Priest is loosely based on a manhwa (Korean comic) series created by Hyung Min-woo. I use the term, “loosely,” because after doing my research, I found out that film is more toned for an American audience. In the original comic, the Priest fights demons while in the film, he fights vampires. I may be in the minority on this one, but I really enjoyed this film.
Priest starts with its past. A war between man and vampire breaks out. For centuries, the wars always had been even. While the vampires had the strength and advantage, man always had the sun. Then things began to shift towards the vampires, humans as a race were nearing extinction, until the Catholic Church, in a way that never fully is explained, trained a group of priests to become vampire-killing warriors. These priests went on a vampire-killing spree, nearly wiping out the vampire population. Eventually, the vampires gave in and agreed to live on reservations and never feed on humans again. Unfortunately, one of the priests is captured and turned into a vampire. The Church then decides to disband the Priest warriors and forces them to live in the walls of the great city where the Church rules over all of humanity. However, The Priest gets word that his brother’s home has been attacked and that his niece has been kidnapped by vampires. When the Church rejects his plea to go back out to hunt the vampires, the Priest breaks his sacred vows to venture out on an obsessive quest to find his niece before they turn her into one of them and threaten humanity’s existence once again.
Priest takes place in an alternative universe where the war between Vampires and Humans has existed since the beginning. The time period in which the films takes place seems to be in a distant future where the world is a wasteland and only super cities exist for humans to live in. It is very much a horror western with a pinch of post apocalyptic sci-fi thrown in. The story is basic and the plot is unoriginal. We have seen this story play out in many other horror and science fiction action films. However, the premise is enjoyable and the action and effects keep us entertained. I really liked the characters and the relationships they all had with one another. That is what really kept me interested in the film. It is more character-driven than anything. You can almost predict how the film will end once the twist is revealed. However, overall it is a fun film to watch.
The Priest Blu-ray has a lot of special features including deleted and extended scenes, Filmmakers & Cast Commentary, and two featurettes: The Bloody Frontier: Creating the World of Priest and Tools of the Trade: The Weapons and Vehicles. There are also Blu-ray exclusives such as Bullets and Crucifixes: Picture in Picture Experiences, MovieIQ and more.
Priest is your basic big budget horror western. It is full of CGI vampires and creatures with cool digital sets and post apocalyptic back drops. I really enjoyed the characters in the film and it was enough for me to recommend it. It is not a masterpiece, but it is fun and it is entertaining.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
