Director: Michele Soavi
Year: 1989
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: La chiesa; Demons; Demon Cathedral; In the Land of Demons
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Arriving to help restore an old church, an antique dealer finds that the site stands on the location of a satanic cult hundreds of years ago, and when a series of mass murders occurs during a night of excavation, the evil spirits are released and terrorize those stranded inside the building.
Review:
This was quite an enjoyable and thrilling effort. As is the norm for the Italian genre, the focus is to maximize the effectiveness of the visuals above all else. Here, we get some pretty great scenes as there’s so much to like with this one taking place in an absolutely glorious location that retains a splendid Gothic atmosphere. The high-rise cathedral, the spiraling columnar architecture displaying all manner of protective decorations adorned with colorful stained-glass paintings and tablatures spread all throughout here, which gives the church an eerie, amazing feel. The interior of the church, where we spend the majority of the time, is appropriately a massive place, full of odd nooks and crannies that contain numerous spooky opportunities. Coupled with the religious iconography, the wide-open spaces for all the different areas, and the contrast between the claustrophobic, cramped rock-lined catacombs and walkways underground, it all comes together to create a really impressive setting here that makes the other horror-action here so much fun.
The opening here, with the knights laying siege to a heathen village on horseback, slaughtering, burning, and spiking the gathered witches fleeing in panic, makes for a striking sequence that gets this going in a grand style, which looks like an actual scene that might've occurred in real life. It looks completely accurate for this sort of movie, which is what was needed, while the early attack down in the catacombs after removing the statue is a fine hallucinatory sequence as the blue backlights and demonic hands popping up make for a great scene as well as setting up the later hallucinatory set pieces in here where they see flashes of the knights stalking them or hear the echoing of approaching horse steps despite no one else being able to provide it. Once it gets to the finale when they're all trapped inside, this one really lets it fly as that central scene features the complex wave from the decidedly brutal killing that holds them in, a race to get the woman free before falling victim to the possessed, the attempts to get free deep underneath as the building starts coming down on them and the final charge out past the Satanic forces inside which is quite fun.
The other big enjoyable aspect of the film is that there is a pretty high body count here, resulting in some pretty gory deaths at times. The most impressive is a power drill in the stomach, which spins around inside, spinning while it's inside, creating a giant splatter scene. Also included is a pretty brutal impaling through the neck with a wrought iron gate, a metal lock shoved into another's mouth, and a metal spike in the chest, among other great, brutal deaths. It's very gory, so there's no blood loss for the fans at all. It goes hand-in-hand with the surrealism displayed, from the orgy scene of the goat-demon taking the victim in the catacombs of the building or the later scenes of the possessed running through the church, causing all sorts of mayhem amongst the trapped guests, which manages to both invoke and directly copy various Gothic paintings that add to the atmosphere presented here.
All of these here hold this one up over its one main flaw to be found. This one is mostly undone by the fact that the pace in the first half here is a little off, as there's not a whole lot of action after the opening village attack. There were times when it could've moved faster, as in the middle section. It languishes on themes and plots that go nowhere and could've been trimmed to cut down on running time, such as the overlong family drama with the abusive husband and downtrodden wife that forces their daughter to keep exploring the ruins underneath, or the seduction scenes between the librarian and the archeologist at her house that tend to offer nothing to the film at all. It does feel overlong as well, so it could've been sped up, and the lengthy middle section is the right place, as it simply builds up the mystery about the church's origins and the strange rites being prepared. There's a little bit of action here, which does make this a tad slow to get going, but it's all that really holds it down.
Overview: ****/5
As it is, the film is a little overlong, but other than that, this wasn't that bad. It's one of the Italian staples, and it does entertain, making this a definite recommendation for Argento or Italian horror fans, as well as those who like little twists on their beloved genres, while those who don’t like the style featured here should heed caution.
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