The Church | Movie Review

church850 years ago the Teutonic Knights were guilty of a vicious extermination. In their mad intention to annihilate members of the "trampling" sect (a group of heretics, with crosses engraved on their palms), the "soldiers" exterminated an entire village. The corpses were buried in a mass grave, over which, as a perpetual reminder of the event, a cathedral was erected.
The immense structure, in its depths, conceals a frightening "secret" destined to resurface after centuries of unbearable silence.
Librarian Evan (Tomas Arana) is assigned to catalog the manuscripts of the ancient church located in the heart of a German town. Here he will befriend restorer Lisa (Barbara Cupisti) and Lotte (Asia Argento), the sexton's daughter. Gradually, however, the man will become convinced that the cathedral conceals a horrible and diabolical secret linked to ancient blood events.
As a married couple decides to officiate their wedding in that very church, Evil resurfaces in the form of pure vengeance. The sexton, as if invaded, kills himself by piercing his body with a demolition hammer, and his blood, flowing downward and into the crevices of the walls, ends up being channeled to a security mechanism that places a seal on the Cathedral's only access.
And so, locked inside the church, the participants will come face to face with a dark and "evil" past of which only the ambiguous guardian of the place seems to be aware.

la-church3
la-churchThe Church
(Italy - 1989), Soavi's second director (Deliria, Cemetery Man) commissioned by a Dario Argento production, represents one of the best examples of the last period of Italian horror cinema. The film, clearly superior in its first part, allows the director to manifest his style, already anticipated, in part, in Deliria.
Many similarities between this film and Inferno of the same producer, and given that the subject and screenplay bear Argento's signature, it is to be assumed that this is certainly not coincidental.
First, while in Inferno the keeper of the secret of the structure of the cursed building was the architect Varelli, in this new "cavern for hell" (which is represented by the Cathedral) the same interpreter (Feodor Chaliapjn) is the holder of the hidden wisdom that is concealed in the basement of the Church.
The Church, in conclusion, has something very common to the construction of New York City, in which Mater Tenebrarum dwells.
Beyond all that, what emerges from a viewing of the film, in addition to the director's visionary side (somewhat influenced by the works of Hieronymus Bosch), are a style and a narrative capacity for imagery that lend merit to the genre, ennobling Italian horror with a successful foray into mystery and terror.
First role of certain prominence, after a brief appearance in Demons 2, for Asia, the producer's daughter.
Definitely a good directorial effort and one of Argento's best productions, although audiences showed on the theatrical release that they did not like the end result.

la-church2Directed by Michele Soavi (Deliria, Cemetery Man) on a screenplay he himself wrote in collaboration with Dario Argento and Franco Ferrini, this Italian horror spectacular features, in the cast, Tomas Arana (The Sect, The Dark Knight - The Return), Barbara Cupisti (Opera, Dellamorte Dellamore), Feodor Chaliapin Jr. (Inferno, Catacombs - The Devil's Prison), Asia Argento (Demons 2...The Nightmare Returns, The Phantom of the Opera), Giovanni Lombardo Radice (Fear in the City of the Living Dead, Cannibal Ferox), Hugh Quarshie (Cabal), Antonella Vitale (Opera), Roberto Corbiletto, Alina De Simone (Only Black), Olivia Cupisti. Brief appearance by director Michele Soavi as a policeman.

Review by Undying1

la-church

[divider]

From August 30, 2018, the cult The Church is available in an unmissable, new DVD and Blu-ray edition for the Cinekult series. The film is distributed by CG Entertainment.
Extras on the Blu-ray include "The mystery of the cathedral", an approximately one-hour documentary on the secret, never-before-told story of the film and includes interviews with Dario Argento (producer and screenwriter), Michele Soavi (director), Barbara Cupisti (actress), Antonello Geleng (set designer), Lamberto Bava, Dardano Sacchetti and Franco Ferrini (screenwriters), Claudio Lattanzi (assistant director) and Sergio Stivaletti (effects designer).

BLU-RAY EDITION:
VIDEO: HD 1080 24p 16/9 1.66:1
LENGTH: 102′
AUDIO; Italian Dolby Digital 2.0, Italian DTS HD Master Audio 5.1, Original Dolby Digital 2.0, Original DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
N. DISKS: 1
OVERVIEW: Italian for the Deaf.
EXTRA: The Mystery of the Cathedral

la-church-cg

also read

Deathgasm among new horror films from Netflix Italy

Among the new horror films from Netflix Italy is already...

XXX Dark Web | Movie Review

Two years after Deep Web XXX,...

XXX Dark Web: trailer for new extreme film banned for minors

TetroVideo has just released the official trailer for XXX...

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here
Captcha verification failed!
CAPTCHA user score failed. Please contact us!

en_USEnglish