Respond to these rapid questions in our The Unholy quiz and we will tell you which The Unholy character you are. Play it now.
After becoming involved in an incident of “cattle mutilation” in a small Massachusetts town, disgraced journalist Gerry Fenn (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) becomes entangled in another, more significant story when a deaf teenage girl claims to see the Virgin Mary carved into the trunk of the scariest-looking tree on the planet. She performs a couple of miracle cures while quivering with religious ecstasy, and when the word gets out—thanks to Fenn’s stories—her small town is transformed into a modern-day Lourdes of healing. Is the Virgin Mary, on the other hand, who she claims to be? “The Unholy,” which is based on James Herbert’s 1983 novel Shrine, is a fairly standard religious horror film that arrives just in time for Good Friday. Despite the fact that it contains some excellent jump scares, there is something rote about the execution, bits that feel sketched-in rather than fully fleshed-out, and only a surface-level interest in the novel’s central theme: what happens when the unholy masquerades as holy? This is what the local priest has to say: “Where God goes, evil follows.” That is correct, you are correct. The devil doesn’t come strutting into town giggling evilly with delight. The devil is a smooth-talking charmer who can entice anyone. “The Unholy” is not intended to be profound, but because there are glimmers of profundity throughout, the lack of follow-up makes this a disappointing viewing experience.
Fenn is a complete disaster. While working for a major news organization ten years prior, he fabricated a number of stories, was caught red handed, and sentenced to the hellish existence of traveling long distances to interview some delusional farmer who doesn’t recognize that there is a Metallica logo on his cow’s rear end. Even though Fenn consumes copious amounts of alcohol, he exudes a grizzled, cynical charm, and appears to be an unlikely candidate for being mesmerized by a teenage girl’s freaky visions of a whispering glowing Virgin Mary, he is taken in by the experience. Alice (Cricket Brown), the young lady in question, is the niece of the parish priest, Father Hagen, who lives in the area (William Sadler). Alice has been deaf since birth, but after having a vision, she was able to hear and speak for the first time. It is nothing short of a miracle. Many people begin to congregate around the terrifying tree, hoping to be healed by Alice shortly thereafter. In the film, Alice and Fenn “develop a friendship” (although this is one of the aspects of the film that is not really explored). Alice agrees to a “exclusive” interview with Fenn, despite the fact that the media has descended upon the town. He has a strong sense that this will be his ticket back to the Big Time.
Really? It’s possible that if he discovered the equivalent of the Pentagon Papers, or uncovered evidence of war crimes, or stumbled across a long-lost safe deposit box containing Adolf Hitler’s teenage diary, he’d be eligible for reinstatement into the major leagues. But interviewing a crackpot teenager who claims to be able to heal people in a field in Massachusetts? That’s a no-go. I couldn’t stop thinking about it: “He travels out of town for several weeks, staying in a motel, to write stories for an online magazine that pays only $150 per story. Even if the motel is inexpensive, the trip would still cost significantly more than $150 per person.” Per diem for journalists no longer exists in the same way it once did, let alone salaries, but it’s still a lot of money, especially for a story about cattle mutilation. While it’s true that “The Unholy” is not intended to be a realistic portrayal of today’s gig-economy for freelance journalists, the fact that I was distracted by the film’s glitzy portrayal of journalism is indicative of the film’s inability to hold my attention throughout the entire running time.
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With off-center angles, a wintry palette, and a conception of the town as a scary place, cinematographer Craig Wrobleski pours on the moodiness. There are scary-looking churches, scary-looking woods, and scary-looking run-down buildings, to name a few of his techniques. The atmosphere itself is terrifying. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is a fascinating actor in and of himself, and he brings shades of disappointment and awareness of his many failings to what is a fairly underwritten role in this film. A conversation about music, even if it is his idea, will not be enough to forge an entirely new friendship with Alice. This friendship is supposed to result in a significant emotional payoff for both parties. The reward does not materialize.
The Unholy Quiz
When it comes to “It is “The Lady” (as Alice refers to the Virgin Mary) who begins to hunt down and punish doubters, detractors, and skeptics. Alice speaks with the authority of a dictator, saying, “Doubt weakens faith. Doubt is a gateway to damnation.” Her uncle summons the church’s top brass, including a bishop (Cary Elwes, who delivers a convincing Boston accent) and a hot, scruffy Monsignor (Diogo Morgado), to investigate the miracles Alice is performing. Meanwhile, her notoriety is growing. She goes “viral,” as they say. You could even describe her as a “influencer.” There are a couple of shots of girls from all over the country who are watching YouTube videos of Alice performing miracles, and these girls are crying because they feel “seen.” I’m confident that if Alice can do it, so can I. Alice was one of those people who didn’t “fit in,” and now she is a saint! There is hope for me as well! Most intriguing about “The Unholy” is that it almost borders on satire on this aspect of the story. When “influencers” promote curated “lifestyles,” the general public swallows them whole and then acts betrayed when they discover that the Emperor has no clothes is something we see all too frequently. For a brief shining moment, people are placed on pedestals, but soon after, disillusion sets in, and the mob descends, wielding pitchforks in support of the same person who had been idolized the day before.
Also, you will find out which character are you in this The Unholy quiz.
“The Unholy” squanders numerous opportunities to flesh out not only this concept, but any and all of them.
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