The Vatican Tapes (2015)

A priest and two Vatican exorcists must do battle with an ancient satanic force to save the soul of a young woman.

Director:

Mark Neveldine

Writers:

Christopher Borrelli (screenplay by), Michael C. Martin (screenplay by)

Stars:

Olivia Taylor Dudley, Michael Peña, Dougray Scott

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Olivia Taylor Dudley	...	Angela
John Patrick Amedori	...	Pete
Dougray Scott	...	Roger
Michael Peña	...	Father Lozano
Peter Andersson	...	Cardinal Mattias Bruun
Djimon Hounsou	...	Vicar Imani
Kathleen Robertson	...	Dr. Richards
Sam Upton	...	Orderly Mason
Cas Anvar	...	Dr. Fahti
Michael Halsey	...	Dr. Bramwell
Alex Sparrow	...	Resident Kulik
Jarvis W. George	...	Detective Simmons (as Jarvis George)
Michael Paré	...	Detective Harris
Alex Corrado	...	Bishop Saldano
Montanna Gillis	...	Jackie

Storyline

THE VATICAN TAPES follows the ultimate battle between good and evil - God versus Satan. Angela Holmes is an ordinary 27-year-old until she begins to have a devastating effect on anyone close, causing serious injury and death. Holmes is examined and possession is suspected, but when the Vatican is called upon to exorcise the demon, the possession proves to be an ancient satanic force more powerful than ever imagined. It's all up to Father Lozano to wage war for more than just Angela's soul, but for the world as we know it.

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Plot Keywords:

demonic possession | exorcist | antichrist | vatican | priest | 

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Taglines:

For 2,000 years the Vatican has recorded evidence of evil. May God have mercy on their souls.

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for disturbing violent content, and some sexual references

Did You Know?

Trivia

The screenplay for this film was featured in the 2009 Blacklist, a list of the "most liked" unmade scripts of the year.

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Connections

Referenced in Half in the Bag: Fantastic Four (2015)

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Soundtracks

Emad Sayyah Leyla y Leyla
Written by Emad Sayyah
Performed by Emad Sayyah
Courtesy of ARC Music Productions Int. Ltd.
Under license from SirGroovy.com

User Reviews

"The Vatican Tapes" is Just Another Exorcism Movie

I haven't had such low expectations for a horror movie in a while. The trailer wasn't flattering at all and made it look like an incredibly generic found footage exorcism flick, and now that I've seen it, I can confirm that that is only half true. Despite the title, it's not a found footage movie, but it is a generic possession movie. In The Vatican Tapes, 20-something year-old Angela (get it?) gets possessed by a demon, but it's not just any demon; it's the Anti-Christ himself. A priest and two Vatican exorcists team up to try to exorcise Angela before it wreaks havoc on humanity. Surprisingly, The Vatican Tapes is actually a movie that gets better as it progresses, although that's really not saying too much. The first act of the film is its worst. Every exorcism movie cliché you could possibly think of is stuffed into twenty excruciating minutes, and it definitely made me fear for the rest of the movie. After that, The Vatican Tapes does get more interesting ever so slightly and has a couple of decent scares because Angela is now in a mental hospital, but still nothing we haven't seen from other, better movies. A black raven has to announce the next "scary scene," which completely ruins any tension the film might have had because the audience is now going to expect the next big obnoxious jump scare. The plot eventually decides that there should be an exorcism scene, and after a particularly lazy attempt to say why Angela is discharged and sent back home, the audience finally gets what they paid for. The exorcism scene itself takes up the last 20 minutes of the movie. It's admittedly pretty cool to watch since there are a few creepy and intense parts, and the pace slows down a bit to allow some atmosphere to build up. There's still this inescapable feeling that everything is still all too familiar to anyone who's seen a good possession movie. Then the ending comes. The ending is actually the only part of The Vatican Tapes that I wholeheartedly enjoyed. It ended the movie in a rather dark and powerful way, so much so that I'd like to see a sequel just to see where they could go with that ending. Even with the surprisingly good ending, it's not enough to warrant a recommendation for The Vatican Tapes, a been-there-done-that exorcism movie that has about as much soul as the possessed Angela. Another day, another exorcism.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan] Official Website

Country:

USA

Language:

English Aramaic

Release Date:

22 July 2015 (Egypt)

Also Known As:

The Vatican Tapes

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$832,271, 26 July 2015

Gross USA:

$1,784,763

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$13,015,764

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lionsgate, Lakeshore Entertainment, Pantelion Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1