Prime Evil (1989)

Director:

Roberta Findlay

Writers:

Ed Kelleher (written by) and
Harriette Vidal (written by)

Release Date:

6 September 1991 (Portugal)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

A terrifying force that cannot be resisted is here ...

Plot:

A coven of devil-worshiping monks living in New York City search for victims for their sacrificial ceremonies. |

Plot Keywords:

Female Frontal Nudity | Title Directed By Female | Church | Granddaughter | Falling From Height

Cast

William Beckwith	...	Thomas Seaton
Christine Moore	...	Alexandra Parkman
Mavis Harris	...	Sister Angela
Max Jacobs	...	George Parkman
Tim Gail	...	Bill King
George Krause	...	Ben
Ruth Collins	...	Cathy
Amy Brentano	...	Brett
Jeanne Marie	...	Judy
Gary Warner	...	Detective Dann Carr
Iraida Cruz	...	Mrs. Quinto
Roseanna Peterson	...	Alison Deveraux
Cameron Kell	...	Frances Parkman
Nicole Sislian	...	Tina
Phil Murphy	...	Bishop McCabe
Scott Rhodes	...	Sam Phelan
T.J. Glenn	...	Detective Davis (as Glen James)
Gloria Galo	...	Mrs. Valdez
Roy MacArthur	...	Abbot Godwin
Miriam Zucker	...	Nancy Deans
Zenon Zeleniuch	...	Mr. Deans (as Zenon Zelenich)
Hershey Snyder	...	Father Daniel
Gregory Sullivan	...	Lawrence
James Hogue	...	Father William
Jim Cirile	...	Norman (as James M. Cirile)
Jeanette Smith	...	Disciple
Tom Smolinski	...	Disciple
Mims Mattair	...	Disciple
Shira Daemon	...	Disciple
Florence Galperin	...	Disciple
Dawn Carpenter	...	Disciple
Leo Marks	...	Monk
Bill Poore	...	Monk
Mark Schiffman	...	Monk
Timothy Barcheck	...	Monk
Kurt Sinclair	...	Monk (as Kurt Schwoebel)
Roy Innocenti	...	Monk
David Dahl	...	Monk
Gunter Stern	...	Monk
Marshal L. Herault	...	Hansom Cab Driver
Barbara Summerville	...	Mrs. Brown
Rafael Guadalupe	...	Hip Dude

Directed by
Roberta Findlay

Writing credits
Ed Kelleher		(written by) and
Harriette Vidal		(written by)

Produced by
Walter E. Sear	....	producer

Original Music by
Walter E. Sear

Cinematography by
Roberta Findlay

Production Design by
Eddie Heath

Makeup Department
Ed French	....	special makeup effects artist
Dan Frye	....	makeup effects technician

Production Management
Walter E. Sear	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Len Jacobs	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Jeffrey J. Haboush	....	sound re-recording mixer
Greg P. Russell	....	sound re-recording mixer

Stunts
T.J. Glenn	....	stunt coordinator
Scott Leva	....	stunt double
Scott Leva	....	stunts
Scott Rhodes	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Jonathan Burkhart	....	assistant camera
Regina Franchi	....	still photographer
David Phillips	....	gaffer

Other crew
James M. Cirile	....	assistant to the producer
Rafael Guadalupe	....	production coordinator

Distributors

• Crown International Pictures (1988) (USA) (theatrical)
• New World Home Video (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (1989) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Rhino Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Astro Distribution (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Deimos Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Starmaker Video (19??) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

USA:83 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:R | UK:18 | Canada:R (Ontario) | Portugal:M/16

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Movie Connections:

Referenced in My Mom's a Werewolf (1989)

These Monks Hunger for pure virgin blood!

Okay, so we've got Roberta Findlay ("Tenement: Game of Survival", "Snuff") directing a cheesy 80's horror movie revolving on a brotherhood of devilish monks sacrificing young women to Satan himself and drinking their blood in order to remain immortal. How bad could this possibly be? Correction; it's unquestionably going to be extremely bad, but the right question to ask should be: How is this not going to be entertaining? What we have here is pure late-80's trash-gold, with a completely nonsensical and laughably incoherent plot, tacky make-up effects, gratuitous nudity and a whole lot of gibberish about Our Lord Satan! The script of "Prime Evil" is wonderfully incompetent and aimlessly skips from one theme onto the other without any form of continuity. The film opens in the year thirteen-hundred-forty something with a bunch of monks turning to Satanism because they're angry with God for allowing the Black Plague to kill millions of people. This was obviously a brilliant career move because the story suddenly jumps forward in time 600 years and all the monks contained their same age and virility. But the next winter sacrifice is coming up and one of the cult members suggests using his granddaughter because she's still a virgin. Meanwhile, the leader of the cult engaged a convicted killer to randomly kidnap the granddaughter's best friends and then – finally – there's also a sub plot about a devoted nun going undercover in the cult by order of the Catholic Church. This last sub plot is actually the most hilarious, since Sister Angela is hardly ever mentioned anymore after her initiation rites. This is why I personally love 80's horror movies! There are so many ideas yet they all just loosely connect together. There's no atmosphere of suspense whatsoever and even the whole devil-worshiping concept seems redundant. They're just a posse of bloodthirsty priests craving to cut open voluptuous young girls. There's fairly little gore until the climax arrives and that reddish puppet with horns, supposedly representing Lucifer, is just plain pitiable. The acting performances are horrible, but I don't suppose you expected it any other way. Boring, however, it was not.