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Released by: Scorpion Releasing
Released on: March 20th, 2018.
Director: Michele Soavi
Cast: Tomas Arana, Feodor Chaliapin, Hugh Quarshie, Barbara Cupisiti, Antonella Vitale, Asia Argento, Giovanni Lombardo Radice
Year: 1989
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The Movie:
Michele Soavi's second feature film as a director, The Church begins with a scene in Germany set in medieval times. Here a horde of Templar Knights lay siege to a village whose inhabitants they accuse of witchcraft. The people of the village are brutally slaughtered and their bodies buried all together in one giant mass grave. As the years pass, a city grows around the area and over the pit where the corpses were disposed of, a giant - and remarkably ornate - cathedral is built.
Cut to the modern day and a librarian named Evan (Tomas Arana) teams up with a student named Lisa (Barbara Cupisiti) to help with some restoration work on one of the church's beautiful frescoes under the watch of Father Gus (Hugh Quarshie) and the local bishop (Feodor Chaliapin Jr.) while Lotte (Asia Argento), the daughter of one of the church's officials, also pokes about. In what will come as a surprise to no one, Evan eventually removes a rock in the lower part of the church, opens up a portal and unleashes a sinister and ancient evil that ties back to the opening scene and the mass grave that lies below the church. When a group of students and a crew intending to use the location for a fashion shoot arrive around the same time, the demons that were once at rest now find ample fodder for their sinister return… and a whole lot of people get possessed and then killed leaving Father Gus to try and solve all of this before it's too late.
Originally intended as the third entry in the Argento produced Demons series, The Church works on the same level as the first two films to bear that moniker, directed by Lamberto Bava, without ripping them off. Soavi goes for the gore and uses the church the same way that Bava used the movie theater and then an apartment building as the film's main location, so the comparisons are apt, but this one feels a bit different. It's got a much stronger gothic tone to it that stems not just from the cathedral setting but also from the opening scene with the templars and from much of the imagery that's laid out on screen once the demonic forces launch their attack. This also manifests in some of the effects set pieces and creature design that are created for the film as well as some of the costumes which harken back to the middle ages. There's a really strange feel to all of this, one that Soavi and his crew exploit very effectively. This results in a film that's atmospheric and weird enough that we can forgive its frequent and many logic gaps.
The cast are decent here as well. Arana is well cast here, we have no trouble accepting him as a librarian and he and Barbara Cupisiti make a fine pair. Hugh Quarshire is good as the priest while Chaliapin does a great job as the cantankerous bishop. Giovanni Lombardo Radice pops up in a small part here, while Asia Argento, cast here in an early role, is also fine. For the most part, however, the cast play second fiddle to the effects and the look of the film. The church itself is an incredibly impressive building with some fantastic architecture and proves the perfect location to stage a picture such as this.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The Church looks really nice on Blu-ray from Scorpion Releasing. Framed at 1.78.1 widescreen in AVC encoded 1080p high definition on a 50GB disc, this is a nicely detailed and film-like transfer that shows good texture and excellent color reproduction, particularly when it comes to the film's frequent use of bloody reds. The image is free of all but very minor print damage and boasts strong black levels as well. There are no noticeable issues with any compression artifacts nor are there any problems with noise reduction or edge enhancement. Given how much of the movie takes place inside some dimly lit interiors, it's also impressive how strong shadow detail remains. No complaints here, The Church looks great on Blu-ray.
The English language DTS-HD 2.0 track sounds decent enough. Dialogue is easy to follow and understand, the levels are properly balanced and there are no audible issues with any hiss or distortion. The bizarre - but genuinely cool - score comes through with a bit more 'oomph' behind it than it ever did on DVD. No alternate language or subtitle options are provided.
A twenty-minute interview with Soavi finds the director talking about his younger days and growing up as a genre buff before then working alongside Dario Argento, eventually getting him to produce The Church and The Sect. He also talks about writing the film, some of its more memorable moments, the cast and the ever-important soundtrack. A second interview sees Asia Argento in front of the camera for eight minutes discussing how she wound up working in the film, which was an early role for her, as well as some of the challenges that were provided by the Hungarian locations and what it was like on set. She looks back on this pretty fondly.
Outside of that we get a trailer for the feature, bonus trailers The Sect, Sleepless, Opera, The Card Player and Etoile, menus and chapter selection.
The Final Word:
The Church is a wonderfully twisted slice of gothic horror with some great effects and loads of style. Scorpion's Blu-ray release looks and sounds great and contains a few nice extras too.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
