The Evil Clergyman (2012 Video) User Reviews

Erotic and Creepy Short Film

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 26 November 2022]

Mrs. Brady (Barbara Crampton) meets her former landlady (Una Brandon-Jones) in her old house and asks to see her room one last time after her lover Jonathan (Jeffrey Combs) committed suicide. Jonathan was a priest that hanged himself when Mrs. Brady left him. Now she misses Jonathan and the forbidden sex with him. When she enters the room, she sees his ghost, the ghost of a clergyman (David Warner) that Jonathan killed and a rat-like demon with human face (David Gale) while she is tortured by memories and by the evil creatures.

"The Evil Clergyman" is an erotic and creepy short film that had been lost for many years and found in a VHS copy in 2012. The nightmarish atmosphere associated to the erotic scenes are amazing and work since Barbara Crampton is a very beautiful and sexy woman and actress. All the cast are inspired and deliver solid performances. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Clérigo do Mal" ("The Evil Clergyman")

Solid late Empire Pictures short.

[Nicky_Cage · 7/10 · 12 January 2022]

Lost until 2012 this Pulse Pounders (1988) segment is drastically better than the second released short Trancers: City of Lost Angels (1988) which was rather underwhelming.

The story is about Said Brady (played by Barbara Crampton) visiting her recently deceased lover's estate (played by Jeffrey Combs) where she is visited by a human faced rat and a dead priest who both have different intentions for her.

Production wise, the film looks good and takes place in (what I can only guess is Charles Band's) castle. The short is filled with a thick and moody atmosphere/soundtrack and very solid performances by the small, but great cast. The only critique I have is that I would've like to see this as a feature length adaptation instead of a 25-minute short (perhaps even directed by someone like Stuart Gordon even?).

7/10.

"You Can Have Her Soul. Just Let Me Have Her Body!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 13 December 2022]

THE EVIL CLERGYMAN reunites Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton after their work in Stuart Gordon's RE-ANIMATOR and FROM BEYOND. Here, Director Charles Band re-imagines another story by H. P. Lovecraft, with Ms. Crampton as the sorrowful Mrs. Brady, returning to the room where Jonathan (Combs), her lover of the title, committed suicide.

This leads to a nightmarish encounter with specters as well as an absurd, though somewhat disturbing, rat familiar played by the inimitable David Gale. The great David Warner is also on hand as a foreboding spirit.

It's always good to see Combs and Crampton teaming up. They're sort of the Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn of horror. If only they'd made about 10 more movies together!

The production is sparse, but effective. The atmosphere is cold and bleak as Mr. Lovecraft himself would have liked it. At just under 28 minutes, it plays out perfectly...