Movie Review: The Unholy
Directed by: Evan Spiliotopoulos
Runtime: 99 minutes
Rating: PG-13 (for violent content, terror and some strong language.)
This week’s review could have went two ways. We had The Unholy (Horror) and Voyagers (Sci-Fi.) Our co-reviewer, Abby, chose The Unholy. I was intrigued by this film. It’s no secret I LOVE horror movies, even if there are never any good ones out. The lead is also great. You’ll know Jeffrey Dean Morgan from The Walking Dead. A fun fact, he was also in a horror movie called The Possession in 2012. It was average. I think I own it. For the new release, I learned this was based on a book called Shrine written in 1983 by James Herbert. From the trailers we had watched the last few weeks, it looked like your typical possession film. This has been the first horror movie of the year, so the stakes were high.
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At first,
The Unholy seems like an ode to horror films where the devil possesses an innocent soul, when a young deaf girl, Alice (played by
Crickett Brown) claims she can hear the Virgin Mary. After some time, it becomes apparent that something a little more sinister is happening in this small Massachusetts town. As Father Hagen (played by
William Sadler) says throughout the film, “Wherever God goes, the unholy follows.”
The Unholy took the interesting concept of the
James Herbert novel,
Shrine, and started out strong, but lost me after the first third of the movie. Too many corners were cut and I felt as if the last half of the film was on autopilot. If you’re a fan of good old faith-based horror movies, you may enjoy the film, but I found myself wanting more depth to the storyline and jumpscares to satisfy my horror movie needs.
The Unholy
Cast Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Gerry Fenn; Cricket Brown as Alice; Katie Aselton as Natalie Gates; William Sadler as Father Hagan; Diogo Morgado as Monsignor Delgarde; Cary Elwes as Bishop Gyles; Marina Mazepa as Mary Elnor; Christine Adams as Monica Slade
Home Release Date
Gerry Fenn never met a story he didn’t lie.
That’s no typo. Fenn, a one-time big-city newsman, was drummed out of the business for fabricating stories. For him, staying in the spotlight was more important than telling the truth. But the lies caught up with him, and he lost his spotlight anyway. Now he works for a website of questionable authority, writing stories of dubious importance. And he hasn’t learned his lesson yet.
Watch the THE UNHOLY Trailer. A young girl named Alice (Cricket Brown) is able to perform miracles and offer divine healing after an apparent visitation.