Review of The Unholy (2021) by Nateblum7 — 01 Aug 2021

If you are even considering seeing the Unholy, whether you are using Amazon, YouTube or even an illegal stream, all I can say is save your time. This movie is the most disappointing horror movie in recent memory, given how good the trailers looked.

I don't know how, but Screen Gems managed to take a decent concept, good actors and a pre-existing amount of hype and make that into 99 agonizing minutes of boring, suspenseless "horror". Let's start off with what this movie does well: The concept and the setting.

The idea of a demon pretending to be the Virgin Mary, and using that as a way into a young girl is great, and the creepy setting of a small New England town suits the film well. Unfortunately, that is where the list of positives ends.

The characters range from unlikeable to borderline cartoon villains (William Sadler's "Father Hagan"), and the atmosphere of the movie is far more boring than creepy, featuring the usual run of overused scenes like the characters being in a creepy church basement or a rural farm house.

Overall, the unlikable, poorly written and developed characters, and absolute butchering of the concept makes the Unholy an overall regrettable experience. The trailer reveals way too much. Going into the movies, there is the feeling that there is supposed to be a sense of mystery, but all along it is blatantly that it is a demon, not Mary, and that all the people with Alice Saves t-shirts coming to her for help are both in trouble and hailing a demon.

The demon itself looks awful, putting all former CGI demons to shame. Ultimately, the best way I could describe the demon is looking like Vigil from Rainbow Six Siege. With no suspense, no real scares beyond the occasional jump scares, and characters that you find hard to root for or care about, The Unholy is a disappointing experience that doesn't leave me wanting more, it leaves me wanting my time and $4.

99 back.