Frustrating because this was a semi neat notion whose execution just ... came undone. The gang should get an A for attempt but I'm afraid every thing else misses. Badly. It stole from virtually every horror notion that came before it, a forgivable sin if it could run with the stolen merchandise but it, instead, limps and stumbles. This was an F. Paul Wilson project, which, despite Wilson's popularity, explains alot. Our leading lady takes a lot of flack in reviews, and she earned them, but her problem isn't that she can't act. She does nicely with the dramatic moments but can't carry the in betweens. The in betweens was the movie trying to address the philosophical and spiritual concepts and conflicts of religion vs. an apocalyptic vampire plague. Heavy stuff that could have been fun to investigate, or it could have been addressed as this film did and be merely uninteresting and unresolved. When the story tried to come together, the acting fell apart and when the acting tried to kick in gear, the story dissolved. The movie built a golden opportunity, never before done as far as I know, hinted and foreshadowed at it for half the movie but chose to ignore it when the time came to deliver. *****************MAJOR SPOILER ALERT********************* Our defrocked priest is several times challenged with "Do you think you could resist the hunger if you became a vampire?", to which he promises he could. This is repeated enough times you just know it has to be a plot element and maybe the film's one redeeming feature but when the time comes, our priest never has to test his metal. It never happens! Wow, what a way to condense all he film's philosophical and religious pontification into end scenes with the vampire priest slamming his faith against his undead hunger. What a loss. That scene needs to happen in a film. It's a whale of a horror idea. But, nope, too much weight for this film's mastermind to carry. ****************END OF SPOILER****************************** There are neat nuances like much ugly vampires whimpering and whining for their food in a very original way and fight scenes with only noise and music but no fighting. Off screen scenes that needed to be on screen and on screen things that would be tons more effective off screen. High promise and no delivery. This kind of film is frustrating because of what it could have been. It needs to be remade by competent hands. But it won't. Too bad.
Review of Midnight Mass
