Originally intended as the third chapter in producer Dario Argento's Demons trilogy, La Chiesa stands alone as an effective horror film centering on a haunted cathedral with a violent past. The church's history begins in Medieval Italy, when the Knights Templar massacred an entire village of suspected Satanists and built the structure upon the site of the slain peasants' mass grave. Designed by an architect/alchemist (who was buried alive within his creation), the church is filled with elaborate
machinery designed to seal off all entrances if ever the spirits of the entombed villagers were to rise again... which, of course, takes place in the present when the crypt's seal is removed. As demonic forces have their way with the church's occupants, it becomes the task of the parish priest (Hugh Quarshie) and a young girl (Asia Argento, daughter of Dario) to discover the builder's last line of defense before the evil is unleashed upon the outside world. Directed by Michele Soavi (who later gained critical acclaim with the inventive Dellamorte Dellamore), this is an imaginative Gothic horror film with startling imagery straight out of a Hieronymous Bosch painting and its own well-conceived mythology. Shots of the church's elaborate Medieval machines grinding to life are particularly memorable. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
Very much an 80's Italian horror film. A little less gore, perhaps. A little long in the tooth.
August 10, 2011
Steve K
Super Reviewer
A nice slice of Italian horror from the tail end of its golden years about a Demonic plague which is unleashed from the pit of a Church is modern day Germany. This was meant to be an official sequel to Lamberto Bava's 'Demons 2' but it didn't turn out that way, this one is a bit more restrained and less crazy. After
the opening medieval massacre the film plods along without much excitement, but things pick up eventually with some decent gore along the way and a demon sex scene! Good musical score and atmospheric locations also give it a bit of class. A very decent film by Soavi but I didn't enjoy it as much as Stagefright.
June 26, 2011
Lee ?
Super Reviewer
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