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The Church

The Church

1989
Drama, Fantasy
1h 42m
An old Gothic cathedral, built over a mass grave, develops strange powers which trap a number of people inside with ghosts from a 16th Century massacre seeking to resurrect an ancient demon from the bowls of the Earth. (imdb)
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The Church

1989
Drama, Fantasy
1h 42m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 47.39% from 213 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(213)
Compact view
Compact view
Rated 28 Nov 2016
70
53rd
A little girl and priest casually tip toe past a goat demon raping a woman without batting an eye. It's the setup to some joke about Dario really REALLY liking his daughter.
Rated 16 Jan 2015
66
51st
There's not much more than dread creeping around this movie until the final few scenes start throwing images at you that you will not forget. So if you've got Mario Bava as Coppola, Dario Argento as Spielberg, and Lucio Fulci as Lucas, that leaves Michele Soavi in the role of De Palma. I love De Palma.
Rated 22 Nov 2016
62
41st
Another decent effort from Soavi, obviously heavily influenced by Argento. The narrative goes walkabout for most of the film, but there is plenty of imagination and style on the screen. The performances are fine, the direction is good, and the music is suitably barmy. The dubbing on the version I saw wasn't great. It's actually quite moody and atmospheric, reasonably gruesome, and has a couple of memorable scenes. Definitely worth a look for fans of Argento/Fulci/Bava et al.
Rated 23 Jan 2021
39
3rd
This one maintains the mainstay creepy, dark atmosphere of the best Italian horror movies, but missed the mark on the part that I love best: frequent, gory effects. Initially, this one was conceived as the third "Demons" movie, but lost that moniker, as well as any of the charm that those movies possess. I'll say it plain, this movie is boring as hell.
Rated 21 Jan 2011
75
74th
Classy and moody suspense/gothic horror flick with heavy religious overtones. A Catholic church is built over a mass grave of witches and plague victims during the Crusades, and many years later it becomes a conduit for demons to enter our world. While the narrative and acting are somewhat uneven, Soavi serves up some incredibly striking and grotesque images and fosters a wonderful sense of dread throughout. The horned goat-demon looks awesome.
Rated 31 Jan 2011
68
48th
It tells me a lot that despite the film's many, many, many shortcomings, I had a blast and would totally watch this again. Fun and genuinely foreboding in equal measure, and at least one moment of creepy underage sexual voyeurism that spoke volumes.
Rated 21 Sep 2018
70
48th
Enjoyable satanic feast of a movie. The story structure is broken in all kinds of ways but solid on the elemental level of creepy atmosphere. It is true as hell nonsensical trash but consistently holds your attention with peculiar camerawork, great locations & genuinely striking imagery. Like Demons it revels in stylish exuberance with an accompanying disregard for narrative coherence but a solid enough setup to just about contain all that insane creative energy. Another awesome Goblin score.
Rated 01 Nov 2020
63
46th
One of the most catholic movies to ever cath, seemingly based on endless bored Sundays in the pew wishing bad things on the priest. Some of that boredom will rub off on the viewer, which is a pity because at its best this is a really neat gorefest for its time, with a truly great score and at least some ideas that probably cost Soavi a few hail Marys.
Rated 25 Mar 2009
63
21st
Produced and coscripted by Argento, this emerges as a well-mounted but mostly routine gothic frightfest. The simple premise serves as a broad canvas, which Soavi and Argento fill with bizarre Catholic/satanic imagery, visual flourishes, and gore galore. Deliberately paced, slight on characterizations, and light on (dubbed) dialogue, this partially compensates with impalings, face rippings, horse hooves trampling severed heads, and other, similarly bracing sights
Rated 02 Jun 2013
44
48th
As if I didn't already have enough reasons to never step into a church again.
Rated 09 Jun 2014
52
49th
Ridiculous, delirious nonsense that almost outdoes co-writer Dario Argento at his own game (also featuring a very young, and somewhat pervily sexualized Asia). Obviously not exactly a good movie in any normal sense, the English dubbing is laughable and the film feels weirdly edited from something that might have been much longer, yet both these factors add to the surreal, hypnotic air of the proceedings.
Rated 17 Nov 2017
5
91st
A heavily sedated and more satanic Demons. Trades the manic energy of its predecessors for a dreamlike exploration of a creepy gothic cathedral. The church is a labyrinth and the atmosphere keeps you grasping for an understanding of the space and what is actually happening in it. Features the best muddy pile of corpses rising from the depths on film.
Rated 23 Nov 2018
59
47th
Creepy and dreamlike but also too slow and too long for its own good. Had they cut 15-20 minutes off this movie it would've been a taunt nightmarish classic, as it is its a solid horror film that could've be more.
Rated 20 Jul 2020
75
44th
Yeah, maybe next time you find a seven-eyed six-horned goat head in the catacombs of a 13th century cathedral leave it alone. Music by Goblin, Keith Emerson, and Phillip Glass, so obviously it's amazing.
Rated 01 Apr 2007
40
23rd
The plot, such as it is, just sort of dissolves entirely halfway through
Rated 07 Nov 2008
52
24th
At least the church looked cool.
Rated 30 Jan 2009
75
47th
I find the end a bit hasty and an anti-climax to a pretty good cinematography. All in all, worth a watch or two.
Rated 09 Apr 2009
0
15th
Stylishly gruesome horror with a confused narrative, much influenced by the work of its producer and co-writer Dario Argento
Rated 26 Apr 2009
89
80th
"I think The Church is supposed to be so bad it's good. And it really is "so bad.""
Rated 28 Apr 2009
60
24th
Nice set design and cinematography
Rated 20 Jun 2010
60
48th
One of several movies which lays claim to the alternate title Demons III, but way better than even the two official Demons movies. Not a great movie by any means, but it's at least fun.
Rated 19 Oct 2010
35
90th
"There is no denying the dreaminess of Soavi's stream-of-consciousness horror show." - Ed Gonzalez
Rated 07 Oct 2017
80
64th
Soavi do dia #2.
Rated 30 Dec 2017
75
67th
Atmosfer ve müzikler muhteşem. Sürreal bir rüya gibi. Lokasyonlar ve efektler de bence iyi. Oyunculuklar da kalbur üstü. Son çeyrek biraz daha iyi olabilseymiş keşke. İtalyan işi başarılı gotik film.
Rated 02 Nov 2019
55
30th
Had a potential but ruined it in the second half when new characters're suddenly introduced and others gone missing.
Rated 19 Dec 2020
30
5th
Ridiculous and degenerate movie, as you would expect.
Rated 02 Oct 2021
40
5th
I saw this for free on Tubi and I still feel ripped off.

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