By Melissa Antoinette Garza
My brother found out about Goodnight, God Bless aka Lucifer from a book about old-school horror films. Neither of us had ever seen it or even heard of it before. As we typically either own or have watched every 80s horror movie made, this was certainly an unusual find.
The synopsis described a possessed priest killing innocents while being hunted by a determined police force. It sounded as though it had promise, so we sought out the trailer which also provided hope for a decent flick.
Though the film never had an official DVD release, a bootleg copy was easy to find. I went in completely optimistic and pretty pumped up. It isn’t often that I get to watch a movie from the heyday of horror that is new to me.
The opening scene actually shocked me and provided even more reassurance that good things were on their way. The film begins with the priest clutching his rosaries. He wanders onto an elementary school’s playground. Right here, it’s evident that nothing good can come of him being there.
Small children are hanging around outside, and all seems relatively calm. The students are clearly no older than 8 or 9 years old. It’s obvious that the priest is going to do something awful, yet when the killing spree began, there was most certainly an element of surprise.
Though there is no blood and the deaths aren’t graphic in nature, seeing the priest so callously take young lives is more than a little disturbing. I can’t imagine that a scene like this would be in a modern horror production. With all the horrific school shootings that have sadly occurred in recent times, I think a slasher movie depicting something similar may hit too close to home for some viewers.
Sadly, the movie goes downhill from here. We never really learn what possessed he priest, who he really is, or what is going on.
Even the main characters that do well in the roles, have little to work with. The police aren’t inept but definitely out of their league while they attempt to solve the crime. Those scenes make up a great deal of the film. Unfortunately they’re just boring and add nothing to the story.
The last scene is amusing but everything from the 10 minute mark to the 1 hour and 25 minute mark is empty. There are really no scares. There is one cool scene where a woman is walking in the dark. She’s in front of foliage and the background music is haunting. Everything in that single scene is perfect, but still the audience doesn’t feel anything. There’s no emotional ties to the victim or enough knowledge about her that would help the viewers relate and experience fear.
The story begins and ends with a demonic priest on a killing spree. I just wanted more. There are so many avenues to explore with this concept, but none were taken. It never went beyond the basic plot or expanded on the premise at all.
I wouldn’t recommend spending the time to track this down and the money to watch it, but if you can find it for free somewhere, there are a few scenes that make it tolerable.
The death scenes are done well, but the characters are interchangeable and no one really earns sympathy. I know I went in with higher expectations than normal and I’m sure that’s part of the reason I’m so let down. Still, I think they had a great idea and opted not to run with it.
Scared Stiff Rating: 4.5/10
