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At
St. Mark's Alternative School for Girls, Elizabeth Dobbs is one
of Father Drake's best and most religious students. One day after
Latin Class Father Drake asks her about a drawing representing
Jesus casting out the demon Legion to which she answers that it's
her favorite story in the Bible. As Father Drake is speaking to
another student outside of the school Elizabeth fights off a demonic
possession attempt through faith. Moments later only her blood
is found in the classroom.
Five
years later the school has reopened. Five girls who all have troubled
pasts are now the only students. Father Drake is their teacher
and the Headmistress, who runs the school with an iron fist, has
some dark secrets of her own. The girls discover the story of
Elizabeth and must try to stop the evil force lurking with the
hallowed halls.
This
movie had a lot of potential and I felt that it lived up to a
good portion of it. The plot moved along a bit slower than I normally
like, but everything does fit into the movie.
While
not too gory, this movie gives us ample bloodshed. It's a little
bit here and there at first but as the movie goes on it's almost
non-stop. I also felt that the acting was okay for what it was.
We can also add "priest" to Ron Perlman's already extensive
resume.
During
the movie we are shown how strict the headmistress is. The last
girl shows up late to class and the other girls had to stand up
for two-and-a-half hours reciting "Hail Mary's" while
waiting for her. Also there was to be NO outside communication,
including the internet. There is also weekly blood and urine testing.
Finally no horror movie is complete without at least ONE cliché.
The third floor is forbidden.
The
five girls are all "unwanted" because of the abilities
that they have: One is Wicca who is a conduit for the supernatural;
Another is also Wicca, but she is blind and has a "second
sight" that allows her to see the past, present, and future;
one girl can heal fresh wounds; one can walk through solid objects;
The last has telekinesis.
Aside
from the girls abilities, everyone else has their own dark secrets
as well.
That's
about all of the good. Now for the bad: We never see a "big
battle" between the girls and the demon. That would have
had a lot of promise. Also, Warren P. Sonoda should be ashamed
of himself. Six cute chicks in Catholic School Girl uniforms SHOULD
equal plenty of opportunities for nudity, right? Not in this movie!
We get all of ONE nude scene. There's also two scenes where girls
kiss, but them making out would have been much better.
My
final gripe is that the movie (like most of Hollywood) shows you
that Dabbling in the supernatural is as effective as practicing.
This is highly untrue. The issue of faith could have been explored
a bit more as well since it was mentioned a good amount as well.
I'm
giving this a 7 out of 10.
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