The 2011 film Priest is, in all actuality, John Ford’s The Searchers; for the apocalypse. Vampires replace “redskins.” For added chaos, the church, an evil one, “rides” our protagonist throughout.
I tried to watch Priest once before. At that time, I just couldn’t get into the film. For whatever reason, it just didn’t click. I honestly could not tell you why. Maybe my bio-rhythms were off. The fact that Carl Urban appears to die at the start of the film also put me off the film.
I saw a copy of Priest going for 3 pounds at the bargain DVD section and I picked it up. I figured that for 3 quid, I’d give it another go. I’m actually glad I did. Because despite the film’s Korean graphic novel beginnings, it really turned out to be a western. And not just any western either, this is The Searchers sans Natalie Wood, Jeff Hunter and The Duke.
The Priest Creators:
Scott Stewart directs. The a screenplay written by Cory Goodman is based on Min-Woo Hyung’s graphic novel. The film really is an almost perfect western movie. I know; some purists out there are going to scream about not being faithful to the “original” concept. This seems to be the clarion call of all “fan’s” manga source adaptations.
But, I don’t care. In case the folks in the cheap seats missed that, I’ll repeat; I don’t care. I’ve never read the original graphic novel. Apart from seeing the cover of it in a comic store downtown, I would have never heard of it.
The Plot:
It is a future version of a world torn apart by war. The church has become all-powerful and in this verse, vampires have existed since the dawn of time. These are not the suave and sophisticated vamps of literature and film. These vampires are animalistic and more of a “hive” insect with a queen who’s lays vampire “eggs.” A legion of Priests are created by the church to battle vampires. In a long epic battle they were defeated and the remaining creatures were put in “reservations.”
*Sound familiar?*
The Church disbands the Priests. Years later, in the Wasted Lands, a farmer and his wife and daughter are trying to make a living. They battle the desert soil daily to crop crops. They sit down to their evening meal and are attacked by a horde of vampires. The daughter hides in the basement. She is soon discovered by something.
The Cast:
| Paul Bettany | … | Priest | |
| Karl Urban | … | Black Hat | |
| Cam Gigandet | … | Hicks | |
| Maggie Q | … | Priestess | |
| Lily Collins | … | Lucy Pace | |
*Cast courtesy of IMDb.*
The Device:
Just like today, you cannot trust the guys in charge and refusing to give up is good.
The Twist:
Family is in the eye of the beholder.
The Story:
After a long protracted battle between vampires and men, the men win and put the surviving vampires in “reservations.” It turns out that they’ve been pretty damned busy down there. When an outbreak occurs the leaders of the church refuse to believe that there is a problem. One priest (Paul Bettany), whose family got attacked by this upsurge of vamps, goes against the church. He decides to rescue his niece Lucy (Lily Collins). He is aided by the local lawman, Sheriff Hicks (Cam Gigandet) and a fellow Priestess (Maggie Q).
It turns out that the renegade vampires are being led by a former Priest,. Black Hat (Karl Urban) who was lost to the vampires at the beginning of the film. He’s kidnapped Lucy to draw the Priest to him.
The Characters:
Paul Bettany as the Priest is all guttural angst and stoic grimness. He pretty much feels like Ethan in The Searchers. He just lacks the great lines that The Duke had in his film. Karl Urban as Black Hat is just, well, Karl Urban. There is not part that I’ve ever seen the man portray that doesn’t enthrall me. Despite his tiny amount of screen time, when he is on-screen he blows everyone else away.
Lily Collins, a relative newcomer when this film was made, did a brilliant job. Even when she had snot running down her lower lip manages to still look amazing.
As did Maggie Q as the kick-ass Priestess who helps Bettany track down all the bad vampires. Cam Gigandet’s sheriff was good at filling the Jeffrey Hunter role. He is the young guy who wants to make sure that girlfriend Lucy survives her reunion with her Uncle Priest.
In the cameo department, Brad Dourif is brilliant as the Snake Oil salesman. He touts the effectiveness of his “holy water.” Christopher Plummer is great as the treacherous and “holier-than-thou” head of the church. He banishes the Priest for even daring to presume that vampires have again become a threat.
The Priest Verdict:
Despite the dismal reviews that this film garnered, I liked it. The second I made the western connection, I was on-board and enjoying the show. The sets combined with the shooting locations and the CGI all made for a believable western-type setting . One where the “cowboys and indians” can do battle.
It’s pretty obvious that the creators of the film, loved western movies. The sets and the “frontier” towns would not have looked out-of-place in a Leone Spaghetti western. This combined with the epic scenery throughout makes it look like The Searchers/Once Upon a Time in the West.
A real 4 star out of 5 for me, just because of the loving “homage” to a great wester. They did not follow the original too closely and left things open for a sequel. Sadly, this will probably not happen due to the poor performance at the box-office.
If you like/love westerns you’ll probably enjoy this film.
The Trailer
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