There’s also an excessive amount of demonic violence, with some lewd moments. Much of Angela’s behavior during her possession scenes is sacrilegious as well. Dwelling on occult material is bad enough, but letting it win is reprehensible. THE VATICAN TAPES appears to be on the side of the priest and good, but, eventually, evil triumphs, and all good is vanquished. Eventually, Angela’s case unleashes powerful demonic forces. That priest is Father Lozano, a young and quiet priest, who slips into Angela’s life while she’s in the hospital for a mysterious cut on her thumb. They agree it’s time to assign a priest to investigate and exorcise Angela. An opening credits note has already told the audience that the Vatican has been filming all exorcism activity for the past several decades, so the priests have seen footage of the possessed woman. But while there are a few appropriately scary scenes, the overall feeling is that Neveldine could have served up far more terrifying film if he’d pushed the envelope more, given the intense subject matter.THE VATICAN TAPES opens with a priest at the Vatican talking with a cardinal in a Vatican church, as they discuss the case of Angela, a possessed woman in Los Angeles. Neveldine’s effective use of light combined with Joseph Bishara’s creepy score (he’s also scored Insidious and The Conjuring) is also noteworthy. Dudley however, injects her performance with the right shade of eeriness. While Hounsou is somewhat underplayed – seen in only a smattering of scenes – Scott and Amedori’s roles are fairly run-of-the-mill. But can Angela really be cured? And does Bruun know the magnitude of evil that he is dealing with? After a disastrous stint in a psychiatric ward, where head shrink Dr Richards (Robertson) is unable to help her, all hopes are pinned on the hard-headed Cardinal Bruun (Andersson, fairly intense), down from the Vatican, to try and perform the said exorcism.
Vatican Tapes now treads down a somewhat familiar exorcism-horror film path.
Angela can speak in ancient tongues (Aramaic included), summon ravens (considered a symbol of death) and cause people to temporarily lose their minds and fatally injure themselves. She does so, strangely enough, when Father Lozano (Peña, suitably somber) blesses her with holy water. It takes months for her to wake up from a coma. In the Vatican, a few priests are aware about various evil forces at play all over the world – forces that result in an increased number of demonic possessions (depicted via found-footage format) and events that could pave way for the anti-Christ.Īngela’s strange behavior starts manifesting just before she gets into a car accident.