The Unholy

I loved the storyline and the actual acting. Cheesey CG. Do without that and you've got a good one.

It started off good. The story is different and the idea of a false virgin Mary can be interesting. The acting is acceptable and CGI average.

However, it fails to nail everything down. The last half of the movie is just a bunch of walking clichés. It's like they fired the writers they got and hired the cheapest ones. Very disappointing ending. Nothing we haven't seen a thousand times before.

While The Unholy is DEFINITELY not a 10 or a 9... it ALSO isn't a 1 or a 2 (even a 3). First half of the movie feels like a different flick than the second half. First half sets things up and it's creepy and exactly what you'd expect. Second half, feels like a rush to the finish line. Almost like two different directors made this movie.

I think people that are genuine and gave the movie a low score... likely had an issue with the script and pacing. However, it's definitely a fairly original take on the classic horror genre (demonic/possession). I'll admit, I'm a bit of a sucker for horror movies based around religion as generally they seem to be more interesting to me.

That all said, I think the cast was good. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, William Sadler, Cary Elwes and Cricket Brown were all great. Cricket Brown was especially impressive because I believe this movie is one of her first larger productions and she gives the impression of being a pro in this department. At times, it felt like the cast was not as connected to the movie as they could be. Of course, the movie didn't feel connected to itself after 52 minutes and goes wildly into warp speed conclusions.

Directing and Editing were just OK and could have been better IMO.. The script however could use some work. Even though the story felt like one we've seen a million times, I liked the premise and overall theme but the movie veers off and hits walls, then takes off at full speed before veering off into more walls. It provides the conclusions verses letting the audience figure them out. First half of the movie does a good setup job for the characters and direction. Second half of the movie ignores the setup, ignores the characters and goes straight to the source of the problems. It's like they spent a year recording the first half and a month on the second.

Overall, not a bad movie. Entertaining for at least half the movie. Good premise. Good acting. Great new acting with Cricket Brown. But, hits a wall halfway through and never recovers. Solid 6 IMO due to acting and overall theme.

I have read every book the horror genius, that is James Herbert, has ever written. It was a very sad day when he passed to the other side and to be honest, I do not think it is possible to convert any of his books, realistically, to a movie format; although possibly the best and truest to the book from which it came was "Haunted (1995)" although while not a good port from the book I also enjoyed "The Survivor (1981)".

There is really no way in hell (pardon the pun) that any movie can take the atmosphere, character development, story development, and creative horror genius that exists in the writing of JH (Who incidentally, I rate above Stephen King and even Clive Barker as the best horror writer of all time). What can I say? I have read all the books and never been disappointed with any from the Rats to the final Ash novel, he will be sadly missed.

As for the movie, who does not like Jeffrey Dean Morgan? From TWD and his masterful performance as Neegan to his role in this, he never disappoints and to be fair, although the movie really does not do the book any justice, how can it? It would take a series to convert any James Herbert Novel to the silver screen but the problem with this is that it is not really very scary and the horror is somewhat tame with a really poor ending that feels so rushed, it really leaves the viewer feeling rather cheated!

It is unfair to compare any movie to the book it was taken from, so I am merely reviewing this impartially as an honest review of a new horror film without pointing out where the book differs or criticising it based on that and so I am giving it a fair 6 hatchets out of 10 on the horror scale - JDM elevates it above the base average 5 stars it would have been without him!

The Unholy is a new horror film directed and written by Evan Spiliotopoulos, this is his first work as a director.

In the film, after a visit from the Virgin Mary, young deaf and mute Alice (Cricket Brown) is able to hear, talk again and is given the gift of healing other sick people. Journalist Gerry Fenn (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) investigates Alice and the miracle that happened to her in hopes of restarting his career. During his investigation, he begins to wonder if all the miracles are really the work of the Blessed Virgin Mary or if there is something dark behind all the miracles.

The director of this film wanted to make the film after reading the book Shrine by writer James Herbert on which he based the film. You can see from the film that this is the first film that the director has directed. The director chooses to show and let you know more as a viewer than the characters in the film. This way you as a viewer are ahead of the characters, so that the film quickly gets a predictable and slow playback speed The bad effects also show that this is only the director's first film. He has chosen to quickly reveal the entity behind the miracles in the film to viewers. So you can quickly see that this creature was placed in the film with cheap CGI. The incredibility of this creature makes you laugh almost more than it really scares you. The fire in the film is also clearly CGI rather than real fire. The director also tries to scare the viewer more by only using jump scares, most of which are too predictable to work.

The acting isn't done very well in the film by the film's cast either, as many characters don't seem very impressed with what's happening in the film. This is probably because the actors couldn't watch or really react to anything during the events of the film. Jeffrey Dean Morgan tries his best to carry the film as the lead, but due to the bad script, he doesn't really succeed. For a better horror movie starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, check out the 2012 movie The Possession.