User reviews

Darren Lynn Bousman has had some rough years as a director, yet his previous works, in my opinion, stand higher than this one.

"St. Agatha", as a horror, offers nothing new, original, amazing, extraordinary or even good. The writers responsible for the story and characters definitely do not deserve nor applause nor a subtle nod, maybe a little shaming. The story's fairly straight-forward, never builds up to anything unexpected, the suggested supernatural angle of the plot is not explored or explained much at all. The protagonist characters are traditionally dumb, the antagonist characters are sort of over-written, even annoying at some points. However, the acting did not bother me, given the variety of weakly written characters, the level of acting in "St. Agatha" is rather impressive.

Cinematography is decent, noticeably low-budget, but good enough to not annoy the eye of the viewer. There are a few decent, scattered scenes of violence & abuse - the short, more action-ey parts of the movie are at least average. All is accompanied by a soundtrack that's mostly noticeable only when the ominous, creepy choir voices join in. The pacing is pretty draggy, there's more lows than highs. If you don't have a strong principle of finishing whatever You've started watching, as I do, prepare for the risk of poor Agatha putting You to sleep.

"St. Agatha" is a painfully average, if not below, indie horror flick. Disappointing. My rating: 4/10.

Had read very bad reviews bah it n even the ratings weren't convincing but I had hope in Bousman. The plot - A pregnant con woman seeks asylum in an isolated convent run by a bunch of outcast nuns. The woman's backstory is told through flashbacks. It doesn't take much longer to reveal to us that the nuns r short of cash, their donors r limited, they r very extreme in their torture methods but somehow they do have a doctor always ready. The set up is 50's n therefore one shouldn't question the plausibility. But what really bugs me is the rushed up ending. Although ther is decent tension maintained n the ominous music helps but the suspense is zero n the ending meh. Carolyn Hennesy as Mother Superior is top notch.

Giving it 3 stars only because the acting was okay.... But the script and directing of it was absolutely horrendous. It's one thing to give your screen characters the IQ's of a potato, but it's unforgivable to treat your audience as morons. Add to that a slow pacing only made even slower by numerous flashbacks. It might have been saved by at least a good finale confrontation between the main protagonist and antagonist, but even that was omitted. Instead we were given a ridiculous ,unrealistic and almost laughable act at the end.

I wish I could say there was a twist or something super exciting and unpredictable that happens but there just isn't.

I ended up watching this movie thinking its some sort of nun horror which it is not. Nonetheless there is quite a bit of brain put here to keep it taut and interesting. Alas when you get a bit involved in whats happening the makers went clueless how to end it and just brought up a half hearted ending which seems rushed and out of place. Wish they had kept the flow and come up with a flow that justified the ending. Would have deserved a star or two more had the ending been cohesive.

I've got mixed feelings about Darren Lynn Bousman as a director: I enjoyed the heck out of Mother's Day (2010) and Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008), and I liked his segment for Tales of Halloween (2015), but his Saw films are some of the weaker entries in the franchise, and I absolutely hated The Devil's Carnival (2012) and Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival (2016).

Initially, St. Agatha looks set to be another high point on his resumé, with an eerie set-up, solid performances, and some noteworthy scenes of nastiness (including a woman forced to eat her own vomit and another made to cut out her own tongue); however, the film takes a serious nosedive as it nears the final act with preposterous plot developments that simply don't ring true.

The film takes place in 1950s Georgia: Mary becomes pregnant out of wedlock and, with her boyfriend Jimmy (Justin Miles), a musician about to go on tour, she takes herself to the Sisters of Divinity Convent, which cares for 'fallen' women; however, it soon becomes obvious that there is something very strange going on at the convent, the doors and windows securely locked at night, the other women afraid to talk. Over time, Mary realises that the mother superior (Carolyn Hennesy, giving a truly chilling performance) is a total psycho, ruling the convent with fear and violence, aided by nuns almost as demented as she is.

When Mary revolts, she is locked in a coffin, force-fed (like a baby bird - yuck!) and repeatedly told that she is no longer Mary, but Agatha. When Mary finally acquiesces, 'Agatha' is released, and is told to send Jimmy packing when he pays her a visit (one of the nuns has a gun trained on the man, in case Mary/Agatha doesn't do as she is instructed). However, Mary's will isn't really broken - she's just waiting for the right time to make her escape.

And this is where the film starts to fall down with some spectacularly bad writing...

After discovering the dead body of Jimmy in the convent, Mary is permitted to call the police, the mother superior content that no-one will believe her. Rather than explain to the policeman what has happened in a calm and rational manner, Mary rants incoherently, thereby affirming the mother superior's story about the young woman's delusional state. The cop dismisses Mary's claims that Jimmy is dead, even though it wouldn't be too hard to check if he has disappeared. Cops sure are dumb in horror films.

