Priest
2011 · Directed by Scott Stewart
Original language: English
- action
- fantasy
- horror
The story
In an alternate world, humanity and vampires have warred for centuries. After the last Vampire War, the veteran Warrior Priest lives in obscurity with other humans inside one of the Church's walled cities. When the Priest's niece is kidnapped by vampires, the Priest breaks his vows to hunt them down. He is accompanied by the niece's boyfriend, who is a wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess.
What it’s like
Bleached, desaturated desert under a flat white sky, with the Church's walled cities rising in stark concrete and rust, and the vampire lairs lit in sickly green and sepia. The look is comic-book stylised: crisp widescreen framing, slick digital sheen, sharp swooping camera moves and hard cuts during fights, and a steady industrial clang of percussion over a brooding, choral-tinged score. Nights bring blue-black gloom and flickering torchlight, the dust hanging thick in every frame. The vibe is grim, dusty and kinetic, with a stern, dead-serious edge, and it suits a late-night watch with the lights off or a dark-fantasy action fix. Pacing is brisk and combat-driven, with quieter stretches of grief and guilt around a weary veteran who breaks his oath to rescue family and slowly remembers what he has given up. Violence is frequent and bloody: vampire hunts with stabbings, decapitations and blood spray, some gore, and a brief, dark sensuality. It is intense rather than cruel, with some scenes of helplessness. It is for viewers who enjoy stylised, morally heavy action with a hard, unsentimental tone.
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