Director: Camilo Vila
MPAA Rating: R
Runtime: 102 Minutes
Purchase: Amazon
This product was provided to us for the purpose of this review. All opinions are our own.
Blending classic Gothic Hammer Horror with a touch of ’80s sleaze, Camilo Vila’s The Unholy is now available on a newly remastered Blu-ray edition thanks to Lionsgate’s Vestron Collector’s Series.
Released in 1988, the film stars Ben Cross as Father Michael, a young upstart priest who, after surviving a 17-story fall from a building without a scratch, is appointed to the St. Anges Church in New Orleans, a place where the previous two priests were brutally murdered. Believing that dark forces were involved in the murders, the church believes Father Michael has what it takes to vanquish the evil and bring light back into the church.
Having seen the film for the first time in this Blu-ray version, I wasn’t very impressed with the narrative as a whole, and while there were some interesting visuals and decent nightmarish dream sequences, I found most of the proceedings to be fairly banal. It was definitely a treat to see William Russ, the dad from Boy Meets World, as a satan-worshipping punk rocker with an upside-down cross earring though.
The film is played fairly straight, with few comedic elements, however the finale, which featured two little people dressed in crudely designed demon costumes was unintentionally funny and completely out of place. By watching the supplemental features, I learned that this ending was completely reshot, something I think was a mistake.
On the disc there’s a full audio commentary track with director Vila; isolated score selections, featuring an interview with composer Roger Bellon; an audio interview with production designer and co-writer Fernando Fonseca; interviews with Ben Cross and Fernando Fonseca; a featurette on the effects of the film; the original ending with an optional heavily scripted commentary by producer Matthew Hayden; theatrical trailer; TV spots; radio spots;, storyboard gallery; and a still gallery. This is packed to the brim with bonus content, and I can’t think of anything else I would prefer to see included, save for maybe a high-quality insert in the case à la Criterion Collection. Still, there was clearly care put into this release and it shows.
While I wasn’t too keen on the film itself, this is yet another top-notch release in the Vestron Collector’s Series and one I’m happy to have in my collection. With its crisp, remastered audio and video and its plethora of supplements, this is the version to check out if you haven’t witnessed The Unholy yet.
