I tried, I REALLY tried sitting through this; I normally like religious based Thrillers / Horror films a lot. I'm not saying that the movie is totally awful, by any means. I get the impression that all involved really did try their best, especially the primary actor playing the priest.
It's just that it honestly is not that good. NO WHERE NEAR what these 9 and 10 star reviews are stating, not even close... Heh, along with being seriously annoyed when I see those, I also find it so funny in how transparent they are... 'Hitchcock! Genius!', etc., etc... It's SO funny, if they just didn't go over the top like they do, making the film sound like the next 'Cumming' for God's sake, and assume that we are all impressionable 3 year-olds, and maybe give it 7 stars, just MAYBE some of us just might buy it. But, no... Pretty stupid...
Anyway, I think the idea for the story is fine, but to me anyway, the endless, shallow dialog just doesn't do it. And, come on, having this somewhat seasoned priest saying 'F v< k' every other sentence; really...??? Just straight out dumb...
A GOOD director might have been able to salvage this movie; perhaps adding more subtlety and mood may have given this a decent chance at being a pretty good, entertaining Horror film. So, I feel that the director probably carries the most blame here, particularly in the somewhat stupid, and very common way these characters spoke to one another. Two of MANY examples would be the early discussion between the two priests at the bar (including many laughable 'F v< ks') and the flashback to the confessional with James. I think that the EXACT same thing could have been accomplished, but just a hell of a LOT better! In the first case, couldn't these two 'good friends' have shown a little more realistic concern and believable emotion between them, instead of this superficial, 'When are you gonna treat me as a friend?!' and 'No really,I'm fine'. That's it...? That is supposed to engage us and convince us of how close they are...? Uh huh... And, in the second instance in the confessional, couldn't the director have given that scene (they WERE discussing a VERY serious matter) some REAL bloody WEIGHT...!?? Instead we get, 'Pray to God for help' and the reply, 'F v< k that!'
PLEASE...
I cannot truly recommend this in any way; like I mentioned, it's certainly not the worst movie that I've seen, just one where I feel that a SERIOUS lack of the director's skill in eliciting good performances from the actors GREATLY took away from whatever potential may have been there...
