Dir. Evan Spiliotopoulos | Now Streaming On: Hulu | Rating: 3/5

The Unholy had a lot of hype around its initial release and of course, received harsh criticism from the Catholic Church. This religion based horror film aired on Good Friday, the most revered day in the Catholic liturgical year, and took aim at the hysteric nature of organized religion as well as the corruption behind the church. Despite this valiant effort, The Unholy also received generally negative secular feedback. ⁠
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I’ll lead with the fact that though this is not a masterpiece by any means, I really appreciated what The Unholy brought to the table. It’s subject matter is daring and edgy in the same vein The Exorcist is famous for, however – The Unholy really fumbles in its execution. The mostly unknown cast (minus Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who is still riding his Walking Dead fame) had their work cut out for them with this lackluster script. ⁠
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Set in around Boston, we have several characters who SEEM to have a Boston accent. I say SEEM because it is so poorly done and obvious, it’s like they wrote in all the words that end with “R” on purpose just to make us suffer. On the same note with location, this film truly captures the small town Massachusetts vibe and overall is beautifully shot. ⁠
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As a ex-Catholic myself, I love a good jab at the Catholicism. This one is rooted in overturning the belief systems the Church holds dear and exposing them as potentially evil in nature. If anything, this film really made me interested in picking up the book it’s based on – Shrine by James Herbert. ⁠