The Church

At the beginning it is set at the Middle Age when Templar Knigths carry out an extreme and macabre massacre against villagers . Nowadays , a librarían , Tomas Arana , arrives in a gargoyle-glutted Gothic cathedral, there he meets an archaelogist , Barbara Cupisti , and the adolescent Lotte , Asia Argento . And the senior priest , Feodor Chaliapin Jr who has dark knowledges about the sinister past of the church . Then , horrible happenings take place at the crypt with fateful consequences. It happens to stand on the site of the gruesome mass murder is renovated, and the kirk-cleaning turns into special effects loaded demonic epiphany, including stabbing , possession, crushing to death, behading and others , until a surprising ending .You have not for a player. It will make you squirm . In this unholy sanctuary you have not got a prayer...

Creepy and scary film with a lot of amazing and horrifying scenes including lots of blood and gore . The film is acceptable but regularly paced with several images with no much sense. The picture mingles Teutonic knights , Ghotic Cathedral , self-sacrifices, supernatural events, Witchcraft, necromancy, ghastly transformations , and terrible monsters .The film displays dozens of gory scenes including slashing , heart ripped out , slitting, punched in the face , stabbing in the chest, decapitation and many others . The picture is also known as Demons 3 , similar to The Sect titled Demons 4 , though its script have nothing to do with Demons saga by Lamberto Bava who is son of the Italian thrill-meister Mario Bava.

It displays a colorful an evocative cinematography by Renato Tafuri. As well as sinister and punching musical score from Philip Glass , Keith Emerson and Goblin . This ecclesiastical gore-feast picture was professionally directed by Michael Soavi , though it has a great number of flaws and gaps. Soavi is a good craftsman who began as a director assistant to important filmmakers as Lamberto Bava and Dario Argento . As he collaborated as first director assistant in A Blade in the Dark , Demons , Tenebre , Phenomena , among others . With new skills Soavi returned to Argento as a supervisor for special effects in Opera , where Argento offered him to direct another film , the horror film La Chiesa , or The Church. With his first big film project, a budget 3 or 4 times the budget of Statefright or Aquarius , with Argento as the producer and shot in Hungary . In the Eighties he made various decent terror movies as Aquarius , The Sect , and the classical Dellamore Dellamore or Zombie Graveyard with Rupert Everett and Anna Falchi.

Director Michele Soavi gained worldwide recognition with his 1994 masterpiece "Dellamorte Dellamore"; however, he had been mastering his craft under the guidance of horror master Dario Argento for years before that hit. "La Chiesa" was his second feature length effort as director and he displays his craft with a visually stunning Gothic movie about possessions on the vein of Lamberto Bava's "Demoni" (In fact, it was conceived as the series third chapter), but with Soavi's visual style all over it.

"La Chiesa" or "The Church", is a tale of an unholy supernatural evil contained under a Gothic Cathedral. Centuries ago, a group of Templar Knights brutally killed a town accused of being devil-worshipers; in order to keep the evil down they built a cathedral and sealed it. Now, in the present, a greedy librarian named Evan (Tomas Arana) breaks the seal and frees the forces of evil. The Church starts a self-protection devise that serves to trap the evil, but it also traps a lot of innocent people who become the target of the demons who begin to posses them.

The movie is a visual Tour-De-Force where Soavi experiments with his outstanding camera-work creating haunting atmospheres of supernatural beauty. Complete with a terrific score with music not only by horror veterans Goblin but also by Prog rock virtuoso Keith Emerson and the remarkable composer Philip Glass. Their music works perfectly with the movie and completes the wonderful composition that Soavi creates.

The Gothic Church is a character itself and Soavi gives it life and uses the location with great skill. The lighting and special effects are used with great care in order to increase the Gothic atmosphere of the film. Despite this, the story is a bit weak and the surrealist scenes Soavi intends to use to increase the atmosphere actually decrease the coherence of his plot, making it to drag a bit with scenes that seem to serve no purpose. This sadly becomes a major flaw in an otherwise flawless film.

The acting is very good, although the English dubbing is kind of average. Tom Arana and Hugh Quarshie are very good in the lead roles, and Barbara Cupisti makes a great romantic interest. However, two members of the cast remarkably steal the show. Feodor Chaliapin Jr. gives a great interpretation as the head Bishop of the Church, giving a haunting performance as an old man with many secrets. The true star is young Asia Argento as Lotte, the teenage daughter of the sacristan who prefers to be at discos than working at the church. Her character may be small, but she shows her great talent and certainly shows why is she now the great actress she is today.

