“The Unholy” is the latest horror film offering a unique premise, then falling into the same tropes we’ve seen a million times and not living up to its promise.
The story follows Gerald (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a disgraced journalist who finds himself in a small town where a deaf girl named Alice (Cricket Brown) suddenly gained the ability to hear and speak after claiming to see the glowing vision of Mary. The assumption is that it’s the Virgin Mary, because Alice gains the ability to miraculously heal the sick.
Gerald helps her story gain global attention, and the church gets involved. However, some dark events begin to take place, leaving Gerald skeptical and wondering if Alice is dealing with something dangerous.
The setup is intriguing, but the rest of the movie is uninspired and cheap. Blood coming from the eyes of the statue of Christ — overdone and having zero meaning to this story. A room full of statues covered in sheets — we all know that, like a 2 year old, an evil spirit’s favorite hiding spot is under a sheet.
Horror movies that aren’t creative enough to be scary usually rely on jumpscares to get a reaction from the audience, but “The Unholy” didn’t get the memo on how to do them. The moment the scary monster looks fake, like an eighth grade computer class was tasked with the CGI, they’re not scary anymore. Also, the more you show it, the less scary it becomes. The mystery is gone. The unfamiliar becomes familiar.
To be blunt, the leap to the horror genre didn’t go well for first-time director Evan Spiliotopoulos, who also produced and wrote the film. Prior to this, Spiliotopoulos was strictly a writer, mostly known for his work writing children’s movies about the likes of Winnie the Pooh or Tinker Bell. His biggest success as a writer was the “Beauty and the Beast” live-action movie.
Perhaps he should have made his debut as a director with a genre a bit closer to home. With “The Unholy,” he reminds me of the teacher who spends all their time working with children, so they forget how to talk to adults. He awkwardly forces a couple witty lines into the script, setup or relevance be darned. He has no faith that his audience will understand the plot, so his dialogue overly explains the story. “Ah yes, this is why 2+2=4!”
Yea, we got it. You’ve not invented anything new here.
Unfortunately, it’s all too much for Jeffrey Dean Morgan to rescue. In fact, his performance is pretty rough. Most of his work history has been bringing his charisma to a variety of TV series, most notably as Negan in ”The Walking Dead.” But in “The Unholy,” his performance comes across as sarcastic, as if he feels silly because he knows the script is going to make him look that way.
Scott’s Thoughts? Treat “The Unholy” like the inconsistent evil spirit giving chase in its story. By that I mean, shut the door and walk away. You’ll be fine.
1.5/5
“The Unholy” is available to rent or buy on demand.
