THE UNHOLY (1988)

Taglines- You haven’t got a prayer

                  Seduction. Submission. Murder. Tonight . . . evil goes over the edge.

The Unholy is the story of the struggle between good and evil, epitomised by priests and an ancient demon known as Daesidarius, respectively. The demon manifests itself on earth each lunar eclipse as a stunningly beautiful woman with the motive of corrupting the purest of mortal souls. Its modus operandi involves slashing the throats of men while they are engaged in the act of sinning and thereafter sending their souls to eternal damnation in hell. The known tactics of destruction include seduction and temptation, deception  and illusion, and finally torture.

The immediate events in the film surround the mysterious killings of two priests in St. Agnes Parish of New Orleans. A new pastor is appointed after three years, following the closure of the parish on account of the deaths. Father Michaels survives a miraculous fall from the seventeenth floor of an apartment and as the Diocese regards the survival as an act of ‘divine intervention’, he is promptly put in charge of the doomed parish with hopes of defeating the devil.

Although Father Michael is sceptical of the existence of evil spirits and demons, he slowly becomes disturbed by the visions of the stunning woman who has murdered his predecessors and appears in his dreams in an attempt to make him break his vows. The cop who has unsuccessfully investigated the two killings tries to dissuade Father from continuing his work with the ominous warning of the fate met by others; however he is not able to convince him. The only clue he seems to have with the previous priest Father Dennis is that he had frequently recorded meetings with a waitress named Millie who worked in a local goth club. The club is run by an elusive and shady businessman Luke who makes his actors simulate real acts of violence such as murder as cheap gimmicks in bid to earn money, but confesses to Father that his club may have actually come under satanic influence after a string of strange happenings.

Father is shaken when he spends a night at the club and feels a sinister presence which tries to wreak havoc to Luke’s room. Father is further troubled by the shadowy appearance of the demon who tries to seduce him, and also by his growing attraction to Millie who takes refuge in his parish and also tries to seduce him, although her purported object is to seek protection from Daesidarius (The Unholy) who only attacks priests and virgins.

Towards the end of the movie, the diocese informs Father Michael of the task ahead-that he must battle Daesidarius (“the irresistible temptation” and “the object of desire”) as the demon has chosen his church, which is evidenced from the brutal death of the club owner in front of Father’s own eyes. Father is unable to deny the fact of the demon’s presence and prepares himself for the final conflict. He is told that the demon is permitted to reside out of hell and it manifests itself between Ash Wednesday and the Feast of the Resurrection, and further that it makes a sacrifice to Satan on the solemnest of days, the victims being pure and saintly persons who have consecrated themselves to God. The demon appears in the form that the intended victim desires most and if the victim succumbs to temptation, then Daesidarius kills him/her in the act of sinning and thus makes an offering to his master Satan. If however, the temptation is resisted, then the powers of illusion are broken and the person has to face the true form of the demon, after which the battle begins. Father is also told that he must manifest Christ the Lord through himself that very night and send Daesidarius to “Asheron”(probably a reference to hell), as it is the night when the Sanctuary lamp is out and the Lord lies “dead” and as the Feast of Resurrection is the very next day.

As night approaches, Father Michael stands alone in darkness, in the main altar of the church. This is where he feels the presence of the demon and utters it’s name. Daesidarius appears and tries to tempt the priest by changing its appearance to resemble Millie, whom Father impliedly likes. However, he is successful in resisting the seduction by the demon and thus witnesses the gruesome face of the demon. In a disgusting scene, many parts of the slimy big teethed demon tie Father to a post and force him to eat a piece of the demon meat. The consequence is that he finds himself suspended in an abyss for some time, till he musters his strength and invokes God within him. This finally defeats the demon and banishes it from earth, however at the cost of Father losing his eyesight permanently.

The Unholy is an understated horror movie from the late 1980s, which has an interesting story delivered well by good acting and a pervasive sense of doom outlined by the use of bright red and blue lights, the scary sculptures adorning the walls of the church, and by the sinister musical score. In June 2017, Vestron Video Collection released a Blu Ray packed with some interesting extras-audio commentary with the director Camilo Vila, the producer, production designer and co-writer, interview with main actor Ben Cross, isolated score compositions which were not used in the movie and theatrical trailer along with TV and radio spots.

