The Church (1990)

Sorry, this movie sucks

An absolute waste of money

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

For fans of The Witch, this will be another fantastic piece. While there are slight issues with continuity and motivation of some parts of the plot, this film offers mystery, action gore (even if a bit outdated), and wonderful composition, all while developing a narrative that pulls you in and invests in the well earned climax.The artistry is absolutely the best when it comes to the beauty of the shots and the musical score which lends heavily to the mood.The subplots seem to be disjointed and I can't honestly say they all finally join in a way that'll satisfy everyone, but they definitely add up in an overall world building/background developing kind of way, especially with some of the more subversive undertones for those who appreciate the slightly deeper meaning to some of the parts.A few of the characters are one note, and you kind of wonder if you'd be better than them in the same situation, but it doesn't hamper the film and they work together relatively well.Bottom line? Not a scary film, but somewhat creepy and blossoming with macabre beauty.

If The shining, Rosemary's Baby, and The Little Shop of Horrors (original) had a baby you would have The Church. The shining in that every aspect of every shot is a part of a deeper Freudian symbolic story that is uncanilly terrifying IF it hooks you. Rosemary's Baby in that much of the cinematography is remeniscant of Rosemary's baby and their are many explicit references to Rosemary's baby and The Shining. The little shop or horrors in that this film is a masterpiece of campiness. This film is incredibly esoteric and deeply rooted in psychoanalytic theory, lacanian theory to be specific. One doesn't need to know psychoanalytic theory to pick it up from the film IF it hooks you in But it may take a basic understanding of lacanian concepts for it to hook you in.

Though originally conceived as another entry in Dario Argento's Demons series (the first two having been directed by Lamberto Bava), this instead plays like an unofficial sequel to Argento's Inferno. The story concerns a librarian searching for...something in a Gothic cathedral, convinced that the architect's secrets will grant him power. This cathedral was built over the mass grave of suspected witches killed by Teutonic Knights, however, so instead he unleashes some demonic spirits! The baroque architecture, fascination with alchemy, and weird symbolism all recall Inferno, but the second half of the film still bears traces of its Demons lineage. It's at this point that a large group of wacky characters are trapped in the church, and soon find themselves battling their own inner demons. While the threat here is largely psychological rather than physical (the characters are threatened by disturbing hallucinations and violent impulses rather than drooling monsters), many of the stock characters feel like holdovers from the Demons films. An old woman who insists on using words like "groovy" and "fab," a comically crotchety old man, and a bickering biker couple, for instance, often feel too goofy to really gel with Soavi's more sophisticated take on the material. It's hardly enough to sink the film, though, which is certainly one of the more dignified productions to emerge during the last gasp of Italian horror. Here we can still see a strong Argento influence in Soavi's style - not surprising considering Argento's hands-on approach to producing - but he avoids the saturated color palette of Argento's full-on horror films. If not for that, this could easily be seen as an unofficial entry in the Three Mothers trilogy, and sadly a far superior one to La Terza Madre. Highly recommended!

In the Middle Ages, the Knights Templar invade a supposed coven of witches and they slaughter the community. The dig an unholy collective grave, bury the bodies and build a church on the top of the corpses. On the present days, the ambitious librarian Evan (Tomas Arana) is hired to organize the books of the church. He meets the archaeologist Lisa (Barbara Cupisti) that is researching the catacombs of the church and he accidentally unleashes and is possessed by an ancient demon. Sooner several visitors are trapped inside the church and possessed by demons. Father Gus (Hugh Quarshie) and the teenager Lotte (Asia Argento) are the only persons that are not possessed, and Father Gus discovers a secret in the construction of the church that might be the last chance to save mankind."La Chiesa" is a great Gothic horror film with story of Dario Argento and his daughter Asia Argento in an important role. The plot is a prequel to Demons 1 and 2, and I saw this film for the first time on 17 February 2012 and today I have decided to watch it again. Unfortunately this film has not been released on DVD or Blu-Ray in Brazil and the image of the VHS awfully dubbed in English is poor and does not highlight the magnificent cinematography or the creepy special effects. The soundtrack has the music of Keith Emerson, Goblin and Philip Glass and completes this great film of demons. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "A Catedral" ("The Cathedral")Note: On 22 Jn 2017, I saw this film again on DVD, unfortunately dubbed in English.