I find nothing less scary than modern vampire movies or slasher films. I do not waste my time with them. We can't have for my taste enough horror films which are Omen-esque. Or, as suggested in the reviews here, along the lines of the Exorcist. That is, horror films which have at their core a metaphysical struggle between Good and Evil, which is what the drama plays out. I agree with most of the previous reviewers on most of their points. The one point on which I would venture to disagree and which has prompted me to add this contribution is that the very reason that the evil is unexplained is what I find philosophically fascinating about this film.
Farentino plays a priest who has lost his faith or is on his way to losing it. Is he a lost soul literally returned from the dead to redeem himself in some way? His backstory is pleasingly kept unclear. I agree with how creepy the finale is with Joan Hackett's character literally spitting nails. But the creepiest moment in the film for me, and what lingers in my memory, is when Farentino's priest is asked why this evil is happening? He responds there is no reason why to Evil. Evil just is. Evil just happens. Whether or not I agree with it, and I am not saying I do, as a premise that for me is one of the most genuinely chilling moments and revelations not just in this but in all the supernatural films I have seen.
Psychological/philosophical horror is the scariest horror of all. This film is a minor gem of supernatural horror for the discerning.
Pity it was a pilot never picked up.
Farentino plays a priest who has lost his faith or is on his way to losing it. Is he a lost soul literally returned from the dead to redeem himself in some way? His backstory is pleasingly kept unclear. I agree with how creepy the finale is with Joan Hackett's character literally spitting nails. But the creepiest moment in the film for me, and what lingers in my memory, is when Farentino's priest is asked why this evil is happening? He responds there is no reason why to Evil. Evil just is. Evil just happens. Whether or not I agree with it, and I am not saying I do, as a premise that for me is one of the most genuinely chilling moments and revelations not just in this but in all the supernatural films I have seen.
Psychological/philosophical horror is the scariest horror of all. This film is a minor gem of supernatural horror for the discerning.
Pity it was a pilot never picked up.