the vatican tapes
' the vatican tapes' star admits screaming all day on set made her ill .
the vatican tapes is a supernatural horror film in which a local priest and an exorcism specialist from the vatican attempt to help a troubled young woman .
the vatican tapes is a feeble exorcist - style film that includes levitation but never lift - off .
the vatican tapes - a generic and uncreative horror entry that fails to inspire, move or frighten .
summary the vatican tapes is a supernatural horror film in which a local priest and an exorcism specialist from the vatican attempt to help a troubled young woman .
looking for movie tickets? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing the vatican tapes near you .
the vatican tapes: official movie site for ordering your own digital copy hd, blu - ray™ and dvd. urltoken
still, the vatican tapes is fun and worth giving a look. the film is available now in a variety of formats .
the thriller the vatican tapes – starring kathleen robertson, michael peña, dougray scott and djimon hounsou – will be filming in eagle rock .
the world of the vatican tapes the story of the vatican tapes is primarily set in modern day los angeles with the exception of a few scenes that take place in and around the vatican. the filmmakers took advantage of shooting in los angeles for a story actually set in l. a. , while utilizing clever locations, a discrete traveling film unit in rome, as well as vfx to create the scenes at vatican city .
to capture the frenetic and haunting world of the vatican tapes, the filmmakers brought on director of photography, gerardo madrazo, as well as production designer, jerry fleming .
when it was originally a script on the black list in 2009, the vatican tapes was intended to be structured like a found - footage film. would that it were! the amateur camera - wielding characters of films like the gallows and the possession of michael king have more of a sense of where to place their cameras than do the professional filmmakers who made the vatican tapes. those two examples, by the way, are in my opinion among the worst found - footage offerings in existence. the vatican tapes is worse .
one thing the vatican tapes has going for it is its ending. the final five or ten minutes show such potential for a better sequel (yes, i said it) that it just reinforces how bland everything that came before it is. what would have made the vatican tapes better is if the first 80 minutes were relegated to a prologue, and then the last ten minutes expanded into a full - length feature. what we get instead is the vatican tapes in its present form, and if you can manage to keep yourself awake throughout the whole thing then you deserve a medal .
i’m a big fan of the found - footage genre when there’s anything remotely interesting happening at all on a metatextual level. the only moment where the vatican tapes has anything resembling genre commentary takes place toward the end of the film, just before the inevitable exorcism scene. fresh off a plane from vatican city, helping out with the exorcism mostly so he can make another video to add to the vatican’s collection of tapes, cardinal bruun (peter andersson) secures a camera to one of the wooden posts in angela’s bedroom .
perfect storm … clouds over st peter’s basilica in the vatican. photograph: afp / getty images
the weekend’s biggest specialty debut was pantelion / lionsgate’s thriller, the vatican tapes, starring djimon hounsou and michael peña. the feature grossed $ 850k in 427 theaters, giving it a somewhat slow $ 1, 991 screen average .
the vatican tapes has exactly one good shot in it, and no, it’s not the header image above of star olivia dudley blowing the entire costume budget on a pair of melted contacts. are you ready? it’s this one :
for 2, 000 years the vatican has recorded evidence of evil. may god have mercy on their souls .
the world needs another exorcism movie like it needs another land war in asia, but i still had some hope for the vatican tapes. its director, mark neveldine, is one half of the team of neveldine / taylor, who gave us the amazing crank movies, and it wouldn’t have been too foolish to hope that he might have infused this most tired of horror sub - genres with some gonzo flair. unfortunately, the vatican tapes is a tired, un - scary, incoherent mess .
on the surface, the vatican tapes looks like every other exorcism movie on the market. it has a girl who may or may not be possessed, catholic priests, and a bunch of jump - scare moments that sometimes play out into real horror. but in addition to these, the film also offers something that many of these other films do not: entertainment. granted, the vatican tapes does not bring anything new to the table, but it’s still a fun film regardless and worthy of checking out .
a priest and two vatican exorcists must do battle with an ancient satanic force to save the soul of a young woman .
the story and how it plays out is what really got me with the vatican tapes. director mark neveldine keeps the audience guessing until the end, and when things really start happening, they take off with a bang. i like how the possession turns out, although i won’t give away any spoilers .
lionsgate sure does have an interesting relationship with christian audiences. they' ve minted tons of money off tyler perry' s movie, which appeal to the church - going crowd with spiritual themes and a glorification of sunday prayer, and now they' re producing the vatican tapes
for 2, 000 years the vatican has recorded evidence of evil. may god have mercy on their souls. see more »
the frequent use throughout the film of such devices as cell phone and surveillance footage, reminiscent of sidney lumet' s underrated the anderson tapes, adds little more than visual distraction .
