The Church (1989)

Among the many famed Italian horror directors to emerge over the past couple decades, no other director has shown more potential for carrying the heavy torch of Dario Argento like Michele Soavi, the director of The Church. Soavi's expansive set design and camera angles make him shine above mostly as one of the few artistic horror directors. In his earlier career, after directing a documentary on Dario Argent and the theater-based slasher Stage Fright, he moved onto a project that that must have seemed more accessible for his ambition. Too bad the result was a almost a total disappointment.

Don't get me wrong, this movie had a lot of potential. The only thing keeping this film from teetering on the thin line between cult classic and complete garbage was how Soavi executed the lackluster script. The Church suffers from that blasted tradition that almost every horror movie seems to follow; a mixed bag of individuals get stuck in a remote location where they're all killed off.

However, The Church's potential lies within it's references to artwork, even a particularly famous one. In an opening scene, we see Lisa (Barbara Cupisti) restoring an ancient and (obviously) demonic painting on the wall of an ancient cathedral. This painting is made reference to numerous times as creatures from the painting show up for a few cheap kills. Otherwise, you'd swear a few of these scenes were portrayed somewhere in a far more fashionable way. On top of this, the acting was incredibly poor and the editing looks like it was taken over by monkeys closer to the end. Check this one out if you're up for some typical horror with a slightly creative twist. Also remember, I use the term "creative" very loosely.