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The Vatican Exorcisms DVD Review

     Actors: Joe Marino, Piero Maggio
  • Director: Joe Marino
  • Format: Multiple Formats, Anamorphic, NTSC
  • Language: English (Dolby Surround)
  • Subtitles: English
  • Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: NR (Not Rated)
  • Studio: ANCHOR BAY
  • DVD Release Date: May 19, 2015
  • Run Time: 76 minutes




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              Some bad films are actually quite fun to write reviews for, if only because they provide the opportunity for creative insults. Sometimes the filmmakers even fight back (see my recent review for Muck). The Vatican Exorcisms is another film entirely, so poorly conceived and created that there is no joy in writing this review, and even less in enduring the painful attempt at entertainment. Nothing about this film is worthwhile, from painfully bad acting to cheap special effects, all done under the moronic pretense of being a “real” found footage film.

     


            Director and atrocious actor Joe Marino plays himself, as a supposed documentary filmmaker who travels to Rome in order to investigate the dark side of the Catholic Church within the Vatican. Hearing rumors of Black Masses, orgies and demon possessions hidden from the public, our hapless protagonist tracks down interviews and examines the allegations himself. We are brought along on this endeavor, forced to sit through countless scenes of shaky camerawork to make up for the lack of a budget and inability to show any real special effects. The highlight of the film is a sequence at the end involving a possession, which is clearly just an actor who is also a contortionist.

     

    Don’t be fooled by any of the DVD artwork; all of it is misleading and not taken from any actual images within the film. Carefully constructed, this could have been a clever found footage film, but instead has the look and feel of something that was thrown together without much planning. Logic is so sparse within the screenplay that I don’t even feel the need to discuss it. I will just urge audiences to try any other film instead. The one thing that I can say about Marino’s film is that it gave me hope. If he can make a film this shoddy and still find distribution, there is hope for many other filmmakers, including those with little experience and/or talent.

     

    The DVD includes a trailer and a photo gallery. I’m pretty sure they are attempting to keep up the ruse that this is a real documentary, but anyone with enough education to read this review is unlikely to be fooled. 

     

    Entertainment Value: 0/10

    Quality of Filmmaking: 1/10

    Historical Significance:  0/10

    Special Features: 2/10




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    1 comment:

    1. Jason carmine carminejason@gmail.com20.9.15

      I thought the movie was a bust everything seemed to be rushed and put together as if clips were cut and pasted together to try to make the movie seem real but once you get to the end of the movie and see the last possession, you just want to throw the disk away. From the old house in the beginning that you know is going to play out somehow in the end to the contortionist at the end. The old lady did the best acting out of the four.

      ReplyDelete

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