i’m hoping for a critical re - evaluation of the last exorcism part ii someday. like the vatican tapes, it’s currently sitting at 16% on rottentomatoes. unlike the vatican tapes, it isn’t exorcism - subgenre - endingly awful. it’s not great or anything, but i think it’s doing a lot more than critics — most of whom couldn’t get past the fact that a movie with the last in its title had a sequel — gave it credit for. after all, it was written by damian chazelle, who recently earned raves for writing and directing the phenomenally tense whiplash (2014) .
sound familiar? it’s not that the vatican tapes is actively bad. on the contrary, it’s actually competently directed and has decently acted (though some of the actors look bored). it’s just so dull. there is nothing here that you haven’t seen in plenty of other possession films many times before .
the vatican tapes is shot well and looks good onscreen. i was expecting this to be a found - footage or documentary style film, but turns out it’s shot like an actual movie. this was a nice surprise, as i think too many exorcism films are leaning that way .
so imagine my complete and utter lack of surprise when i read this interview with vatican tapes director mark neveldine. specifically, nycmovieguru asks him whether he found it challenging to try to make his movie different from other possession movies, and neveldine responds that he didn’t even bother !
the mayhem leads to the inevitable exorcism, performed by the neophyte lozano with the assistance of a veteran vatican cardinal (peter andersson) who knows from exorcisms since he was once possessed himself .
vatican shadow is the techno outfit from multi - media artist dominick fernow. melodic loops and martial jagged rhythms juxtapose a sinister and seductive ambience .
it’s no ordinary case of demonic possession that rouses the attention of the catholic church in “the vatican tapes” — more like the sort of full - on egg - vomiting, eyeball - gouging spiritual meltdown that suggests the antichrist herself now walks among us. and director mark neveldine, who is no master of dread but a dab hand at dispensing regular [ … ]
although, despite the title, there’s not really much else actually concerning the vatican, just ant man’s overly talkative mate as a priest and the dude from gladiator as a bishop .
there is a scene in the vatican tapes where a character grabs two light bulbs and jams them into his eyes. the camera is focused on this character’s torso the entire time, with no blood dripping or blood stains on the character’s hands. it was so obviously shot and edited to keep the pg - 13 rating that it takes you out of the film. it just felt staged
wright confides :
we actually sent a crew of people to the vatican. the vatican is a city state within the city of rome, but you can walk right in. if you walk into the vatican and happen to be hiding a camera under your coat, you can shoot some footage without anyone looking. you can get some interesting and unique shots for your movie .
he muses ,
of course, i would never condone such behavior .
a little creepy, but not all that scary, the vatican tapes is a stereotypical demon possession film. when a young woman becomes possessed a priest gets permission to perform an exorcism, but it' s soon revealed that they' re not dealing with an ordinary demon. olivia dudley and michael peña lead the cast and give solid performances. and, the possession is fairly well - done, delivering all the standard fare; body twisting, shaking objects, prayers in latin, etc. but the plot is paper thin with little character developed, and it gets batshit crazy at the end. for those who enjoy supernatural thrillers the vatican tapes will do, but there' s nothing original or compelling about it .
the vatican tapes follows the ultimate battle between good and evil - god versus satan. angela holmes is ordinary 27 - year - old until she begins to have a devastating effect on anyone close, causing serious injury and death. holmes is examined and possession is suspected, but when the vatican is called upon to exorcise the demon, the possession proves to be an ancient satanic force more powerful than ever imagined. it’s all up to father lozano (michael peña) to wage war for more than just angela’s soul, but for the world as we know it .
the vatican tapes follows the ultimate battle between good and evil - god versus satan. angela holmes is an ordinary 27 - year - old until she begins to have a devastating effect on anyone close, causing serious injury and death. holmes is examined and possession is suspected, but when the vatican is called upon to exorcise the demon, the possession proves to be an ancient satanic force more powerful than ever imagined. it' s all up to father lozano to wage war for more than just angela' s soul, but for the world as we know it .
anyway, i digress. the reason why i couldn’t stop thinking about the last exorcism part ii is that it has an ending very similar to the vatican tapes. suffice it to say, both films end with their protagonists lighting a few things on fire, aiming for a wide - open ending that suggests the entire world is about to change forever. the last exorcism part ii is far more successful at it .
