I took a day off yesterday and just had a movie marathon because the "bed weather" was perfect for it. I was able to watch around four movies and the first one I watched is a religious horror film entitled, "The Unholy".
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It's just as the movie tagline says, "Be Careful Who You Pray To".
The movie started by showing a scene around the 1800s where a woman was being executed for being a witch or similar stuff and was then trapped in a doll.
Years later, a reporter named Gerry went to that exact town and discovered the doll. In the hopes of creating an interesting story, he broke the doll which obviously freed whoever was inside it.
In that town, there is a mute-deaf lady named Alice who suddenly experienced a miracle and later on performed miraculous acts which were known to be possible thanks to the Blessed Virgin Mary... or so they thought.
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Faith feeds miracles to happen... but what if the entity you're putting your faith on isn't who you expected to be? What if these miracles aren't divine, but instead satanic?
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There was a scene in the film when a character named Father Hagan -- he's the parish priest and uncle of Alice, said "When God builds a church, the devil builds a chapel next door."
This was very interesting for me especially coming from a priest because ideally they don't question the miracles of God. More than anyone, they believe and even spread their faith to others, but he was different. He doubted and because of his doubt to this "entity", he was seen as a threat.
Why threat? Because the nemesis of faith is doubt. When someone doubts... when someone questions his or her faith... the "miracle" would less likely happen.
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Above is the official trailer of the said film.
I personally enjoyed the film. It was quite effective in the sense of "being a horror film" because there were quite interesting jump scares and eerie feels thanks to the sound and scene transitions.
Story-wise, it was okay. I have watched some religious horror films and series in the past and the concepts are pretty much similar. If this was my first religious horror, then I'd actually like it even more. However, after watching "Midnight Mass" series, I really haven't found something similar which tops it.
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The visual effect of the film was actually good, but maybe I found everything to be too fast. I wanted the story-telling to be slower and to witness more miracles and struggles before finally reaching the climax... but that's just me. haha
Personally, I like kind of slow-paced stories which builds up anticipation at first and would suddenly erupt making the scenes much better. But it's just me... some people prefer everything to be exciting from the beginning.
All in all, it was still an interesting film.
I'd actually watch it again. If my cousins want to watch it, I'd gladly watch with them. :) If you're into religious horror which will question your faith, then I recommend this film. :) I hope you enjoy!
