PIC of the Week – The Church
Article series by Ray Schillaci
Perhaps not since Dario Argento’s Suspiria has there been a more visually disturbing film than Michele Soavi’s The Church. For those fans of Giallo cinema, you’re in for a real treat with Scorpion Releasing delivering the Blu of Soavi’s chilling vision of the corruption of the church, Teutonic Knights, and demonology. Writer/director/actor Soavi, known as an actor in Lucio Fulci’s City of the Living Dead, and for being a collaborator with famed director Dario Argento (Tenebre, The World of Dario Argento, The Church, The Sect), made his mark in Giallo cinema with three distinct films, the horror/thriller, StageFright, the obscure comedy/horror, Cemetery Man, and gothic horror, The Church aka Cathedral of Demons. I actually prefer the later title which fits much better to the material. It is Soavi’s The Church that stands out as the most chilling piece of all his work.
The story begins with medieval Germany where the Teutonic Knights, a Catholic religious order, slaughter the inhabitants of a small poor village that are rumored to be devil worshippers. No time for a trial here. Just a mere pointed finger of a crazy old man will destroy the innocent lives. Once killed, the knights have the entire village buried and a gothic Cathedral is erected over the site. Anybody having seen Poltergeist knows that is bad news.
Flash forward to the 1980s, the church’s librarian breaks the seal of the crypt, and what may have been innocent at one time is now pissed off evil spirits ready to wreak havoc. At the same time, the church has ancient built-in mechanisms to trap everything, including intruders, inside. Problem being, there are a lot of good people trapped in the church having to fend off the demonic plague.
Originally, the film was supposed to be the third followup to Lamberto Bava’s Demons, but somewhere along the way, writer/director Soavi and his writing team, including Argento and Lamberto & Fabrizio Bava (Lamberto’s son) made a very calculated and frightening detour, delivering us something very different, and possibly the closest thing to capturing hell on film. But it took Soavi to conduct that Mephisto-like symphony and give us a visual that would be hard to forget.
Now, mind you this is an ’80s film and dubbed. That said, some will find it dated. But, there is no denying the power of the visuals and the creepiness factor with such a presentation. Scorpion Releasing blesses us Giallo fans with a complete uncut restored version made from a 2K transfer of the original negative with over 45 hours of color correction capturing that great gothic feel. It’s also presented with its original stereo sound as the creators intended.
Other extras include:
¥ Trailer reel (6 Giallo trailers including Soavi’s The Sect)
¥ New interview with writer/director Michele Soavi
¥ Interview with Asia Argento (Land of the Dead)
Best price – Amazon – $15.39
