Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

La Chiesa (Michele Soavi, 1989)

Michele Soavi's Dellamorte Dell'Amore remains one of the best horror-comedies of all time, so when I got a chance to see one of his earlier films, La Chiesa, I jumped at it. Now, Soavi got his start as an assistant director for Dario Argento, and Argento wrote the script, so it should come as little shock that La Chiesa comes off kind of like second-rate Argento. (Argento's daughter Asia even has a minor part in the film, as she did increasingly often in Argento films during the eighties.) Plotwise, anyway. While Soavi's direction does wear his Argento influence writ large on its sleeve, he learned all the right things from the master of Italian horror, and there's enough actual Soavi in there to ensure that you at least sense this isn't completely an Argento joint (as was, say, "Lamberto Bava"'s Demons).

We open with an extended scene that takes place during what seems to be the Inquisition or the Crusades, in which an entire village is slaughtered for witchcraft and a mad monk tells the murderers to build a church on the land; the consecrated ground will stop the dead from coming back. Fast-forward to the twentieth century. A new librarian starts working at the church while some restoration is going on. The combination of these two things kicks into motion a series of events that ensures, of course, that the dead will, in fact, come back for some sinister purpose. When the dead trip off one of the safety mechanisms, the church is sealed off from the outside, trapping a number of innocents with the vengeful spirits. If you've seen Demons, you know what's going to happen from that point. (The script was originally conceived as a third entry in the Demons series, but Soavi rewrote it to the point where La Chiesa has very little in common with the other films in the franchise. Two other attempts were made to produce a third Demons film, Black Demons and The Ogre; both, interestingly, met the same fate as La Chiesa. Someone must have realized that if Demons 2 was that bad, the series was unsaveable. And thank heaven for that.)

The acting is mediocre, the script not much better; neither is remotely up to the standard Soavi would set for himself with Dellamorte Dell'Amore five years later. What is here and intact, however, is Soavi's incredible visual sense, which is even more pronounced here than it is in his later work. I do note that this may well be because you don't have such niceties as plot, character development, etc., to distract you from Soavi's constant barrage of gorgeously-constructed shots. It's a gorgeous movie, and those who simply appreciate the fine visuals will find this a treat; most filmgoers, however, will likely not be satisfied with a pastiche held together so thinly. For them, I recommend Dellamorte Dell'Amore instead. ***

In the medieval ages, christian knights massacred a possessed village and buried all the folks who worshipped Satan to a large burial ground. They build a church over it so that the taint of evil wouldn't come back again, now in the present day a librarian wants to uncover the secrets of the cathedral as he accidently opens the secret sealed tomb as it unleashes demonic forces onto the church and trapping a group of people inside. But can the priests and some of the trapped people put a stop to this unholy curse or will the world be damned forever?

A feverish and bizarre supernatural horror fantasy shocker from Michele Soavi (Director of the brilliant "Cemetery Man" and "StageFright") and from co-writer and producer Dario Argento delivers a grueling and stylish journey to hell. There is some nudity and graphic violence shown with some good make-up and demon effects, the film itself is a sequel of sorts to both "Demons 1 and 2". Legendary Italian actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice does a nice performance as the Reverend, Asia Argento as the young girl Lotte and the movie has a good score by Goblin, fans of "Demons 1 & 2" should seek out this gem.

This DVD contains good picture and sound with a couple of extras like trailer and bio to director Michele Soavi.

Also recommended: "Prince of Darkness", "Evil Dead 2", "Demons 1 & 2", "End of Days", "The Omen (1976)", "The Exorcist", "Suspiria", "Inferno", "Tenebre", "Phenomena (a.k.a. Creepers)", "City of the Living Dead (a.k.a. Gates of Hell)", "Hellraiser", "Hellbound: Hellraiser II", "The Amityville Horror (1979 and 2005)", "The Wicker Man (1973)", "Evilspeak", "Cemetery Man (a.k.a. Dellamorte Dellamore)", "Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend", "House By The Cemetery", "From Dusk Till Dawn", "The Fog (1980)", "The Blind Dead Series", "StageFright", "Poltergeist", "Exorcism of Emily Rose", "The Shining", "Rosemary's Baby", "Pumpkinhead", "Mark of the Devil" and "The Beyond".