Editorials
The Demonology and Faith of ‘The Vigil’ [Spoilers]
This article contains spoilers.
Possession-based horror movies tend to feature a central protagonist suffering a crisis of faith, thanks to the massive success of The Exorcist. Its lead, Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller), struggles with believing amidst a world of suffering. His grief and guilt over his mother’s death threaten to swallow his faith whole, which in turn makes him vulnerable to Pazuzu. It’s only when he takes a giant leap of faith that he’s able to win. Karras’s journey set the blueprint for demonic possession horror, and The Vigil adheres to the mold. What sets this chilling tale apart, though, is its approach, refreshing shift in religion, and distinct demonology.
This spooky tale takes place over one frightful evening, with its lead confronting both his guilt and a demonic entity. That lead is Yakov (Dave Davis), a former Orthodox Jew attempting to adjust to the secular world after tragedy sucked away his faith. Yakov also struggles financially, often choosing between prescription meds or meals. It’s the latter that causes him to accept a paid job from a cousin (Menashe Lustig) who intends to exploit Yakov’s monetary anxieties in hopes of bringing him back to the Hasidic Jewish community. Yakov accepts to act as Shomer, where one guards a recently deceased body against evil spirits until they can be buried. In this case, it’s for Holocaust survivor Mr. Litvak.
The role of Shomer is often a job performed by family members or paid professionals. Straightaway, Yakov learns that the first Shomer fled in fear shortly after stepping inside the Litvak household. Even when the Alzheimer’s afflicted widow, Mrs. Litvak (Lynn Cohen), rejects Yakov as her husband’s Shomer, financial desperation drives Yakov forward in completing the job, and he’s left alone with Mrs. Litvak and her deceased husband for the night. It doesn’t take long for things to start going bump in the night, and for the demonic entity that latched on to Mr. Litvak to emerge in hopes of making Yakov its newest victim.
Writer/Director Keith Thomas, making his feature debut, introduces the Mazzik, a demon of Talmudic mythology. Here, the Mazzik -which means “destroyer” in Hebrew per the director in an interview with SyfyWire– feeds off of the suffering of its host. Roughly halfway through The Vigil, Yakov finds his way into the basement, where an old tape of Mr. Litvak plays to deliver the exposition behind this movie’s demon. He describes it as a parasitic entity that found him in the woods five decades prior, attracted to his suffering. It’s a callback to the opening scene, in which a Nazi forces a man to point a gun at a woman. Mr. Litvak was forced to execute a fellow concentration camp prisoner, and the traumatic event attracted the Mazzik. The video describes the Mazzik as a being whose head is twisted entirely around as it’s “damned to look backward, to stare in the past.”
Mr. Litvak relays the most vital step in thwarting this demonic parasite from latching on; burn its real face before the dawn of the first night that it appears. The implication clear, as this is Yakov’s first encounter with the demon. He warns that if it’s not done before then, the Mazzik will never leave him. With Mr. Litvak’s death, the Mazzik wants another broken soul. Yakov, whose trauma reveals itself in flashbacks throughout the film, serves as the precise type of broken soul the Mazzik desires.
In an early introductory scene, it’s explained that Mr. Litvak never left his New York City home, and that he complained of extreme agony when stepping foot outside the front door. Before the paranormal activity began, it’s a seemingly throwaway line chalked up to elderly eccentricities. The dementia-suffering Mrs. Litvak’s words initially dismissed as ramblings from a mind no longer present. However, when the haunting visions and eerie activity reaches a fever pitch, Yakov tries to flee the home only to crumble in pain, not even a block away.
Much like Father Karras and Christian counterparts, Yakov’s final confrontation with his demon coincides with a renewed faith. Yakov arms himself with tefillin, leather boxes that contain scrolls inscribed with verses from the Torah. With prayers and a candle, he wades into the dark bowels of the second floor to face the demon. Unlike Karras, Yakov survives his ordeal and comes out in a much healthier place, absolved of lingering guilt. It doesn’t end with Yakov returning to his Orthodox roots but forging a spiritual path for himself.
