‘The Vatican Tapes’ – An Epic Battle Between Good and Evil

By Alison Lesley --
23 Apr 2015 --

With a scheduled US release date of May 22, 2015, Lionsgate hopes to put audiences on the edge of their seats with a new horror film: The Vatican Tapes.

The Vatican Tapes, directed by Mark Neveldine and starring Kathleen Robertson, Djimon Hounsou, Michael Peña, and Olivia Dudley, is a movie that follows two priests examining exorcism tapes from the Vatican who stumble on a more intense path – an eschatological duel with the Antichrist himself.

Films like The Exorcist, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and Deliver Us from Evil have proven that the Demon Possession genre of Horror films has a track record of box office success. Recently, it has become a popular Horror genre for filmmakers to explore.While The Vatican Tapes is director Mark Neveldine‘s first horror film, it is not his first time dealing with the eternal struggle between good versus evil as he also directed Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

The age old battle between the divine and the fallen angel has deep roots in the Christian collective conscience and like any other set of beliefs that make us who we are, this tenet will forever be a source of artistic inspiration. Judging solely from The Vatican Tapes’ first official trailer, we can expect a high quality production in terms of visual effects, suspense, and adrenaline rush. The trailer introduces the story of men of God doing God’s work on Earth facing the ultimate battle: a war with a possessed body and a soul that’s being slowly devoured by the Devil. Djimon Hounsou (Gladiator, Guardians of the Galaxy) and Michael Peña (End of Watch, Cesar Chavez) play Vicar Imani and Father Lozano, respectively, as they battle the Devil himself after he possesses Angela, played by (Olivia Dudley).

The Vatican Tapes will surely be a great success among the horror genre aficionados, but at the same time, it runs the risk of considerable criticisms from religious groups.