NIGHT ANGEL/HELLBORN/DELIVER US FROM EVIL (1990)

Taglines- An ancient evil has awaken and lust is her life-force

Spend a night in her arms, spend an eternity in hell

As the movie opens on a sandy landscape, we see a human skull hidden in dunes being exposed by strong winds. Then in another studio set scene against the backdrop of a full moon and the branches of a barren tree, a woman emerges from the earth, totally covered in slime. She rises shakily and rinses herself in a pond nearby, and thus we are introduced to Lilith, the beautiful antagonist of the film.

Interspersed with this scene is a voice-over by an unknown narrator which gives ample information (though cryptically stated) about the origins and intent of Lilith. It goes as follows-

“Since the dawn of history, she has plagued mankind

Many a mother has wept for a baby found dead in its cradle

Many a man has spurned true love for an eternity in her hell

The Babylonians built statues to honour her, the Jews carved amulets for protection from her evil

By many names is she known-from Pele in Hawaii to Kali in India

She was created from dust when Adam was created, but no restful peace in dust will she find

She is Lilith, the temptress, seducer and destroyer, harlot of demons and enemy of love

And she shall stalk us forever

Walking in the shadows, sowing the seeds of discontent, reaping a harvest of souls for the corner of her hell”

The plot concerns itself with the designs of an evil spirit who has assumed the guise of a charming and beautiful woman with the purpose of spreading evil by seducing and killing men. Lilith was the first wife of Adam who fled from the garden of paradise in her temptation to seduce more men, and in the process she became a lustful ‘whore’ for demons. She returns to earth on each lunar eclipse and on the sixth night her powers become heightened, allowing her to claim the heart of a man who has fallen for a mortal woman. We are told that Lilith can be destroyed by a stab to her heart by a special dagger.

In the movie, the trick employed by Lilith is to get on the cover page of a top fashion magazine so that she can become well known and sought after, which in turn would enable her to spread her evil further. She first begins an affair with the magazine boss and then surprises him at home for sex, but ends up killing both him and his entire family. Then she seduces a male editor and kills him, before moving on to the female editor, played by veteran horror actor Karen Black. After she has corrupted the editor, she wheedles her way into the magazine office and brainwashes the entire staff to make them her minions and promote her as the cover girl. This cover-girl is managed in a terrible fashion sense- black latex suit with a half black face mask and tons of golden glitter on the face- which everyone seems to buy as so cool ! (given the low budget and seemingly low ambitions of the producers, not more could be expected). Also, Lilith’s presence changes the atmosphere in the office to such an extent that every person becomes sexually charged and starts engaging in orgies publicly !

Basically, what the plot entails is that Lilith using her enormous powers manages to make every staff member of the magazine company her faithful servants, who are ready to serve by any means towards the fulfilment of her nefarious motives.

While Lilith has secured her position thus, the protagonist Kurt and his girlfriend (who are truly in love with each other and hence the target for Lilith who has to eradicate love in order to spread her evil through lust) are aided by a black female cab-driver who has personal reasons for hating Lilith, being that Lilith snatched away her only son from her by luring him and finally killing him.

The lady informs the couple/lovers that only their true love can vanquish Lilith as she thrives on lust and love is her worst enemy. She also gives them a singular zig-zag dagger which can fatally wound Lilith.

In the finale, there is a confrontation between Kurt and his girlfriend Kirstie  on one side and Lilith on the other side. Lilith entices Kurt to a deserted place where she almost wins him over with her whispers on her ‘perfect lust’ and tries to dig his heart out. At the last moment however, Kurt holds Kirstie’s hand and declares his love for her. This weakens Lilith and she immediately transforms into a hideous winged creature with horrendous fangs. Then she is stabbed in the chest by the cab lady and finally meets an agonising end.

In the epilogue, a wounded Kurt and Kirstie are sleeping when the lock to their door mysteriously twists open and Kurt hears the jangle of bangles. The magazine cover of Lilith mysteriously spurts blood and as Kurt inches closer to it, a pair of hands grabs Kurt and suffocates him. As expected, this is only a nightmare for the still shaken Kurt.

Night Angel proceeds on the common moral assumption that evil never thrives and is ultimately defeated by good powers. In the movie, Lilith is the epitome of evil, pure and simple, and despite her immense powers and strength, she too faces defeat at the hands of strong and true love. Given that it was shot with a minimal budget and that the production values were weak, Night Angel is still a semi-entertaining film within the limits of its genre. There is barely any nudity, sex or gore on display here-all that is left to the imagination of the spectator based on the introduction at the beginning. The only major flaw I found in the script was that the character of Lilith is shown as too obviously and overtly aggressive and hell-bent on achieving her purpose, instead of being subtle, scheming and charming, as is the case with most screen seductresses. The movie has  been released on VHS  by Fries Home Entertainment, and as of June 2017 it was announced that Kino Lorber Studio Classics is bringing a Bly Ray/DVD combo in October. More details of the release and extras are awaited.