But it gets worse. In an admittedly suspenseful scene, Mary sneaks out of her room and steals all of the convent's money (made by selling the women's babies to rich donors); she then proceeds to pay the mother superior's hitherto loyal nun assistants, and the dodgy doctor who delivers the babies, to betray their leader - an extremely risky move on Mary's part given how duplicitous they have been in the past. Luckily, all of them happily take the cash and stay true to their word, locking the mother superior in the coffin. Having dealt with their boss, they all partake in a refreshing glass of water and drop down dead, the drinks laced with rat poison. All of this stretched plausibility too far for me, a shame given how it was going so well for much of the running time.

OK, so this isn't going to be a film for gore fans. It is more of a psychological thriller/horror than all out horror.

Even so, this film is well acted and produced with a solid story yo can become engrossed in.

Certainly worth a watch.

I don't even now why I gave this movie 2 stars, maybe for the colors? The movie is not enjoyable horror wise - just some demented people doing crazy things. Things that could be stopped but the main characters of the movie seem to be some brainless sheep. There's some characters that were made to make you hate them and that's about it. There's no horror in this movie.

The very definition of psychological horror. The game of cat and mouse played by Sabrina Kerns and Carolyn Hennesy is nothing short of perfection. There is not a false note between them. These actresses deliver tour de force performances supported by a fine cast, especially Justin Miles as Jimmy. With the help of haunting music and lighting, Darren Lynn Bousman turns the most banal, the most innocent of images into the things of nightmares. He has a real gift of lulling his audience into a sense of security and then pulling the rug out. Over and over.

Certainly nothing to write home about, but it did keep me intrigued. It's slow moving, and works up to a pretty gruesome ending. No surprise twists, and the acting is ok with a very solid performance by Carolyn Hennessy. It kind of wants to be a spin off of AHS Asylum, but doesn't quite make it. Flawed at best, I still felt like it was worth the watch. I found myself drawn toward most of the characters, despite a weak script. Give it a shot. Your might like it!

This movie isnt the worst but its far from good. the acting is actually quite good but the writing kinda sucks. there's plotholes and a whole lot of suspense building to the end but then we dont get a resolution. There's also some hints at there being a supernatural element but that never gets explored. Its not so much a horror film as a thriller or suspense perhaps. I wont rewatch it but its not a bad flick to put on while you do something else.

I can't understand why this waste of time was rated 6/10. It has to improve a lot to be a terrible movie. No sense, no story, no logical plot. A movie to forget.

I didn't mind the acting at all, the actors in this movies should sue for defamation because they were all quite good. The writing was plain boring and nothing was a surprise. What a waste of time.

The summary gets it wrong and that sets the tone right there. Her name is Mary, and they tell her she's going to be Agatha. The women are apparently all too stupid to talk quietly, which leads to one cringeworthy scene. I can't understand if they're running a baby factory, why they aren't forcing the women to have more babies

I think,i understand why....its not a horror,its an intense psychological thriller. there is absolutely no horror in it,which disappoints a lot of people.But what an amazing movie if you give it a chance! there are some plot holes and the ending somewhat really unrealistic,but the tension is incredible throughout all film.Personally I liked it a lot.

It's all just a bunch of words. It doesn't go anywhere. It did catch me at the beginning then lost me 2 mins in

I'll keep it short. The plot is unoriginal. The writing is terribly dumb and dull. It is not really entertaining.

I give 2 stars because the acting and the score were good.

I'm surprised by all the negative comments about this film. I thought it was deliciously, fiendishly awesome. I'm a big horror fan and I watch a LOT of horror films (especially low budget indies) but this one really stood out for me and because of the low IMDb and user ratings I almost missed out on this wicked little gem of a film that really gets stuck in your teeth (like a dentist drilling for a root canal)

I suppose everyone's got their own particular tastes and I've kept this review spoiler free (which is quite hard, as I want to make a clever little reference to the film) but sometimes folks you got gotta judge a movie for yourself and not follow the crowd.

Highly recommended by reviewstalker101 (that's me btw) bon appetite.

You may be fed up with movies about nuns or you may be excited for them. Now that is something for you to decide. But when it comes to the horror, this is quite decent. Also try not to compare it with the Nun itself (the Conjuring universe one that is), although I do think that both have their merits and are about on the same level for different reasons.

Now this is more down and dirty, while the other one is more glossy. This also has quite a few cliches in it. If you can deal with them, mixed with very weak character choices (though some may call them "real", at least under the circumstances), than this movie will be entertaining and it will have you on the edge of your seat.

Despite all the cleverly delivered thriller antics it looks beautifully arranged bouquet of nothingness that gives no satisfaction to its audience.

This movie was a train wreck. It did have decent horror aspects, but ultimately I was disappointed with it