the vatican tapes follows the ultimate battle between good and evil - god versus satan. angela holmes is an ordinary 27 - year - old until she begins to have a devastating effect on anyone close, causing serious injury and death. holmes is examined and possession is suspected, but when the vatican is called upon to exorcise the demon, the possession proves to be an ancient satanic force more powerful than ever imagined. it' s all up to father lozano to wage war for more than just angela' s soul, but for the world as we know it. written by pantelion films
the vatican tapes follows the ultimate battle between good and evil - god versus satan. angela holmes is ordinary 27 - year - old until she begins to have a devastating effect on anyone close, causing serious injury and death. holmes is examined and possession is suspected, but when the vatican is called upon to exorcise the demon, the possession proves to be an ancient satanic force more powerful than ever imagined. it' s all up to father lozano (michael peña) to wage war for more than just angela' s soul, but for the world as we know it. (c) lionsgate
the vatican tapes follows the ultimate battle between good and evil - god versus satan. angela holmes (olivia taylor dudley) is an ordinary 27 - year - old until she begins to have a devastating effect on anyone close, causing serious injury and death. holmes is examined and possession is suspected, but when the vatican is called upon to exorcise the demon, the possession proves to be an ancient satanic force more powerful than ever imagined. it' s all up to father lozano (michael peña) to wage war for more than just angela' s soul, but for the world as we know it .
and yet that' s what we get with the vatican tapes, representing the solo directorial debut of mark neveldine, previously known for his collaborations with brian taylor on such films as crank, gamer and ghost rider: spirit of vengeance. this low - rent retread of tired material offers little to recommend it while managing to squander the talents of such actors as dougray scott, djimon hounsou and michael pena .
you can' t take
the vatican tapes
seriously outside of the formulaic mold that
the exorcist
established decades ago. after all, in what other context is it ok for four adult men to sequester a young woman who exhibits all the signs of mental illness, and force her to eat a eucharist while filming her... right before they chain her to a nearby wall? if you buy a ticket for
the vatican tapes ,
you should be anticipating angela' s transformation into a demonically - possessed entity who speaks fluent aramaic and sounds suspiciously like beavis of
beavis and butthead
fame. neveldine and screenwriter christopher borrelli take their time getting there, but really, the road to angela' s reluctant meet - up with cardinal bruun is like a day trip across utah: flat, smooth, and largely featureless .
lionsgate and lakeshore entertainment present a lakeshore entertainment and lionsgate production, the vatican tapes which follows the ultimate battle between good and evil - god versus satan. angela holmes (olivia taylor dudley) is an ordinary 27 - year - old until she begins to have a devastating effect on anyone close, causing serious injury and death. holmes is examined and possession is suspected, but when the vatican is called upon to exorcise the demon, the possession proves to be an ancient satanic force more powerful than ever imagined. it’s all up to father lozano (michael peña) to wage war for more than just angela’s soul, but for the world as we know it .
vatican shadow - remember your black day · 2 december 2013 vatican shadow' s'' remember your black day'' is ongetwijfeld één van de meest bizarre albums die dit jaar is uitgebracht. een vreemd hoesje, rare tracktitels en een absurde combinatie van rustgevende synths met de meest duistere techno denkbaar. een aparte beleving is in ieder geval gegarandeerd .
the bold credits above the line are the
above - the - line
credits, the other the
below - the - line
credits .
eventually, you just have to give up on the grace notes that crop up throughout
the vatican tapes
and wait for the film' s tantalizingly nutty finale. still, even then, you may ponder such burning questions as: why couldn' t somebody who made this film trust their audience enough to know who exactly compromises
the holy trinity ?
and: why did they use a take where peña clearly flubs the lord' s prayer? or more to the point: whose idea of a fun time is this ?
as the title suggests, the film begins with a vatican priest (hounsou, apparently on hand to demonstrate that priests can be really, really hot) examining video footage of incidents of demonic possession, occasionally freeze - framing the action to spot images of the offending antichrist .
mark neveldine tries his hand at devil possession film. two things one can expect from him: a) he can’t do any form of normalcy or tradition genre movement so predictably the first hour of this is as dull as it gets. b) he is bound to send the possession film into steroids. the vatican tapes has no sense of dramatic structure or movement, but it writes every single moment and gesture during its is final confrontation with such energy that who cares ?
