 Decemberdike # 23
The Unholy (2021)
When a young girl who cannot speak is visited by the Virgin Mary she can suddenly speak, hear and heal the sick. As crowds race to the small New England town to witness miracles for themselves so does disgraced journalist Jeffrey Dean Morgan whose investigations begin to uncover something a lot darker than perceived miracles from the Virgin Mary.
I really enjoyed this. Based on a book by the great James Herbert, it's a nice slow burner of a film with excellent turns from Morgan, Cricket Brown as the miracle working girl and Carey Elwes as the local Bishop in a story that really held my interest throughout.
I'm not in the least bit religious yet i often seem to really enjoy horror films steeped in the subject, be it The Exorcist, Stigmata, Saint Maud, The Prophecy or the 80's minor classic with the same name - The Unholy, so went into this with a bit of hope.
Although not chock full of scares or shocks i loved the small town atmosphere and creeping undercurrent of dread that slowly envelops the film. The finale was nicely done with just the right amount of CGI for me but i can see some may have found it underwhelming. A bit like the movie as a whole. I'm sure most won't find it anything that exceptional but i really enjoyed it.
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