george.schmidt Review of Priest

Priest (2011)

Decent vampire flick with shadows of Western motif ala THE SEARCHERS (!)

[7/10 · 18 May 2011]

PRIEST (2011) **1/2 Paul Bettany, Karl Urban, Cam Gigandet, Maggie Q, Lily Collins, Lily Collins, Brad Dourif, Stephen Moyer, Christopher Plummer, Alan Dale, Madchin Amick. Post-apocalyptic horror film based on Minn-Woo Hyung's (who adapted with co-scribe Cory Goodman) Korean graphic novels about the titular elite vampire slayers – Bettany stoic as always – out to destroy a new, powerful strain of the blood-thirsty undead with one caveat: his long-lost daughter Collins has been kidnapped by nefarious Urban (aping many of Clint Eastwood's mannerisms from the 'spaghetti Westerns' of yore). While it is refreshing to see the creatures of the night rightfully depicted as ravenous monsters and not primadonna , glistening teenagers the storyline is too familiar with few surprises, albeit a nice but short-lived performance by veteran loon Dourif as a latter-day Renfeld-in-the-process-snake-oil-salesman and the linear plottings of THE SEARCHERS (!) makes an ideal hybrid of western and chiller flick . Director Scott Charles Stewart manages to keep things lively in a RESIDENT EVIL manner – i.e. slo-mo kills. The 3-D is so-so but the gist is given.