well seeing as i had watched taylors solo film and liked it (mom & dad) i figured id watch neveldines solo trek into filmmaking with cautious optimism. this was to be unfounded as the vatican tapes is a bore at best and a cliched riddled run of the mill mess at worst. long gone is the heart racing action and stellar innovative camera work he showed with taylor by his side, in it' s place is a shell of a film that makes the exorcism of emily rose look like the exorcist in comparison. sad
as the film hurtles inexorably toward its denouement, you might expect it to try and make us care for these people in some way. (otherwise, what would be the point behind any of this ?) but they’re all smothered under neveldine’s choppy direction. there are occasional visceral moments of violence and gore, but we miss the inventiveness of the films the director made with partner taylor: he’s playing the story straight this time, so the frantic cutting and occasional extreme angles feel more like desperation than inspiration. maybe if he had gone completely off the rails with it, à la the crank films — throwing the camera into weird spots and playing up the humor of the proceedings. but alas, amid the narrative and stylistic wreckage, the vatican tapes somehow also manages to take itself very seriously .
the next new release is the vatican tapes. it comes from lions gate entertainment and debuted on 427 screens. it is a found footage style exorcism horror film starring michael pena and djimon hounsou, and it is another one of lionsgate' s semi - wide releases. lakeshore entertainment handled the $ 13 million budget, so i am presuming that lgf is only on the hook for distribution and advertising costs. as such, the fact that the film only made around $ 260k today and will likely fail to break $ 700k for the weekend is a little embarrassing but not too traumatic. it was all - but - buried, and i imagine lionsgate is spending its time with shaun the sheep early next month .
in a highly secured vault deep within the walls of vatican city, the catholic church holds thousands of old films and video footage documenting exorcisms / supposed exorcisms and other unexplained religious phenomena they feel the world is not ready to see. this is the first tape - case 83 - g - stolen from these archives and exposed to the public by an anonymous source .
instead of an actual found - footage horror movie, what we have here is something different, but sort of related. the plot somewhat loosely revolves around cardinals at the vatican keeping a secret trove of tapes related to demonic possession, and when they catch wind of angela’s case, they request to have all available security camera footage of her sent to them so they can review it. but that’s not all we see; the film is more than just an assemblage of this footage. we do watch some of the creepier moments through a security cam quad - view, but when it suits the movie to cut to a closeup not motivated by an in - world camera, it does so. however, unlike subgenre highlight chronicle or even the underrated into the storm, both of which had some intentionality behind how and when they broke from found - footage convention at key moments — actually commenting on the genre — the vatican tapes seems completely random in how, why, and when it edits in some in - world film clips. do we really need to jump between “found” footage of angela facetiming her father, and a shot from the other side of the room where we can see her on her computer, half hidden behind an indistinguishable, fuzzy object in the foreground? it’s jarring, confusing, and annoying instead of being the faintest bit intellectually engaging .
subscribe to trailers: urltoken subscribe to coming soon: urltoken like us on facebook: urltoken follow us on twitter: urltoken the vatican tapes official trailer # 1 (2015) - michael pena, djimon hounsou horror movie hd a leaked video tape reveals a vatican exorcism gone horribly awry. the movieclips trailers channel is your destination for the hottest new trailers the second they drop. whether it' s the latest studio release, an indie horror flick, an evocative documentary, or that new romcom you' ve been waiting for, the movieclips team is here day and night to make sure all the best new movie trailers are here for you the moment they' re released. in addition to being the # 1 movie trailers channel on youtube, we deliver amazing and engaging original videos each week. watch our exclusive ultimate trailers, showdowns, instant trailer reviews, monthly mashups, movie news, and so much more to keep you in the know. here at movieclips, we love movies as much as you !
the next new release is the vatican tapes. it comes from lions gate entertainment and debuted on 427 screens. it is a found footage style exorcism horror film starring michael pena and djimon hounsou, and it is another one of lionsgate' s semi - wide releases. lakeshore entertainment handled the $ 13 million budget, so i am presuming that lgf is only on the hook for distribution and advertising costs. as such, the fact that the film only made $ 850, 000 for the weekend is a little embarrassing but not too traumatic. it was all - but - buried, and i imagine lionsgate is spending its time with shaun the sheep early next month. and shame, i say, shame, on lionsgate for not snagging imax or at least a plf engagement for shaun the sheep .
