La Chiesa (The Church) (Cathedral of Demons) (1989)
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67% of critics liked it
(9 reviews) -
45% of users liked it
(2,338 ratings)
Originally intended as the third chapter in producer Dario Argento's Demons trilogy, La Chiesa stands alone as an effective horror film centering on a haunted cathedral with a violent past. The church's history begins in Medieval Italy, when the Knights Templar massacred an entire village of… More Originally intended as the third chapter in producer Dario Argento's Demons trilogy, La Chiesa stands alone as an effective horror film centering on a haunted cathedral with a violent past. The church's history begins in Medieval Italy, when the Knights Templar massacred an entire village of suspected Satanists and built the structure upon the site of the slain peasants' mass grave. Designed by an architect/alchemist (who was buried alive within his creation), the church is filled with elaborate machinery designed to seal off all entrances if ever the spirits of the entombed villagers were to rise again... which, of course, takes place in the present when the crypt's seal is removed. As demonic forces have their way with the church's occupants, it becomes the task of the parish priest (Hugh Quarshie) and a young girl (Asia Argento, daughter of Dario) to discover the builder's last line of defense before the evil is unleashed upon the outside world. Directed by Michele Soavi (who later gained critical acclaim with the inventive Dellamorte Dellamore), this is an imaginative Gothic horror film with startling imagery straight out of a Hieronymous Bosch painting and its own well-conceived mythology. Shots of the church's elaborate Medieval machines grinding to life are particularly memorable. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
- Directed By
- Michele Soavi
- Genres
- Horror, Art House & International, Science Fiction & Fantasy
- In Theaters
- Mar 10, 1989 Wide
- Studio
- Hemdale Home Video
Critic Reviews
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Alex Sandell, Juicy Cerebellum
Even when the film gets slow, it's nearly impossible to turn away and risk missing the next beautifully framed shot.
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Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Interesting effort from Soavi who came into his own with Cemetery Man.
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Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
I don't know what YOU generally look for in a horror flick, but unless it's "talking and lots of it" I'd stay far away from this one.
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James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk
Sovai doesn't settle for the easy, opting instead for a more oblique and suggestive, rather than graphic, approach to the material
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Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
There is no denying the dreaminess of Soavi's stream-of-consciousness horror show.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Tomas Arana
as Evan
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Asia Argento
as Lotte
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Feodor Chaliapin Jr.
as Bishop
- Roberto Corbiletto
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Barbara Cupisti
as Lisa
- Olivia Cupisti
- Gianfranco De Grassi
- Alina de Simone
- Claire Hardwick
- Lars Butin Jorgensen
- John Karlsen
- Katherine Bell Marjorie
- Riccardo Minervini
- Enrico Osteman
- Micaela Pignatelli
- Patrizia Punzo
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Hugh Quarshie
as Father Gus
- Giovanni Lombardo Radice
- Matteo Rochietta
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Antonella Vitale
as Model
- John Richardson
