Santuário das Sombras

To have such ugly special effects in a movie that will be shown in cinemas should be a crime against the laws of aesthetics. Otherwise, The Unholy is a completely futile horror novelty that absolutely squanders what is, at its core, quite a solid idea. (26/05/2021)

The new mainstream horror fil Unholy, produced by Sam Raimi, unfortunately isn't worth much. it's nothing but a consumerist mainstream film, relatively nicely shot, but boring. The film was released in cinemas in the USA, so it's nice to know that it's not a completely cheap affair and a few people might enjoy Jeffrey Dean Morgan, though his character doesn't particularly stand out. The music didn't interest me much, there was maybe only one good jump scare, the atmosphere doesn't really grab you (unfortunately, most of the time it doesn't even happen in the dark), so probably nobody will be scared. The appearance of the Virgin Mary's ghost, especially towards the end, is slightly creepy, so at least there's that if nothing else. It's a shame it didn't push the envelope more (the body count is low), there are not enough scares and they not very effective, and at times it drags on quite a bit. An hour after it ended, I don't even remember what it was about, so I'm lowering my rating. 4/10. (25/05/2021)

Mary, I don’t understand how anyone can believe in the success of a horror film with such unconvincing special effects, a predictable plot, several dull moments, and jump scares as cheap as gasoline in Kuwait. Relying solely on the trio of veterans Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Cary Elwes, and William Sadler isn’t enough, and even the briefly ignited idea, quickly extinguished, that disbelief might counter dark forces didn’t save it. The producers probably thought that doubts lead to damnation. (09/06/2022)

In its atmosphere, but also in its technical execution, The Unholy reminded me of Darkness Falls, but instead of cursed Mary, we have the Tooth Fairy. The premise is not bad at all, and the opening line from the 19th century had something to it, but the film still struck me as a bit cheap, almost TV-like at times, with its weak visual effects, the strange script and the odd cinematography. The film has quite a lot of jump-scares, but it looks mostly one-dimensional without any attempt to build tension. PS: I loved the poster. (20/06/2021)

Overall, a pretty good concept, as if it came out of an Enigma article, and therefore I believe that this originality will be appreciated the most in this film. Otherwise, it's quite a tragedy and paradoxically it mostly spoils the key scenes for this genre, the horror ones. There was a futile effort when it comes to effects here, and even Czech graphic designers did a better job on the recent fairy tale The Princess Enchanted in Time. There was no tension at all, and I'm glad I saved money on the cinema. These concepts call for more capable directors. (16/08/2021)