the information isn’t always easy to digest – for the reader or for the writer. as always with harris, there is a lot of backstory and exposition. “the thrones had been abandoned in 1965 after the second vatican council, like so much else of the church’s old traditions. ” “he had never forgotten filing past pope paul vi’s body in st peter’s in 1978: in the august heat, the face had turned greyish - green, the jaw had sagged, and there was a definite whiff of corruption. ”
it’s no ordinary case of demonic possession that rouses the attention of the catholic church in “the vatican tapes” — more like the sort of full - on egg - vomiting, eyeball - gouging spiritual meltdown that suggests the antichrist herself now walks among us. and director mark neveldine, who is no master of dread but a dab hand at dispensing regular shocks, brings an undeniable lunatic conviction to this cheaply derivative religio - horror freakout, while running up the sort of abnormally high body count you’d expect from a “die hard” sequel rather than an occult thriller. silly, screechy and eminently watchable, this thrifty horror exorcise (er, exercise) could yield decent theatrical profit for pantelion films, and might turn even more heads in vod play .
let me summarize the plot: a young woman is possessed by the devil. the end .
so by the time
the vatican tapes
gets good and freaky, it' s way too little, and too late. where was this unholy amount of energy for the rest of the film' s (admittedly brisk) 91 - minute runtime? why couldn' t poor supporting actors, like scott or peña get a decent role? peña, who just knocked it out of the park as the comic relief in
ant - man ,
is especially short - changed. his character seems to exist to re - assure roger that
your faith will see you through
and then worry while cardinal bruun tries to do what he thinks must be done... much like jason miller did while max von sydow went to work in
the exorcist .
for all that, “the vatican tapes” never becomes anything more than straight - up catholic exploitation, pure and unapologetic. neveldine’s first solo helming effort may show a bit more restraint and sobriety than his cult - beloved collaborations with brian taylor (the “crank” pics, “gamer, ” “ghost rider: spirit of vengeance”), all of them veritable master classes in frenetic overkill, but the director nonetheless knows how to apply the cattle prod: with its slamming edits and its banshee howl of a soundtrack, the movie is less interested in leaving viewers deeply unsettled than in maintaining a state of high anxiety throughout. d. p. gerardo madrazo’s sharp red - camera lensing finds the right shade of ugly urgency for the grim proceedings, and neveldine has fun prowling dimly lit hospital corridors in his signature tracking shots (captured, as usual, by the director himself on rollerblades) .
they represent the holy trinity ,
the cardinal says, before helpfully adding, presumably for the benefit of non - christian audience members ,
the father, the son and the holy ghost .
the screenplay for this film was featured in the 2009 blacklist, a list of the
most liked
unmade scripts of the year .
follows the haunting tale of 27 year - old angela holmes, who accidentally cuts her finger and ends up in the emergency room. infection leads to erratic behavior, and she begins to have a devastating effect on anyone close, causing serious injury and death. priests examine holmes and believe she is possessed, but when the vatican is called upon to exorcise the demon, the possession proves to be an ancient satanic force more powerful than they imagined .
speaking of the last exorcism, i couldn’t stop thinking about its sequel after the vatican tapes ended, the sorta - clunkily - titled the last exorcism part ii. that movie isn’t a found - footage movie either, eschewing the convention of its first film — that a priest was having a documentary made about his final exorcism. but even so, the sequel finds something interesting to do with the concept of found - footage. nell sweetzer, the now - cured — or is she — girl from the first film, winds up at a halfway house since, oops, she killed everyone last time so she has no more family members, so sad! once there, she finds herself ostracized from the other residents, who tease her mercilessly — because the footage shot in the first movie was actually found, in - world, and tossed on youtube. so essentially, the characters in the last exorcism part ii have also seen the last exorcism, just like we have. it’s an interesting move for the series, and it’s ultimately a lot of fun to watch a reformed horror movie villain battle other people’s perception of her, even as she’s also battling the return of her demon .
well, there you have it folks… the director of the film, openly admitting he barely put any effort into the movie aside from making his own version of the exorcist and the last exorcism. don’t bother watching the result. save yourself the 90 minutes, because literally every plot development and “twist” is in the trailer. including the final shot, by the way, which is the final shot of the film .
in conclave the hero is cardinal lomeli, dean of the college of cardinals and the man responsible for presiding over the conclave. among the papabile there is tedesco the traditionalist, tremblay the ambitious north american and adeyemi the african with strong views on the role of women and gay marriage. vaticanologists will doubtless be able to tell how far these various individuals resemble real - life cardinals – though even the most casual vatican watcher should be able to identify the shady outlines of at least half a dozen well - known figures. into this gathering there arrives a cardinal no one has heard of – vincent benítez, a cardinal in pectore, created by the pope in secret in order to protect his identity. the stage is thus set for a showdown .
