Priest

When I first saw the previews for Priest, I thought it was going to suck really hard. I didn't think it would have any redeeming factors and I thought that it was a bit of a rip-off of 10 other movies. After watching Priest, my original prediction was proved to be half-right which is a problem. Priest is pretty much a rip-off of about 10 other movies.

One good thing about Priest is that unlike a lot of other horror movies, it doesn't take itself that seriously. Despite seeming like a movie in which religion and a ton of religious confusing concepts are present in every scene, Priest is actually pretty straight-forward and easy to follow. Which made the A.D.D in me very happy. :) There's very little story in Priest, which is a bittersweet thing in a way.

As for the performances, well for the most part, the main actors (Paul Bettany, Cam Gigandet, and Maggie Q) are given very little to do, which is unfortunate....considering I think 2/3 of these are actually quite talented. Paul Bettany grunts all his lines, Maggie Q says everything in the same, montone, worried tone, and Cam Gigandet....I don't even know.

In terms of the horror aspect of Priest, it disappoints most of the time. A scare or two is present, but for the most part Priest doesn't really build up thrills or genuine suspense at all. Everything pretty much just...happens, without really any build-up at all. It's not totally without scares, but it plays as more so of an action movie with a thrill or two as opposed to the horror movie that it is advertised as.

Now for my biggest problem of Priest....literally everything is taken from other movies. Priest is one of the most unoriginal movies I have seen in a while. A scene where the entire city is attacked by the "vampires" looks straight out of 30 Days of Night. The creatures themselves (which I wouldn't even call vampires) look like creations straight out of The Mummy. The evil priest/religious themes come straight from that stupid bullshit, The Rite. Even movies like Sleepy Hollow and Van Helsing come to mind when watching this. Priest commits a vital sin with not having an original idea in its mind.

2/4