Perhaps the most intriguing question raised, however, is why did the Mazzik allow Yakov to see the video detailing how to stop it? The demon fed off of Mr. Litvak’s soul for fifty years, forcing him to relieve his pain, and it displayed a strong power over the household, after all. A late scene, near the end of the movie, shows an obscured, blurred figure behind Yakov on the stairs. It teases the idea that while Yakov appears to be free from its grasp, the demon might be free from the home its been tethered to for so long. It’s a subtle yet unnerving reminder that trauma never truly goes away, it just changes over time.
Thomas brings a new perspective to a familiar setup without sacrificing any scares. The ominous atmosphere and unsettling moments deliver the chills. The filmmaker also takes significant measures to ensure that this story is told in an accessible way. A familiar tale of demonic possession becomes enriched by its subtext of inherited generational traumas, and its core themes of guilt and religious obligation are inherently relatable regardless of beliefs. They’re universal.
Horror movies like The Unborn, 2012’s The Possession, and 2015’s Demon helped popularize the Dybbuk, a malicious possessing spirit. Thomas brings a much welcome change, eschewing evil ghosts to introduce wider audiences to underexplored demons and mythology. The Vigil seamlessly blends modernism with tradition and injects a familiar horror setup with a thrilling new perspective. The Mazzik is a reasonably obscure entity that teases a vast depth of untapped mythology to pull from for horror. That Thomas delivers such an unsettling, atmospheric debut full of memorable scare moments leaves you hoping that mythology’s deep well gets further explored sooner rather than later.
Editorials
‘Immaculate’ – A Companion Watch Guide to the Religious Horror Movie and Its Cinematic Influences
The religious horror movie Immaculate, starring Sydney Sweeney and directed by Michael Mohan, wears its horror influences on its sleeves. NEON’s new horror movie is now available on Digital and PVOD, making it easier to catch up with the buzzy title. If you’ve already seen Immaculate, this companion watch guide highlights horror movies to pair with it.
Sweeney stars in Immaculate as Cecilia, a woman of devout faith who is offered a fulfilling new role at an illustrious Italian convent. Cecilia’s warm welcome to the picture-perfect Italian countryside gets derailed soon enough when she discovers she’s become pregnant and realizes the convent harbors disturbing secrets.
From Will Bates’ gothic score to the filming locations and even shot compositions, Immaculate owes a lot to its cinematic influences. Mohan pulls from more than just religious horror, though. While Immaculate pays tribute to the classics, the horror movie surprises for the way it leans so heavily into Italian horror and New French Extremity. Let’s dig into many of the film’s most prominent horror influences with a companion watch guide.
Warning: Immaculate spoilers ahead.
Rosemary’s Baby
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The mother of all pregnancy horror movies introduces Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow), an eager-to-please housewife who’s supportive of her husband, Guy, and thrilled he landed them a spot in the coveted Bramford apartment building. Guy proposes a romantic evening, which gives way to a hallucinogenic nightmare scenario that leaves Rosemary confused and pregnant. Rosemary’s suspicions and paranoia mount as she’s gaslit by everyone around her, all attempting to distract her from her deeply abnormal pregnancy. While Cecilia follows a similar emotional journey to Rosemary, from the confusion over her baby’s conception to being gaslit by those who claim to have her best interests in mind, Immaculate inverts the iconic final frame of Rosemary’s Baby to great effect.
The Exorcist
William Friedkin’s horror classic shook audiences to their core upon release in the ’70s, largely for its shocking imagery. A grim battle over faith is waged between demon Pazuzu and priests Damien Karras (Jason Miller) and Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow). The battleground happens to be a 12-year-old, Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair), whose possessed form commits blasphemy often, including violently masturbating with a crucifix. Yet Friedkin captures the horrifying events with stunning cinematography; the emotional complexity and shot composition lend elegance to a film that counterbalances the horror. That balance between transgressive imagery and artful form permeates Immaculate as well.
