In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

After the death of her father, Elizabeth travels to a remote island, where a convent may hold the secret to the death of her mother. There, she finds nuns who conduct strange rituals in the catacombs beneath the building in an attempt to hold the evil there at bay.One of the first Western films to be shot in the Ukraine following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the birth of this movie was as difficult as Elizabeth's. The sets and locations are otherworldly yet inexpensive, but the political situation was rife with problems, like two coups that took place during the shooting and dubbing of the film.Director Mariano Baino had only directed the short Caruncula before this, but his eye is steady and strong. There's a definite air of looming Lovecraftian dread in this. It looks almost like a Soavi film. And while it has no score, the sound effects more than make up for it.Any film that has squads of nuns burning buildings and killing people - as well as a crucified zombie nun and a savage elder god hidden beneath the world - is worth checking out. It doesn't have the greatest story in the world, but when has that ever stopped our enjoyment of a horror film?

Following the death of her father, a woman arrives at a strange convent on a remote island in Russia to join a friend living there and begins to suspect them of strange happenings when a series of visions and dreams leads her to believe something is beneath the church's grounds.This here turned out to be quite the enjoyable and engaging effort. One of the many strengths of this one is the fact that there's a highly appealing atmosphere throughout this one that makes for a rather chilling and mysterious series of events. From the opening shot of the church being dismantled by the oncoming water as the hillside crumbles away and takes the debris out into the sea with it followed by the mysterious unseen force acting upon the loners left at the site, this one goes immediately for the grand hypnotic air throughout this one which is held by the utterly chilling scenes of the nuns underground. Given an appropriately eerie glow with the constant rocky outcroppings holding innumerable candles illuminating the darkness, this gets quite creepy with their strange antics and rituals being practiced that are otherworldly for a group of nuns to be engaging in, and there's quite a different feeling here that this indulges in due to these strange sequences. This is further highlighted by the strange dreams and visions she has once she arrives, with the elaborate candle-lit hallways and torch-fire ceremonial processions she sees them engaging in which are even greater pieces of the puzzle that she needs to uncover about their behavior and builds to a rather strong, overwhelming feeling here once it starts unraveling its storyline. Furthered by the strange incidents of her stumbling upon the pit featuring the blind nuns shambling about or coming across the twins in the catacombs, the idea of their purpose in the convent and what they're actually trying to accomplish becomes unveiled quite nicely and gives this one the kind of eerie, effective slow-burn build that's paid off exceptionally well with all the fun found in the final half which is where a lot of the action really picks up. From the attack on the helpers' shack to the nuns tracking her down through the church catacombs and the final meet-up with the main monster which inspires a massive rampage through the convent that's quite fun and exciting. As well, the final revelation about their backstory and how it all ties their history together is a nice shock twist that's paid off quite well with the impact it has on the events of the film thus far and makes for a great downbeat ending. Coupled with the fine gore and miniature effects used throughout here, there's a lot to like with this one. While these here are what really work here, this one still has some flaws to be had here. Among the few issues is the rather slow and dull beginning showing her travels to the remote convent which is really not that interesting and takes up way too much time. Going through the steps one-by-one of meeting all the different people along the way makes for a slow-going and somewhat dull as the voice-over narration at the start of the journey tells us all what's supposed to occur and now taking up this time just makes for a rocky start. That gets carried over into what happens once she finally arrives as the creepy, eerie atmosphere present here simply hides the fact that very little action actually occurs within this as it becomes a lot more about the creepy imagery and mystery than it is about the action behind the convent walls. These do hold it back somewhat but aren't enough to overwhelm the positives on display.Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Language and Brief Nudity.

This is a strange and creepy movie. It is shot in the Ukraine, and in a place with no electricity and only candlelight. It has a creepy sound throughout, and very little dialog.There are nuns that live in this harsh place and they spend a lot of time in flagellation. They also spend a lot of time doing things that make no sense whatsoever. I am sure it does to them, but we are left in the dark.Elizabeth (Louise Salter) visits this strange place. She is there to find out why dear old dad had been making regular payments to these nuns.Mother Superior (Mariya Kapnist), an old crone that must be a couple of hundred years old, assigns Sarah (Venera Simmons) to assist Elizabeth.Her friend Theresa (Anna Rose Phipps) is gone before she gets there, and I am not sure I would trust Sarah.The bottom line is that Elizabeth should have listened to her father.Bloody, gory, creepy, suspenseful, in the tradition of Argento and Bava; a must see.

I've had this movie collecting dust in my VHS stack for about 8 years now. I decided to give it a whirl after first purchasing it back in '99 or '00, and I recall it put me to sleep not more than half way through. I didn't give it another shot for another 3 years or so, and I fell asleep again, no lie. OK, so it's been about 8 years and I finally decided to watch the movie ALL the way through to decide if it is in fact a hidden gem or just a buried turd.So last night I put it in and watched 3/4ths of the movie and, guess what, I fell asleep again. I woke up this morning and finished the rest, and here's what I think of this movie:This movie is godawful horrible! And I don't mean that in a good, creepy, Excorcist type of way, I mean the movie is literally terrible. The character development is virtually non-existent, the plot is weak, and the blood and gore is pretty lame. There were a few parts that were almost OK, but almost OK doesn't cut it for me. The movie moves at such a slow pace and has virtually no dialogue. Heck, the dialogue that exists in the movie can't be understood...and it's in English!If there is one redeeming factor about this movie, it's the music. Yes, the music was pretty creepy, and I liked it. Too bad such a great horror soundtrack was wasted on this steaming pile of a movie.Don't believe the hype (at least on this board, as I doubt too many people past this board would be desperate enough to defend this garbage), this movie is absolute junk. It fails to scare, intrigue, or even moderately interest. The only thing it succeeds in doing is putting me to sleep, and I didn't even have nightmares. Now that's weak.I've given the movie a 3/10 for the soundtrack alone.