FILMGAZM PRODUCTIONS
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • ACTION
    • BIOPIC
    • COMEDY
    • CRIME
    • DRAMA
    • FAMILY
    • FANTASY
    • HORROR
    • MUSICAL
    • SCI-FI
    • SPORT
    • WAR
    • WESTERN
  • PODCASTS
    • THE FILMGAZM PODCAST
    • BEYOND THE BAD
    • FAKE TRUE STORIES
    • FILMGAZM CLASSIC
    • OSCAR SUNDAY
    • THE SNEAK PREVIEW
  • Articles
  • Hall of 10's
    • CONNOR'S HALL
    • CALEB'S HALL
    • AUSTIN'S HALL
    • JOSH'S HALL
  • Trailers
  • Meet the Team
  • In Memoriam
  • Ratings
Picture
In a world run by church decree, a lone warrior turns
​against God to save his niece from a nest of vampires.
ACTION/HORROR

Priest (2011)

Directed by Scott Stewart

Written by Cory Goodman

Starring Paul Bettany, Karl Urban, Cam Gigandet, Maggie Q,
​Lily Collins, Brad Dourif, Stephen Moyer, Christopher Plummer

Based on the graphic novel series by Min-Woo Hyung

Connor Eyzaguirre
August 4, 2020
6/10
I'm a huge fan of vampire movies. There are so many different ways to interpret the romantic undead, and the concept that Priest establishes is pretty brilliant. A world where man and vampire have been at war for centuries, and the church trains warriors to fight the dead. But now, with the war over and mankind safe under church decree, these "priests" are ostracized and put out to pasture. It's like Blade meets Mad Max with a little bit of 1984 sprinkled in for good measure. Unfortunately, the film doesn't do the concept justice, and lacks solid character development, and any compelling narrative.

Our hero is a strong, determined priest (Bettany) who learns that his niece (Collins) has been kidnapped by vampires, led by his old friend turned vampire, Black Hat (Urban). The priest joins forces with Lucy's boyfriend Hicks (Gigandet) to track these vamps down, but in order to do so, the priest must first denounce God and the church. The story jumps all over the place, introducing neat characters only to axe them immediately. In the end, we get a pretty neat climactic train fight, but Karl Urban hams up his villain so hard that it's impossible to feel a sense of urgency.

I really wanted to like Priest, but it's so low-effort and just feels weak. The vampires are basically just vicious demons devoid of personality or uniqueness. The characters are bland and forgettable, and despite Paul Bettany's best efforts, the priest is a boring protagonist. It's no wonder a franchise never emerged from this unfortunate bomb.

Mission Statement

Filmgazm is made by movie lovers for movie lovers. We believe in the magic of film and we aim celebrate films of all genres and throughout cinema history, regardless of who's behind the camera or who financed it. We at Filmgazm believe that every film deserves to be reviewed on its own merits and that's what we are here to do. Enjoy the show!
DISCLAIMER - Filmgazm does not own nor do we pretend to own any posters, artwork, or trailers on this site. We mean only to review
​and discuss movies. All trademarks are the property of the respective trademark owners.
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • ACTION
    • BIOPIC
    • COMEDY
    • CRIME
    • DRAMA
    • FAMILY
    • FANTASY
    • HORROR
    • MUSICAL
    • SCI-FI
    • SPORT
    • WAR
    • WESTERN
  • PODCASTS
    • THE FILMGAZM PODCAST
    • BEYOND THE BAD
    • FAKE TRUE STORIES
    • FILMGAZM CLASSIC
    • OSCAR SUNDAY
    • THE SNEAK PREVIEW
  • Articles
  • Hall of 10's
    • CONNOR'S HALL
    • CALEB'S HALL
    • AUSTIN'S HALL
    • JOSH'S HALL
  • Trailers
  • Meet the Team
  • In Memoriam
  • Ratings