The nineties were flooded with crummy sequels and horror movies too dramatic for most of the fans. While the genre doesn’t know where it is headed, The Convent surfaces. This movie reminds us, without the slightest hesitation, of the series Night of the Demons: unknowing teenagers adventure in a haunted house and do what teenagers do best: drink. Then, the gothic girl who has her sexual orientation questioned repeatedly is possessed and distributes the diseases to the best of her ability by violently murdering her victims. The greatest difference? No breasts are shown in The Convent!
The demons are not like those of Demons nor like those of Night of the Demons. They are fast, move in a worrisome manner and have neon covered faces. It has never been seen before. These rave-style demons tear their way to the teenagers and break down doors in a way that resembles Dead Alive.
Three typical characteristics of low-budget movies are stereotypes, poor dialogues and mediocre actors. Here, we are saved from two of these: however, they still face the fate of stereotypes. We have the blonde cheerleader, her boyfriend with the preppy clothing, the manipulated nerd, the rebellious gothic girl, the homosexual and the "I’ve-never-done-anything-wrong" girl. The actors do what they can while still knowing that they can’t do anything miraculous. Very familiar faces play Christine and the two police officers, which helps the overall quality of the film.
The comedic aspect is omnipresent. Coolio plays the role of a police officer who doesn’t deserve the title. He hates white people and loves soft drugs. When one of the survivors approaches him for help, he chases her away by unloading his weapon at her because she is covered with blood without even knowing that demons have awakened. Another memorable moment is the scene where Frijole is followed, high on mushrooms. Frijole finds a cross where Jesus asks him to let him down, just like they were old friends.
All these elements contributed to accentuate The Convent and render it a black sheep of the style. The end displeased me for two reasons. The first: the gay character takes too much space. His survival, along with the intellectual’s, depends on their capacity to free themselves and he takes advantage of the situation to try and rape him. It is quite funny during the first few seconds but is really irritating after the fourth minute. Anyhow, these characters should have died at the beginning of the film. Finally, the obligatory annihilation of the demons is pathetic. A lack of budget has allowed the creators to invent magic properties for napalm bottles.
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