As written above, the strangely constructed plot is a major turn off, as the last third of the film becomes very strange and a bit disappointing considering that the previous two thirds are a terrific haunting film. Still, Michele Soavi's technique is always perfect and his visual perfection is never disappointing. It is no wonder why with a better script he crafted a masterpiece with "Dellamorte Dellamore".

"La Chiesa" may not be a perfect film, but it is a very good experience and a good introduction to modern Euro-horror. It is a shame that Soavi has decided to stay on TV films because his stylish art seems to have no limits when correctly developed. Fans of Italian horror will be pleased with "The Church". 7/10

On paper, "The Church" appears to have a winning formula. Its pedigree consists of direction by Argento protégé Michael ("Dellamorte Dellamore") Soavi, input from the master, Dario Argento, in both writer and producer roles, a soundtrack by the likes of Goblin and Keith Emerson, and a capable cast.

Despite this, the film is a hesitant recommendation. For me, it doesn't quite gel. It's a little like "Demons" but without the cheesy charm and outrageous pace (it comes as little surprise that this film was almost named "Demons 3"). I didn't expect a brilliant plot but the film is genuinely clunky and makes the unforgivable error of actually losing tension and descending into boredom territory. I found myself clock watching at more than one interval during the proceedings. There are some excellent set-pieces, though, the best of which uses a simple windscreen to glorious effect. Also, fans of rubbery demons (of which I count myself as one) will not be disappointed.

Despite the talent involved, the soundtrack manages to be a little overpowering and repetitive.

Turning to the cast, Asia Argento fans will be able to see her in one of her earliest roles, before she became one of cinemas true "bad girls". The excellent Hugh Quarshie (genre fans will know him as the immortal Kastagir from "Highlander" and Panaka from the dreadful "Phantom Menace" but UK television viewers will know him as Ric Griffin from "Holby City") is a solid lead.

The film's worth watching if you're a fan of Italian supernatural horror. It's not for everybody, though. Aside from "Suspiria", "Demons" is probably a stronger bet for the newcomer than this offering. As a little Jedi would say, "Strong visuals alone do not good films make!"

Being a big fan of Michele Soavi's brilliantly grotesque "Dellamorte Dellamore" (1994), I was looking forward to seeing this Gothic entry to his oeuvre quite a bit. I must say that, while "La Chiesa" aka. "The Church" of 1989 is definitely not a bad film, I was overall slightly disappointed in regard that this is a Soavi film produced by none other than Italian Horror deity Dario Argento. I did not expect anything like "Dellamorte Dellamore", and generally think of the celebrated "Deliria" (aka. "Stagefright", 1987) as slightly overrated by most of my fellow fans of Italian Horror.

Visually, "La Chiesa" is absolutely striking, and while the premise is very promising, continuity is not the film's strongest point. In the 12th century, an entire village of accused heretics are brutally massacred by an order of Teutonic knights, and buried in the woods. In order to ban evil spirits from coming back for eternity, a cathedral is built at the burial site. Centuries later, an employee at the church finds a mysterious document, and subsequently releases sanguinary demons... The idea of a haunted church is one that most of my fellow Horror fans would applaud. The film's strong points are the phenomenal visual style, wonderful setting and creepy Gothic atmosphere, as well as another great score by Progressive Rock Band / Film Composers Goblin. The cast includes a very young Asia Argento and Giovanni Lombardo Radice as an arrogant priest. Russian actor Feodor Chaliapin Jr. is very good and creepy-looking as the elderly Bishop responsible for the church, and Ghanese actor Hugh Quarshie makes a refreshingly unusual hero (an African Roman Catholic priest). The negative aspects are the lack of continuity and logic, and the fact that the characters are not well-drawn. Actually, one does not terribly care about the characters (except maybe for the girl played by Asia Argento), which makes it hard to be scared for them. Overall, this is an enjoyable film for my fellow Italo-Horror buffs, but it certainly isn't spectacular. Definitely recommended to Soavi-fans, but those unfamiliar with his work should watch "Dellamorte Dellamore" first.

"La Chiesa"/"The Church" is a great Gothic horror film made by Michele Soavi with wild usage of camera,very hypnotic Goblin soundtrack and overall creepy atmosphere.The film was written and produced by Dario Argento,so fans of Italian horror won't be disappointed.It starts out with incredible scene of massacre,where a crusading army kills all inhabitants of a small village.There is plenty of violence and the photography is absolutely stunning.Soavi uses the camera tricks only hinted at in his wonderful "Deliria"(1987).There are several amazing camera shots and the lighting is excellent.The film is visually striking and the gore effects are quite good.The sequences involving secret machinery built into the structure of the cathedral are especially well executed.A must-see for fans of Italian horror!