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The Unholy Blu-ray Review

“The Unholy” has its moments.

Based on the novel “Shrine” by James Herbert, “The Unholy” begins in 1845 when a woman named Mary is burned alive on a tree by the church for witchcraft. Her soul is chained/trapped in a kern baby. Cut to modern day where a down and out journalist (Gerry) is investigating a bogus story. While doing so, he comes across the very same tree Mary was killed at. He finds the kern baby and destroys it thereby unknowingly unleashing the evil spirit. The spirit latches on to a young deaf-mute woman named Alice. Miraculously, Alice is able to speak and hear and claims to have seen and spoken to the Virgin Mary. Of course there is skepticism abound, but Alice soon gets a lot of attention from media and religious folk alike. Gerry himself sees this story as a chance to redeem his sullied career. Alas, she isn’t speaking to the Virgin Mary at all but rather an evil spirit of the burned Mary who wants souls.

Produced by Sam Raimi and written and directed by Evan Spiliotopoulos, “The Unholy” is an all too familiar religious supernatural horror thriller that doesn’t bring much new to the table. With that said, it does have a compelling enough story at the center that makes it watchable. Perhaps that is due to the fact that the plot about blind faith, false prophets and second chances is all too timely and relevant.

Where “The Unholy” really stumbles is with the horror aspect. The jump scares and attempts at horror fall flat and the villainous Mary is botched from a visual standpoint. This is the case of a movie where the CGI completely ruins it. Not only does the CGI design of Mary look atrocious, but her appearance ruins any scary moment because it’s so dopey looking. Really, there was no need to even have CGI here. Mary could have easily been done entirely with practical effects.

The cast certainly elevates the movie as a whole. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is a genre favorite these days and his presence goes a long way in making the movie more compelling. The supporting cast is also top notch with Cary Elwes, William Salder, and relative newcomer Cricket Brown (who plays Alice) turning in fine performances. 

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 2.39:1 1080p. How does it look? Expect a nice crisp hi-def transfer.

Audio Track: 5.1 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? An all-around effective 5. 1track.

The only extras are a Digital copy and Sony trailers.

June 28, 2021 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Horror Movie, Religious Horror Thriller, Sam Raimi, The Unholy Blu-ray Review