- Although "The Unholy" is based on a work of fiction,
you don't necessarily need to read the 1983 novel
to get the most out of the movie.
But there are aspects of the story
that make reference to real events
that some have interpreted as true life miracles.
A few of these instances are called out
by Bishop James Giles in a press conference
as an attempt to explain their significance to the media.
He quickly summarizes how each of them
resulted in the nomination of a holy shrine.
But all of these stories are at least based on real people.
The first is the case of Bernadette Soubirous,
the 14 year old who grew up in extreme famine
in the mid 1800s in France.
Bernadette suffered from intestinal problems and asthma
since she was little.
But after experiencing a vision
of a dazzling white figure as a teen,
she was supposedly told to drink this muddy spring water,
which that day miraculously turned clear, as the story goes.
The water was said to somehow be able to cure the sick
and people assume the spectral visitor
to being the Virgin Mary.
The second case was in 1917 in Portugal
where three children named Lucia, Francisco, and Asinta
reported having encounters
with apparitions of the Virgin Mary.
Just like the report in France nearly 60 years before,
they described a woman in white
exuding a sort of bright sunlight-like ray.
The woman promised the kids that if they kept coming back,
she would perform a miracle on October the 13th,
which involved the sun coming out
from behind stormy clouds,
casting multi-colored lights, and appearing to zoom forward
and dry the clothes of the onlookers standing in the rain.
The third and final case was in 1981 in Bosnia
where six kids saw a similar woman
and now many visitors claim to also be able to see her
at certain times of day.
The location draws thousands of pilgrims every year.
Each of these three locations became holy shrines.
And so, the movie and the book it's based on, the "Shrine",
depict the emergence of a fourth shrine in Massachusetts.
In the story, each of the three so-called miracles
were followed up by tragedy,
which was true in the case of the three Portuguese children
who all died in the next one to two years
during the 1918 flu pandemic.
Ironically, the release of this movie
would also be hampered by a major pandemic.
To learn some of the secrets
of the dark fates behind this event
once heralded as a modern day miracle,
stick around to the end of this video.
(ominous music)
"The Unholy" tells the story of this small church town
near Boston being put on the global map
due to the supposed miracle that takes place there.
When a deaf and mute girl named Alice
is gifted with the ability to hear and speak perfectly.
But one journalist named Gerry Fenn begins to suspect
that the entity performing these supposed miracles
is anything but a holy one.
Hence, the title of the movie.
Gerry was once a prominent reporter,
but his desire for fame pushed him to fabricate stories,
leading to him being shunned by any respectable publication.
We see he is now working for a site
called "Bizarre Beantown".
Beantown is a reference to the city of Boston
once known for its baked beans.
But Gerry is sent to the countryside in Massachusetts
to investigate a story,
a small town by the name of Banfield.
His story turns out to be a dud.
But when he happens across Alice,
he realizes he's got a much bigger scoop on his hands
before eventually discovering that he may have put himself
and many others in grave, grave danger.
I've got a few things you'll want to look out for
when watching this movie.
So let's get into that.
This video is sponsored by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
(ominous music)
When Gerry first arrives in Banfield,
he comes across this doll known as a Kern Baby,
which is said to be planted there by farmers
as a token of good luck.
However, this particular one is labeled
with an impossible date, February 31st, 1945,
which is said to be part of a practice
to contain bad spirits.
Little did I know at the time,
there are actually many stories of grave markers
and monuments with this date.
While it can sometimes be used to denote an unknown date,
many use it out of superstition.
Essentially, the idea is that the evil spirit
will not be released on any anniversary
because the date listed can never come.
Gerry shows his willingness to fudge a story for money
by breaking open the Kern Baby
and making up a story about this talisman being broken
and an unholy evil being released, thirsty for blood.
In this stance, the story is kind of
a self-fulfilling prophecy.
And this is where we start to see the signs
that an evil has indeed been unleashed.
But its name is not Virgin Mary but rather Mary Elnore.
Take the use of color, for example.
We all know from Carrie's mom
that red is the color of the devil.
And we see that reflected in Alice
who the satanic entity speaks to and deceives.
When we first lay eyes on her,
it's the red tail lights of Gerry's truck.
When she gains her hearing back,
she undergoes an auditory test
which bathes her in red lights.
The water that Mary Elnore
emerges from in Gerry's dream is red.
And after she takes her first victim,
this holy statue is illuminated in the devil's color.
