The Unholy (1988)

Director:

Camilo Vila

Writers:

Philip Yordan (writer) and
Fernando Fonseca (writer)

Release Date:

30 March 1989 (West Germany)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Seduction. Submission. Murder. Tonight . . . evil goes over the edge.

Plot:

A priest battles a demon that kills sinners in the act of sinning.

Plot Keywords:

Demon | Devil | Occult | Priest | Religion

Cast

Ruben Rabasa	...	Father Dennis
Nicole Fortier	...	Demon
Peter Frechette	...	Claude
Phil Becker	...	Doctor
Ned Beatty	...	Lt. Stern
Susan Bearden	...	Hotel manager
Xavier Barquet	...	Bell Boy
Lari White	...	Housekeeper
Jeff D'Onofrio	...	Paramedic
Ben Cross	...	Father Michael
Hal Holbrook	...	Archbishop Mosely
Trevor Howard	...	Father Silva
Martha Hester	...	Young nun
John Boyland	...	Dr. Valerio
Claudia Robinson	...	Teresa

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Norway:18 | Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Limelite Studios, Miami, Florida, USA

Company:

Limelite Studios

Trivia:

Director Camilo Vila proclaimed that this was not a horror film during its initial release despite the fact that the film was about literal demons from hell.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Svengoolie: The Unholy" (2001)

Creepy good vs. evil horror with some great special effects

I love 80's horror movies but they usually don't scare me; i mostly watch them for gore/special effects/monsters/nudity, etc. you don't find in the watered down PG-13 crap that passes for horror today. I gotta admit this movie actually creeped me out pretty good. THE UNHOLY involves an evil demon that takes the form of a major babe in order to seduce priests so it can claim the innocent for Satan or something like that. It reminded me a lot of the Italian horror movie THE CHURCH which i also enjoyed. Both take place mostly in big Catholic churches and are filled with satanic hallucinations.

I won't give it away but the opening scene is simply awesome. The movie slows down in the middle but remains stylish with music that almost gives it a similar feeling to the THE LOST BOYS. It also has lots of cool blue and red lighting which makes it look very 80's. (I mean that in a good way, not that the film looks too dated or anything.) It picks back up towards the end and was actually starting to get scary until a couple of cool but funny looking demons show up. There is some sweet gore scenes, cool slimy monster effects, and even some nudity. The pace coulda been a lil faster but the awesome finale makes it well worth it. If you like this i would also recommend THE CHURCH and vise versa.