Good premise doesn't deliver
A has-been journalist (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) stumbles upon the story of his career while visiting a small New England town. A deaf girl can suddenly hear and speak. Her explanation? She is channeling the Virgin Mary. We believe this as she proves she can heal the sick. A boy with muscular dystrophy can now walk. A priest no longer shows any trace of his terminal lung cancer. This causes a sensation and media/social media frenzy leading her to be identified as the chosen one.But things are about to get more complicated as the beginning sequence of the film foreshadows. Suddenly terrible things begin to happen. Is this really the work of God, or the devil in disguise? To the detriment of the film, you won't wonder too long because the movie too soon explains exactly what's going on. This ultimately keeps the film from building any real tension or suspense.
I was hoping this would be like The Omen or The Exorcist. But instead of getting chilling, unnerving, and creepy, I had to settle for a bunch of The Grudge type jump scares and CGI demons.
The film is not a complete loss. I wasn't bored. The acting and cinematography were strong. But ultimately The Unholy fails to deliver any real horror.
score 5/10
peterscarpinato 2 April 2021
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw6772251/35710
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