These are all signs that what may appear to be holy
is actually a demonic trick.
Another example of this is the motel
that Gerry stays in in Banfield.
The sign basks the entire area in red lights.
And in more than one instance,
Mary Elnore materializes from that direction.
(foreboding music)
(ominous music)
You'll notice the sign is always flickering
and the letter M always flicks
independently of the other letters.
Could that possibly stand for Mary, or possibly miracle?
Either way, it draws my attention.
It makes me think that something isn't right here.
Alice shows that she's also able to help other people
get healed by Mary when she helps a crippled boy
walk for the first time.
And when she does something like this,
we see one of these statutes crying red tears.
We see this happen a few times.
And as a non-Catholic, I was curious about
what this may have signified.
So I looked it up.
According to this site called "The Conversation",
Mary cries not only over the sins of the world
but also over the pain she endured in her early life.
I think the meaning behind this imagery in the movie
is open to interpretation.
These could be the real Virgin Mary's tears
and she's weeping for everyone who has tricked
into devoting themselves to a false deity.
Or these could be Mary Elnore's tears
for the pain that she endured in her life
which we see in the prologue.
I think it's up to you to be on the lookout
and make the judgment as you watch the film.
Another detail I found interesting
was Alice's music preferences.
Once she gains the ability to hear,
she takes an interest in country music.
But the song we actually witnessed her listening to
is "Voices In My Head" by Ashley Tisdale
which must be connected to the way
that the false spirit communicates with her
where she's able to hear it but nobody else is.
One of the most interesting character dynamics at play here
is the relationship between Gerry and Alice.
Gerry becomes the exclusive reporter who has access to her.
And in a strange way,
they both kind of relate to each other.
Alice is a girl who was literally able
to use her voice for the first time.
And Gerry has, in essence, just gotten his voice back,
or at least his journalistic voice
after being de platformed
by the paper that he used to work for.
This makes them built ideal victims for Mary Elnore
because they're both desperate to speak freely.
So despite this movie seeming to have a bit of a message
about just being honest and humble in your work,
you know there's still gonna be
some true reference Easter eggs.
So here's a few of them that you can look out for.
During the news and social media montage,
where a word of Alice's miracle
is spreading around the country,
there's an Instagram post from an account called joshsg78
which was likely put there
by first assistant editor Josh Sgarlata.
Later on, there's a YouTube live stream of the ceremony
at the new shrine on Sacrament TV.
Not to be confused with Sakoda TV from "Death Note".
There were only three people active in the chat
and they include Grace, a reference to the VFX coordinator
and Nolan R., the VFX editor.
I'm not sure who Ron Bingo is,
but if anyone figures it out, drop me a comment.
Just taking a quick glance
at some of the ads for this movie,
I couldn't blame you if you had the impression
that it was gonna be somewhat similar to 2018's "The Nun".
But outside of the generic concept
of an evil entity posing as a holy one,
it really couldn't be much more different.
Instead of the expected haunted house tropes,
"The Unholy" is more of a character piece
with the dread that bubbles up slowly until the big finale.
(fire crackles)
(crowd screaming)
You're not gonna see Bloody Mary
popping up in the mirror for cheap scares.
And it's kind of refreshing to see a movie like this
in a modern setting with a touch of humor where appropriate.
- You have a son?
- Yeah.
- 16?
- No, he's 15.
- Do you ever hear of the band Metallica?
(cow moos)
- I also mentioned the dream scene
which offers some surreal imagery that I liked.
But what I was most impressed with
was the way that the film handles the antagonist.
Like the characters, we kind of slowly realized
that Mary Elnore is not who she says she is.
But if you look closely, the clues are there.
When Alice first makes contact, you can see something
that looks like a ghostly figure fade before her,
which appears again as a glitch in one of Gerry's videos.
Then when we actually do see the creature
who fittingly bust out of a statue
of the actual Virgin Mary,
I won't spoil her appearance for those who haven't seen it,
but it's like it's a very own brand of creepy.
And I took a liking to the way it looks,
the way it moves, and even the way it sounds.
It was all very unique in a modern horror landscape
that already has a lot of demon characters.
If you haven't seen the movie yet, you are in luck.
You can get it now on digital or on blu-ray.
And if you love horror,
you're already right where you need to be.
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for new horrors every week.
Ring the death bell for all notifications
and I'll see you in the next one, assuming we both survive.
And if you haven't already, vaccinate and annihilate.
(upbeat ominous music)