman's head when she is lowered into a tunnel. Not nearly as gory as many of the Italian horror movies, the film does have enough to satisfy the average horror fan.
The Gothic cathedral is also the perfect backdrop for the horror that takes place. While nowhere near and gorific as the earlier Demon films, as I stated above, there are some great moments. The film is shot in Budapest taking full advantage of the historical backdrop of its cathedrals. This is juxtaposed next to the satanic imagery that continues to build until the films awkward climax. As a fifteen year old Asia Argento is seeking to escape the church, she runs by a satanic (and gratuitous) sex scene. The librarian who opened up the seal comes back to have sex with some hottie (there is a weirdly sexual water drinking scene with this girl earlier on in the film). As he begins to have sex with her he turns into the devil (Baphomet, the goat dude) and a group of people circle to watch the "one girl, one goat" scene. I'm sure this scene is supposed to be disturbing, but it comes off as really comical because it is a woman having sex with a guy in a goat costume. It is too absurd to be scary.
There is a lot of weird acting, classic of Italian cinema. A woman tells her husband to cut the onions as he verbally berates his crying daughter. A possessed guy gets really creepy with a fifteen year old Asia Argento. Some fat kid runs around acting like a cowboy. The bride in a bridal party orders demands to her party and then throws a fit when her dress gets caught in a door. It's that wonderful blend of bizarre acting and writing choices that is the hallmark of 1980s Italian horror.
Maybe I was a bit hard on the film at first. It's actually a pretty great film. But nowhere near Demons/Demons 2 great.
...what's your thoughts?
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