Suspiria
Jessica Harper stars as Suzy Bannion, an American newcomer at a prestigious dance academy in Germany who uncovers a supernatural conspiracy amid a series of grisly murders. It’s a dance academy so disciplined in its art form that its students and faculty live their full time, spending nearly every waking hour there, including built-in meals and scheduled bedtimes. Like Suzy Bannion, Cecilia is a novitiate committed to learning her chosen trade, so much so that she travels to a foreign country to continue her training. Also, like Suzy, Cecilia quickly realizes the pristine façade of her new setting belies sinister secrets that mean her harm.
What Have You Done to Solange?
This 1972 Italian horror film follows a college professor who gets embroiled in a bizarre series of murders when his mistress, a student, witnesses one taking place. The professor starts his own investigation to discover what happened to the young woman, Solange. Sex, murder, and religion course through this Giallo’s veins, which features I Spit on Your Grave’s Camille Keaton as Solange. Immaculate director Michael Mohan revealed to The Wrap that he emulated director Massimo Dallamano’s techniques, particularly in a key scene that sees Cecilia alone in a crowded room of male superiors, all interrogating her on her immaculate status.
The Red Queen Kills Seven Times
In this Giallo, two sisters inherit their family’s castle that’s also cursed. When a dark-haired, red-robed woman begins killing people around them, the sisters begin to wonder if the castle’s mysterious curse has resurfaced. Director Emilio Miraglia infuses his Giallo with vibrant style, with the titular Red Queen instantly eye-catching in design. While the killer’s design and use of red no doubt played an influential role in some of Immaculate’s nightmare imagery, its biggest inspiration in Mohan’s film is its score. Immaculate pays tribute to The Red Queen Kills Seven Times through specific music cues.
The Vanishing
Rex’s life is irrevocably changed when the love of his life is abducted from a rest stop. Three years later, he begins receiving letters from his girlfriend’s abductor. Director George Sluizer infuses his simple premise with bone-chilling dread and psychological terror as the kidnapper toys with Red. It builds to a harrowing finale you won’t forget; and neither did Mohan, who cited The Vanishing as an influence on Immaculate. Likely for its surprise closing moments, but mostly for the way Sluizer filmed from inside a coffin.
The Other Hell
This nunsploitation film begins where Immaculate ends: in the catacombs of a convent that leads to an underground laboratory. The Other Hell sees a priest investigating the seemingly paranormal activity surrounding the convent as possessed nuns get violent toward others. But is this a case of the Devil or simply nuns run amok? Immaculate opts to ground its horrors in reality, where The Other Hell leans into the supernatural, but the surprise lab setting beneath the holy grounds evokes the same sense of blasphemous shock.
Inside
During Immaculate‘s freakout climax, Cecilia sets the underground lab on fire with Father Sal Tedeschi (Álvaro Morte) locked inside. He manages to escape, though badly burned, and chases Cecilia through the catacombs. When Father Tedeschi catches Cecilia, he attempts to cut her baby out of her womb, and the stark imagery instantly calls Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s seminal French horror movie to mind. Like Tedeschi, Inside’s La Femme (Béatrice Dalle) will stop at nothing to get the baby, badly burned and all.
Burial Ground
At first glance, this Italian zombie movie bears little resemblance to Immaculate. The plot sees an eclectic group forced to band together against a wave of undead, offering no shortage of zombie gore and wild character quirks. What connects them is the setting; both employed the Villa Parisi as a filming location. The Villa Parisi happens to be a prominent filming spot for Italian horror; also pair the new horror movie with Mario Bava’s A Bay of Blood or Blood for Dracula for additional boundary-pushing horror titles shot at the Villa Parisi.
The Devils
The Devils was always intended to be incendiary. Horror, at its most depraved and sadistic, tends to make casual viewers uncomfortable. Ken Russell’s 1971 epic takes it to a whole new squeamish level with its nightmarish visuals steeped in some historical accuracy. There are the horror classics, like The Exorcist, and there are definitive transgressive horror cult classics. The Devils falls squarely in the latter, and Russell’s fearlessness in exploring taboos and wielding unholy imagery inspired Mohan’s approach to the escalating horror in Immaculate.
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