elsinefilo Review of Priest of Evil

Priest of Evil (2010)

God is almighty.If Satan is in me-then that is God's will.

[23 April 2011]

Timo Harjunpää (Franzén Pahat Pojat) is a detective in the Helsinki police department.He loses his daughter in a murder when he happens to be late to pick her up. The family tries to come to terms with the loss of their daughter but Timo becomes estranged from his wife (Irina Björklund played Ingrid in "The American (2010)") when he sees that his wife is blaming him somehow. At the same time,the city is in the throes of inexplicable multiple killings in the subway system. The deeply agitated, embittered Harjunpää is put on this case but he finds himself torn between between doing his duty and seeking for vengeance when the release of his daughter's murderer is on the horizon. In a way, the movie promises some gory violence, action and tension. I can't really say that it fulfills it properly. First of all, the plot sounds so predictable. The movie does not really trot out of the old clichés. The homicide detective who's been assigned to the case is an embittered cop whose marriage is falling apart. The murderer has to have had a traumatic,agonizing childhood to feel embittered against life. His father had to be a preacher, a drunk, a fornicator and a violent man so that his son would turn out to be a some vigilante who could avenge the plight of women who are beat up by their abusive husbands. "Priest of Evil" may be the movie for those viewers who like anything about murderer vs. cop stories but it's not really the movie you would look into if you are into a smart,unpredictable storyline, memorable quotes and dynamic, creative tension.