Prime Evil (1988)

Cast:

William Beckwith is Thomas Seaton
Christine Moore is Alexandra Parkman
Mavis Harris is Sister Angela
Max Jacobs is George Parkman
Tim Gail is Bill King

What the box says:

Set in present day New York City, this supernatural thriller follows the lives of a sect of monks, which - through human sacrifice for the Devil - has achieved immortality and is still wreaking havoc today.

Plot:

In 1349, with the Black Death running through Europe, Lucifer recruited a number of monks to serve him. Present day, a priest dies. A group is performing a sacrifice every 13 years to continue their immortality, wealth, etc..

New York, Kathy is offered a job on wall street. Elsewhere, Sister Angela, a nun, is concerned about the rumors of the murdered priest. Apparently, her mother fell into the evil group. The bishop tells her about the cult.

Who is this Father Dowling you keep asking about, sister? She offers to infilitrate the cult.

The secret inspiration of Sling Blade. Later that night, an evil janitor breaks into Kathy's apartment, stabs her boyfriend, drugs and carries Kathy away for the cult.

A police detective, Dancar is looking for Kathy and consults Alex since Kathy's boyfriend was found murdered.

Alex's grandfather, George, meets with the cult leader, Thomas, who wants him to sacrifice Alex. Apparently, 13 years earlier, George sacrificed his son when he discovered he was selling kiddie pics of Alex.

Sister Angela renounces her vows.

Alex's mother, Francis, meets with George. She doesn't want Alex to move in with George.

Father Thomas meets Alex using the evil version of Jedi mind trick. Alex is just amazed by Thomas's greatness and keeps rattling on his wonderfulness to her boyfriend, Bill. Can you guess that' he's not too impressed by it?

Every guy should learn to not anger his girlfriend when she's been entranced by an 800 year old evil monk.

Later, the goon (Janitor) strangles Francis and fakes her death to look like she drowned in booze.

Sister Angela is questioned by Thomas then takes the cult's vows. Later, she secretly reports back to the bishop about the upcoming sacrifice.

After Francis's funeral, Thomas meets Alex who is going to movie in with George. Bill and Alex have another fight about Thomas.

Meanwhile, the Goon picks some more women off the streets or around the gym where Alex works put for Thomas's close ceremony..

Detective Dancor brings a prostitute, Judy, to Alex. She takes Judy to her grandfather's house.

Bill calls Detective Dancar.

Alex goes to Thomas's church. The evil Jedi mind trick is used again. Bill is stabbed by the goon but escapes until he is thrown off the church roof.

Immortality means wearing the same hooded robe for 800 years without washing it... Thomas readies for the ceremony with the women the goon has been grabbing throughout the movie and Alex.

Detective Dancar is told about Bill's death and that sets the hamster wheel in progress when he realizes the ceremony is on the winter solstice.

Dancar sneaks into the church tries shooting at Thomas to no avail.

Alex is placed on the table. George is given the knife. The cult is getting wild almost like something from the 1970s. Goon is stabbed by Angela who stabs George. Suddenly, a demon appears.

Please don't tell Cthulu or Dagon that I fell...I'd never live it down... The cult begins to grow older. Thomas runs off.

The cops take the women, Alex, and Sister Angela away.

Months later, Thomas meets with a real estate agent for another church...

What I say:

Every decade has forgotten movies whether they be classics that are wiped off the face of the Earth by accident, movies wrapped in legal cases, or just movies that are forgotten by most people for being bad. However, some secrets aren't always forgotten. Sometimes, they can be remembered especially when they get on one of those cheap DVD sets brandishing those movies as "cult classics." Think it's safe to say that Prime Evil wound up in the realms of video stores on the back rack being the closest to a collection is collectecting dust...

The idea of evil cults seem more belonging in movies like 1970's Rosemary's Baby. Evil cults don't seem quite as impressive in the late 1980s. See how evil gets changed a couple of decades ago. Imagine combining Law & order: SVU united with human sacrificing cults that were also against kiddie pics. How any member of an evil cult executes his son for kiddie pics? It does seem strange nowadays with the number of endangered victims in movies and TV series.

The demon only pops up a couple of times at the top of the ceremonies. Unfortunately, he doesn't take as much film time as the evil goon who kidnaps the women. This goon doens't quite appear as the ever-creepy goon in the Richard Kiel, Rondo Hatton, Tor "Beast of Yucca Flats" Johnson, vibe.... How intimidating? Take a sitcom's main characters goofy best friend, that how much he is.

Granted, Thomas is evil and was a monk during the Middle Ages. He appears to be in the Catholic church. How exactly can he avoid being called by someone above him like a bisop, archi-bishop, etc...? Thomas is still using the priest's collar to impress Alex with his evil Jedi mind trick routine.

It is hard to follow why all the random women are grabbed when it is stated so many times that a cult member's family must be sacrificed. Most of the women are addicts or prostitutes. If each cult member requires a sacrifice every 13 years, why doesn't every cult member need a sacrifice each 13 years? Well, they could have a ceremony each year if the sacrifices are staggered each year for every so many cultists.

Alex is almost portrayed as the 1980s horror's final girl. She keeps herself by morality, and abstaining from drugs, etc... However, she is still mind-tricked by Thomas which doesn't quite protect her from total slasher protection. 2 of the 3 other women for the ceremony are connected somehow connected to Alex. With Alex being connected to some sort of woman's shelter or street-charity, that does make some sense.

Cheap horror movies typically aren't known for revolutionizing the the horror industry. Think it can be safefully said that most aren't revolutionary except in low budget, bad-acting, and a lame story. Well, a movie that has been more known for a dust collection on VHS before being transfered into a DVD for the 12 movie horror sets.

Quotable Dialogue
"I will ex-communicate you for this blasphemy!"
"Too much to drink, have fun buddy?"
"I always thought you had a damaged ego..."
"I could use your moral support."
"One good idea in your life."
"Cut the crap, Fart-Breath!"
Morals of the Story
Backward stepping is a very physical exercise.
Cheetos is a fitness food.
Preacher collar is a very easy way to pick up chicks.
Junkies love new drugs for testing.
All police detectives carry liquor flasks.