DESECRATION
A film review by Christopher Null
Copyright 2000 filmcritic.com
filmcritic.com
Indie horror is always a hit-and-miss affair, but true splatter fans will find a lot to like in Dante Tomaselli's Desecration, a truly bizarre tale of a boy (Danny Lopes) who accidentally kills a nun and then suffers the otherworldly consequences.
As cinematic oddities go, Desecration ranks right up there with Eraserhead, rarely making much sense but creeping you out every chance it gets. Made on a $150,000 budget, the film has a lot of big-budget flourishes made possible by clever camerawork and odd lighting coupled with good sound effects. Does it work as a story? No, but it is genuinely creepy and would probably work better as atmosphere for your Halloween party, what with its demonic nuns and clown-men, than anything else.
In many ways, Desecration reminded me of the original Phantasm, long on cheese but leaving you scared to death -- of all things -- of a metal ball. You'll never look at nuns the same way again.
The DVD also includes an excerpt from the original short film of Desecration, which, if it's possible, is even weirder than the feature.
RATING: **1/2
|------------------------------|
\ ***** Perfection \
\ **** Good, memorable film \
\ *** Average, hits and misses \
\ ** Sub-par on many levels \
\ * Unquestionably awful \
|------------------------------|
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Dante Tomaselli Producer: Dante Tomaselli Writer: Dante Tomaselli Starring: Irma St. Paule, Christie Sanford, Danny Lopes, Salvatore Paul Piro, Vincent Lamberti
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