Verdict
Summary
The movie is very much in tune to the Night of the Demons movies and Evil Dead 2, and in a lot of ways reminded me of a Rolfe Kanefsky flick, which is a good thing. For whatever reason the distribution for this film was very spotty, but it’s finally made it way back to circulation thanks to a premium release by Synapse, which is basically the first official release the film has ever gotten. Horror fans will get a kick out of all the blood sprays and the mayhem, and anyone looking to begin their Halloween horror season has the perfect film in The Convent to get it going.
Plot:
A frat house prank goes off the rails when what’s supposed to be a boarded up convent turns out to be haunted by a bunch of demons.
Review:
A young woman named Christine armed with a baseball bat, a can of gas, and a shotgun totally obliterates a priest and a bunch of nuns at a convent in 1960. The place is destroyed by this young woman’s shocking act of what appears to be murder. Forty years later, the convent still stands, boarded up and condemned. A handful of horny and unruly young people looking to have a fun time over the weekend pile into a topless jeep and skid off to the convent to pull a prank for hell week. Turns out that a handful of goofy Satanists have made shop in the convent, performing rituals and meddling in matters that will have severe consequences. They awaken the demons that possessed the priest and the nuns all those years ago, inciting that young woman Christine to turn against them all. As it turns out, the convent was host to Satan-worshipping cretins, and they did a great wrong to Christine, whose only recourse was to lash out and try to destroy the accursed place once and for all … except now the evil has awoken! With the goofy Satanists and the group of horny idiots all wandering the halls of the convent, there will be plenty of cannon fodder for the demons to enjoy. Who will save the day? Well, it’s a good thing Christine (played as an adult by Adrienne Barbeau) lives close by, and she comes riding in on a motorcycle, wielding a shotgun and a machete to level the playing field one last time.
A sort of forgotten action horror hybrid from filmmaker Mike Mendez, The Convent is an energetic, if haphazardly paced crowd pleaser with borderline slapstick gags, glow-in-the-dark demon makeup, and a mostly disposable cast aside from some horror favorites, who also include Bill Moseley and Coolio in a bizarre cameo as a patrol cop (!) with corn rolls. The movie is very much in tune to the Night of the Demons movies and Evil Dead 2, and in a lot of ways reminded me of a Rolfe Kanefsky flick, which is a good thing. For whatever reason the distribution for this film was very spotty, but it’s finally made it way back to circulation thanks to a premium release by Synapse, which is basically the first official release the film has ever gotten. Horror fans will get a kick out of all the blood sprays and the mayhem, and anyone looking to begin their Halloween horror season has the perfect film in The Convent to get it going.
The new 4K Ultra HD / Blu-ray edition of The Convent looks and sounds amazing, with some choice bonus features, including an audio commentary, a booklet with a great article / essay by author Corey Danna (which might be the most comprehensive piece ever written about the film), and much more, this release is a must own.
Bonus Materials
- Contains one 4K 2160p UHD disc and one 1080p Blu-ray disc
- 4K remaster of the uncut version supervised and approved by director Mike Mendez
- Mastered in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
- 5.1 stereo surround mix from the original 16-track audio masters
- Cast and crew audio commentary
- “Lords of Hell” audio commentary featuring Saul and Dickie-Boy
- Video tour of both THE CONVENT and KILLERS film locations
- Vintage “Making of” featurette
- Vintage original studio Electronic Press Kit (EPK)
- “It’s Always Something with a Virgin” Liner notes from Corey Danna
- Deleted scene
- Gore outtakes
- Still gallery
- Promotional trailers