, which is one of the biggest hits of all time. the second biggest release according to urltoken is the
attempted to make its mark by zoning in on the aspect of the son of satan, playing more on the invincibility of the demon, and the inevitability of his victory. however ,
in the new york and l. a. areas and will take the title to the top 25 markets around
a woman seems to be at the centre of a series of unexplainable events, resulting in death and destruction for anyone around her. the vatican concludes she is possessed by a demon, and a priest is assigned to exorcise her - but he discovers the creature inhabiting her body is older and more powerful than anyone suspects, and could prove a threat to the entire world. horror, starring olivia taylor dudley, michael pena and dougray scott .
the screenplay for this film was featured in the 2009 blacklist, a list of the
most liked
unmade scripts of the year. see more »
that' s the new release news for the moment. check back for more weekend estimates and the like tomorrow .
angela holmes is an ordinary 27 - year - old until she begins to have a devastating effect on anyone close, causing serious injury and death. holmes is examined and possession is suspected, but when the vatican is called upon to exorcise the demon, the possession proves to be an ancient satanic force more powerful than ever imagined. it’s all up to father lozano to wage war for more than just angela’s soul, but for the world as we know it .
if you think this sounds surprisingly similar to the plots of several other of harris’s novels then you’d be right. having started out as a political journalist, he has rarely wavered from his specialist knowledge in his subsequent career as a writer of fiction: the acquiring of, the exercising of and the inevitable corrupting effects of power. in the ghost (2007) he investigated the workings of power in contemporary british politics. in imperium (2006), lustrum (2009) and dictator (2015) he did the same with ancient rome. now he does it with the vatican. in a few years’ time he will surely turn his attention to the olympics or fifa .
it is a shallow week on the home market. the number one release is
i guess brian taylor was the talented half of the neveldine / taylor duo .
angela holmes is ordinary 27 - year - old until she begins to have a devastating effect on anyone close, causing serious injury and death. holmes is examined and possession is suspected, but when the vatican is called upon to exorcise the demon, the possession proves to be an ancient satanic force more powerful than ever imagined. it' s all up to father lozano to wage war for more than just angela' s soul, but for the world as we know it .
check out highlights from some of the best recent trailers including mandy, the predator, zoe, and the king of thieves .
the housewives go to cannes but, unsurprisingly, drama follows them across the ocean .
anthony head as benedict: a senior monk at the castle where nadya and danny are hiding at the start of the film .
ciarán hinds as roarke / mephistopheles / the devil: the human form of the demon who transformed johnny blaze in the ghost rider. mephisto has fathered a child named danny, and has plans for the boy. peter fonda, who portrayed the character in the first film, had previously expressed interest in reprising the role, [ 16 ] however hinds was hired to portray the character instead. [ 17 ]
this is one of the promotional images released for the movie. note the wires and greenscreen. that’s about the level of care that went into making and releasing this movie. the movie came out last week and this still was released to various websites the week before… leading me to believe they added in the cgi flames about two days before the film came out .
the life of beach boys co - founder brian wilson is coming to the big screen in love & mercy. the story will follow the legendary musician from his success with the famous 1960s california band to his battles with mental illness .
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in the end, the film failed to deliver any sort of deeper impact beyond its pitch .
edt. the title averaged $ 4, 159. roadside noted the title was down “a modest 27% ” in same theaters and the film’s
— david s. goyer about the relationship between the two ghost rider films. [ 26 ]
in austin expressed negative reactions to the film. two attendants said it was worse than the first
rene rodriguez of the miami herald says, “where’s the head candy? where’s the complexity? where are the goods? ” but, daniel kimmel of the worchester telegram & gazette, on the other hand, says the film contains some “mind - bending philosophizing. ” variety is mildly disappointed to find the film “ straightforward ” in comparison with its predecessor, whereas jeffrey overstreet of looking closer finds the film far too convoluted. mark robinson of the reno gazette - journal thinks the action is mechanical and clunky, lacking urgency or passion, whereas peter smith of the bangor daily news calls the action “breathtaking” and “exuberantly entertaining. ”
the story is told in flashback, viewed through footage in the vatican archives of her interrogations, with a suggestion that angela may be the coming of the anti - christ. aiding the girl is father lozano (michael pena), a former soldier who took up the cloth after a couple of tours in iraq. (“when’d you change uniforms? ” “when i saw enough. ”) the role starts off seeming like it might turn out to be a nice showcase for pena’s brand of compassionate minimalism, but no. instead, lozano cedes much of the duties to cardinal bruun (peter andersson, camping it up), who himself was possessed at age 12 and has a no - holds - barred, scorched - earth approach to dealing with demons and devils .
