Only hard core fans of serial killer thrills will want to watch Dimitri Logothesis' murky, clichéd variation on a theme of icky murder.
A series of grisly slayings rock the sanctity of St. Rita's rectory, and detective Billie Palmer (Alison Eastwood) and her partner, Julian (co-writer Nickolas Celozzi Jr.), consult Father Brian (Judd Nelson) about the cuneiform writing they find at the crime scenes. Billie has a lot on her mind: She's under investigation by the Internal Affairs department, and is furious that club owner Brian Wall (Darcy Laurie), whom she arrested for murder, is already back out on the streets. She'd like nothing more than to pin these new killings on Wall or Kuratha (C. Thomas Howell), his partner in Satan worship. But linking them to the crimes is no easy matter, especially because potential witness Father Kevin (John Rhys-Davies), the pastor of St. Rita’s, is deaf and his associate, Brother Thaddeus (Scott McGillivray), has taken a vow of silence! Based on tips provided by a less-than-reliable informant, Julian begins investigating the possibility that the killer may once have been victimized by a pedophile priest. He discovers that Kuratha was a foundling who grew up in foster care and attended St. Rita’s grade school. Meanwhile, Father Brian’s research into a Babylonian cult suggests that the killer plans to commit 20 sacrifices over 20 days’ time. Brother Thaddeus dies next, and the cops discover that Father Kevin has neglected to show them a secret passageway that leads into the church and has allowed the murderer to come and go without being detected. While Billie goes ballistic because her little sister has sneaked into Kuratha's Goth nightclub, -spot, the madman attacks Father Kevin’s housekeeper and the Vatican gets into the act. Someone’s secret past has made St. Rita’s parishioners extremely vulnerable.
Screenwriters Logothesis and Celozzi Jr. make hay with the specter of priestly misconduct, but the film's real appeal is its sheer ridiculousness: Connoisseurs of bad movies will be mesmerized by the interrogation scene in which Billie forces Kuratha to strip at the precinct house, then straddles the terrified, naked man and tries to arouse him as proof of guilt. leave a comment --Robert Pardi
