Sanctuaire

Trust a Dario Argento presentation to bring us a weird movie. I must admit I'm not a big Argento fan, but I did enjoy 'The Church', directed by Michele Soavi.

The film reminded me of 'Demons' and 'Demons 2', especially. On investigation - as it turns out - 'The Church' was meant to be 'Demons 3', but they decided to make it more "sophisticated" and remove the connection to the previous two films. Regardless, it still felt like a 'Demons' movie.

Centuries ago an entire village was massacred because a girl was accused of being a witch. (Well done to the Church; that's so Godly!). The villagers were buried in a large grave, over which a church was erected "to imprison the demon forever".

We then move to recent times and the magnificent church, which now attracts tourists. A Librarian, Evan, starts working at the church where he meets and falls in love with Lotte (Asia Argento). Their romance moves along quickly, and together they start to unravel the secret of the church.

Strange things start happening in true Argento style, and a group of people gets trapped inside the church. (In 'Demons' people were trapped in a movie theatre; in 'Demons 2' people were trapped in an apartment building). The make-up, props and creature designs are fantastic. There are some gory and disturbing scenes. I actually enjoyed the film more towards the end, as complete chaos ensued, with great practical effects. Parts of the movie also reminded me of 'The Beyond' from 1981.

Would I watch it again? Maybe.

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!"

As far as writer Dario Argento's films go, "The Church," directed by Michele Soavi, is squarely in the middle.

The plot involves a Gothic cathedral built on the mass graves of medieval villagers massacred after being accused of devil worship. As you might expect, the dead don't stay buried forever, and they come back to wreak vengeance on the living.

The visuals are remarkable. The scenes of modern-day worshipers battling the risen demons are well directed, and the makeup and gore are remarkable — though certainly not for the squeamish.

Unfortunately, bad dialogue and worse acting weigh heavily on the film, and are likely to generate some unintentional laughs.

Still, "The Church" is worthwhile for Soavi's stunning direction, as well as a propulsive synth score by Keith Emerson. Fans of Gothic horror should consider "The Church" a reluctant obligation.

Taking many aspects from other films the church builds a solid film with a decent plot and cinematography and it didn't disappoint overall. However, whilst the plot is good on paper halfway through it loses tension and steam and I found the ending to be a bit of a let-down, although not awful.

Acting wise I'm sure it was good but I watched the dubbed version in English, and the dubbing was quite frankly terrible. I think the girl (Lottie) was dubbed by an older woman which was a bit weird I found.

Scares wise I found it impressive, it included great practical effects and lots of hammy gore. Surprisingly it was meant to be a completely serious film but I still feel like a lot of it is played off as tongue in cheek.

6/10: Good overall and definitely worth a watch for horror fans but there are a lot of issues that I feel drag it down such as the loss of tension in the second half and poor dub work

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.