basically the story of a man forced to finally see the injustice around him. riley’s movie is designed to do the same thing to you. …
the visuals and the use of sound are the real stars of the show, though toby jones is also excellent in it. the plot however, takes a backseat to setting the mood, which is very effective and relatable to anyone who has been a position where they felt like an outcast .
champion gamer max troy discovers events in a new video game are being mirrored in the real world, and must join forces with the game' s protagonist, orson creed, to unravel the conspiracy before the game' s sinister plot overwhelms the city .
the plot revolves around gilderoy (toby jones), an english sound engineer who has taken a job at an italian film studio to reluctantly work on a graphic horror film. the setup is fantastic and the way they never show the fictional film, only the dubbing sessions and foley work is genius. the descriptions of the scenes given by the crew are hilarious. it sounds like some crazy, exploitation version of
in los angeles, angela holmes is a happy young woman, pride and joy of her father colonel roger holmes and in love with her boyfriend peter
pete
smith. on her birthday party, she cuts her hand and roger and peter take her to the hospital. when she returns home, she has a seizure and they drive her back to the hospital. then angela is discharged but she pulls the wheel of the taxi causing a serious accident. she returns in coma to the hospital. forty days later, she has no response and father oscar lozano convinces roger to unplug the life support system. out of the blue, she awakes in perfect health. soon angela shows signs of demoniac possession and the vatican sends cardinal bruun to perform an exorcism to save her soul. will there be time to save her body ?
the movie is slated to shoot in the hollywood area as well as in various locations around southern california .
earned an average of $ 14, 034. the final film in the $ 10, 000 club was
the screenplay by christopher borrelli and michael c. martin does at least offer a nifty climactic plot twist, the effectiveness of which is undercut by the sickening feeling that it sets up the premise for a sequel .
has going for it is that unlike many other exorcism movies wherein the usual majority of the film is spent trying to banish the girl of her demon, this story takes the premise a bit farther, and suggests that the spirit who invades this girl’s body is actually the antichrist himself, come to take over the world — and he stands a good chance of winning .
i' m not sure why this gets grouped in with the giallo revival movies as it' s not a giallo at all, and considering the way the fictional italian studio is represented in the film, i don' t even think the filmmakers are all that fond of the italian horror genre as a whole .
on the question of action, for the record, most reviews do praise the film’s technical achievements, which are a step up from the bullet - time innovations of the original matrix. this wired profile of effects supervisor john gaeta is glowing, detailing just how he and the wachowskis came to develop the technology to film what they called the burly brawl, a fight between neo and 100 copies of hugo weaving’s agent smith. while the effects are noticeable to audiences in 2015 — especially so on bluray — at the time, they were revolutionary. the profile is well worth a read .
- maybe it' s because i saw horror films i didn' t like much the past three days but i enjoyed this one. nice claustrophobic tense atmosphere, and believable performances from the actors. the narrative was just alright, the story development could have used a little more understatement, as could the scares, more reliance on the atmosphere versus over the top moments .
now you have to start on the edwige fenech gialli and wonder why anyone ever allowed the 70s to end .
in romania, a french priest named moreau warns the monks of a monastery about an impending attack by the devil' s forces to obtain a boy named danny. the monastery falls under attack; moreau tries to help the boy and his mother nadya escape, but the distrusting mother shoots at moreau and flees with her son. moreau manages to distract the men chasing danny and nadya, but nearly dies in the process and loses them. he believes that only the ghost rider is capable of protecting the boy. he finds the rider and seeks his help .
in order to save this movie, they' d have to cut the first 80 or so minutes and then make the ending the beginning to an entirely different movie .
totally predicted the ending, right down to the
you have to let me go
line, but that' s ok. also predicted the final twist because i' ve seen halloween ii. the final battle was a blast, it wasn' t afraid to take advantage of the premise to make it completely over the top .
the robbie reyes incarnation of the character appears in the marvel cinematic universe through the television series agents of s. h. i. e. l. d. , where he is portrayed by gabriel luna. [ 51 ]
like peter bradshaw, i’ll get this out of the way at the beginning: the matrix reloaded isn’t nearly as good as the first film in the trilogy. while i found that film to suffer toward the end because of how much of an opening chapter it was, this film suffers even more because its “to be continued” ending means all the ominous - sounding exposition dumped by the architect in the third act doesn’t get sufficiently explained or wrapped up. what does it mean for reality if neo is in fact the sixth incarnation of the one? if the one is a necessary consequence of the programming, doesn’t that mean neo is himself a program? if zion has been destroyed and rebuilt six times in a row… does zion really exist ?