RETRIBUTION (1987)

A manic depressive artist named George Miller commits suicide from the rooftop of his apartment-hotel at the precise moment when another man is burnt to death by a mob force consisting of a woman and three men, each of whom stand leering as the man writhes in agony and indescribable pain. This man is a mobster who has been lynched because he has been unable to pay up his gambling debts.

As a miracle, Miller survives his suicidal jump, but the vengeful spirit of the mobster takes hold of his body and uses the same as a medium in order to avenge his murder. Thus at times when the artist is fully conscious, he is pre-disposed to gentleness and mildness in demeanour, but when the host body is in slumber the murderous soul makes him commit gruesome crimes against his tormentors.

Thus the first murder we witness is of the woman who had been leering and laughing, who in fact was his mistress and had ultimately betrayed him. Miller (played to perfection by actor Dennis Lipscomb as a troubled artist torn between guilt and confusion as to his purported role in the murders) goes to an unknown bar where he is picked up by the woman and taken to her apartment for a sexual encounter. As she is about to prepare drinks in the kitchen, all windows and doors inexplicably fly open, glass is shattered from cabinets and window panes; and in the doorway is framed Miller with a hardly human countenance, green eye-balls with flashing points of light and a chilling laugh. He utters the strange lines-“Santa Maria, mother of god, help me”- as the woman screams “Not you, can’t be you”, before she runs herself in with a huge kitchen knife she had held for her protection. At this scene, the gore is highlighted by vivid imagery of blood and guts spilling out of the woman’s stomach.

The next day, Miller has a bad headache and a strange feeling about his involvement in the horrific crime, which is confirmed by a newspaper report. He hurriedly rushes to his psychiatric counselor Dr. Curtis (who has been helping him cope up after his failed suicide) and details to her the memories of the murder and especially his presence in the scene. His doctor however refuses to believe him and instead puts down his hysteria to severe delusions brought forth by his suppressed guilt of having attempted suicide and she tries to assure Miller that he could have nothing to do with the murder.

The other two tormentors are similarly killed by Miller in gory fashions- one is cut up my a mincing machine in his own meat-packing factory while wrapped inside a buffalo carcass, and the other one has his skull crushed inside a warehouse by the rings of a raised animal cage.

In each of these instances, Miller is convinced that he had something to do with the killings but is unable to impress the point upon his doctor who continues to find him delusional and obviously distraught. However the accurate details of the crime as narrated by Miller reach the ears of a police office, the lover of Dr. Curtis, who in turn is led to believe that Miller is really the culprit.

As the movie reaches its climax, Miller is confronted by the malevolent spirit which communicates with him through a typewriter and tells him that he has to commit the murder of the fourth tormentor. As Miller resists the spirit and its intentions, his room lights up in different hues-red, green and blue, and one of his paintings starts duplicating itself by piling up in front of him. At this juncture, his psychiatrist rushes into his room in order to save Miller but is confronted by the spirit. The spirit holds her back and begins to throw her around before suffocating her. Miller watches helplessly but as Curtis loses strength, he rushes forward and throws himself out of the window along with the spirit. In the last eerie scene though, the spirit transfers itself to another person who opens his eyes and screams the same line- -“Santa Maria, mother of god, help me”. As Curtis screams, the screen goes blank and the credits start rolling.

As the title suggests, Retribution is the supernatural revenge story of a man, a man wronged by persons whom he trusted, and at whose instance he suffered a cruel agonizing death. The atmosphere of the film is strangely unsettling, the sense of dread and doom never dimming for a moment throughout its 107 minutes length. It is in a way a good example of what a good horror movie should look like, because it never lightens up with comic interludes or feel-good moments, instead it keeps spiraling down into an abyss of hopelessness. Even in the moments when Miller is seen recuperating from his suicide attempt and even attempting romance with a neighbor, the feeling of doom and death surrounds him and leaves the viewer certain of a gloomy ending. The somber music score adds to the atmosphere of foreboding and dread. This is a real gem for viewers who wish to appreciate the stuff horror movies are made of.