although director mark neveldine manages to squeeze out momentary impressive aesthetics, his proudest moments mainly exist during the exorcism scenes, well into the third act of the film. toying with the light, neveldine establishes the illuminations as bright and pure contrasts to the evil that inhabits them, creating a sense of invasion and unwanted spirits. however, these moments are few and fleeting, and mostly exist as a result of simple backlighting. the pov strangely switches over from hand - held to steadicam inexplicably halfway through the film, with bits of documentary - style scenes scattered sporadically throughout, creating an uneven, choppy vision. truthfully, in the end, the empty visuals that fill the screen fail to create a distraction from the fact that none of the characters are tangible enough to invest in, making the whole story feel contrived and lackluster .
a long forgotten ancient spacecraft discovered on earth. investigations carried out by scout transport her to the moon whereupon she meets the impressive machines preserving the wisdom of that long lost civilization .
as the film closes, the angelic blue flaming ghost rider rides off on his motorcycle, saying :
my name is johnny blaze. i' m the ghost rider .
ionut cristian lefter as young johnny blaze. matt long, who portrayed the character in the first film was originally set to reprise the role, but was eventually replaced by lefter .
after several days of therapy, i' m back with a couple of wes craven films from the 90s. again i am surprised at how the freddy series continues to be entertaining after all the sequels. new nightmare felt like a 10th anniversary homage to the original film. the original cast play themselves including craven whose unfinished script for a new freddy film is the gateway for freddy entering the real world. fun film .
but i’m not going to call the movie incomprehensible. there were just parts of it that i was confused by. that’s not to say it’s the movie’s fault. it’s possible i was paying attention to the wrong things, that i was hastily scribbling notes about the nature of “choice” when in fact the oracle was possibly dropping far - more - important lines about, y’know, the point of going to find the keymaker .
it’s interesting to look through these reviews and see the seeds of dissent that would explode into the mainstream opinion of the wachowskis upon the release of the matrix revolutions, following them for the rest of their career. like what happened with the matrix, various reviews dismiss this film’s philosophical concerns with vague statements like “the wachowskis are not profound, although they want to be. ” the miami herald review quoted above is another example; he somehow didn’t pick up on any deeper meaning, so he says it doesn’t exist. …more on this below .
conclave is unputdownable in exactly the same way that the work of henry james, for example, is very easily putdownable, which is to say its put - or unputdownableness is not a necessary indicator of its overall quality. a free paper on the bus or on the train is often unputdownable, while the golden bowl is almost unpickupable but ultimately worth the read .
and bleecker street’s i’ll see you in my dreams crossed the $ 7m mark over the weekend. the title grossed $ 110, 643 in 103 theaters, averaging $ 1, 074 .
the wired profile of the film’s effects supervisor mentions that, except for a few key close - ups, the whole thing is almost entirely digital, reeves’ and weaving’s faces superimposed over cgi bodies. they state confidently that filmgoers seeing the movie would be fooled and would never know that what they were watching wasn’t actually filmed in the “real” world. wired compares the massive technological undertaking, with is rows upon rows of server farms and dozens of it people closely watching every moment of the operation, to the filmmakers almost literally having to invent the matrix in order to pull it off, to fool audiences into thinking the virtual world and the real world were the same thing. it’s a great comparison… one that actually works even better when you realize just how fake the whole thing looks to modern eyes, especially on bluray.
the vatican tapes is a 2015 american supernatural horror film directed by mark neveldine from a screenplay written by christopher borrelli , which is in turn based on a story by chris morgan and christopher borrelli . the film stars olivia taylor dudley , kathleen robertson , michael peña , djimon hounsou , dougray scott , and john patrick amedori , and was released on july 24 , 2015 , by lionsgate . 
the vatican tapes is a 2015 american supernatural horror film directed by mark neveldine from a screenplay written by christopher borrelli, which is in turn based on a story by chris morgan and christopher borrelli. the film stars olivia taylor dudley, kathleen robertson, michael peña, djimon hounsou, dougray scott, and john patrick amedori, and was released on july 24, 2015, by lionsgate.
the vatican tapes is a 2015 american supernatural horror film directed by mark neveldine from a screenplay written by christopher borrelli, which is in turn based on a story by chris morgan and christopher borrelli. the film stars olivia taylor dudley, kathleen robertson, michael peña, djimon hounsou, dougray scott, and john patrick amedori, and was released on july 24, 2015, by lionsgate.