The Apostate (1999)

A bloody serial killer is stalking the streets, driven by a deep spiritual torment. Now one young Jesuit priest, torn between spiritual doubt and fleshy temptation, must help the police if they are to find the one person capable of these demonic acts.

This movie is really bad

The acting is so horrendous I couldn't watch the whole thing. February 23, 2006

FATHER WHERE ART THOU

Enigmatic and entrancing. Disturbing and depressing. Tense and ignoble. THE APOSTATE is all these and more. Atmospherically filmed and directed by William Gove, the story tells a very strange tale of an obviously demented man who views killing people as his art, his method of achieving immortality. Stalking the streets, he chooses his victims and brutally murders them to achieve his artistic thirst. Enter a young priest, who is the brother of one of the killer's victims. As expected, this priest is struggling with his faith and when his mother commits suicide, he vows to help his uncle the homicide detective catch the killer. In the risky move of letting us know right away who the killer is, the movie does manage to maintain its suspense in when and how he will be caught.
Dennis Hopper reprises his role of the psychotic weirdo, but gives a more restrained performance than usual. The usually adequate Richard Grieco turns in a very good performance as Father Michael whose fight with his faith is almost as vivid as his struggle with Hopper. Michael Cole (Mod Squad) has a small but effective role as the Monsignor whose true hypocrisy is revealed in a letter to Grieco's mother. Frank Medrano does a nice spin as Father Neal, Grieco's friend who hears a stirring confession, and meets an unpleasant end. Lovely Bridget Anne White plays Mary, the art model who tickles Father's fancy. Kristin Minter plays Charlotte, Grieco's boyhood sweetheart with her own secrets.
While not a classic film, THE APOSTATE has a tense and forboding atmosphere and with Grieco's performance achieves a quality we don't often get on straight to DVD films. January 28, 2005

Hopper and Grieco Are Awesome!

And yet another movie review...a lazy Sunday
afternoon...the guru of movie-goers just had to watch
another...and this one still has remnants upon my
body...chill bumps the size of ladybugs.

Good evening. It's Paul again. Just finished
watching "The Apostate" - a film most moviegoers
probably never heard of. But I'm sure you are
familiar with Dennis Hopper and Richard Grieco.

This one is a one-of-a-kind creeper. It had me
thinking so deeply I wasn't sure if I could finish it
out. Being raised a Catholic, I related so well to
the insight...the tragedies...the compelling fear and
love of God in one fell swoop.

Not since his bizarre performance in "Blue Velvet" has
Dennis Hopper been more weird...eerie...downright
frightening. Here are a few lines from the film,
without giving away any of the plot:

"There is only one way to rid yourself of temptation
and that is to give into it."

"You believe in God don't you?. There's more evidence
of the devil."

Yes, it is creepy. It is actually freaky and very
much adult. It is filled with emotion, devotion and
fear. It contains a spine-tingling soundtrack and
puts you into a trance. I just couldn't let go of
this flick. I hung around to the very end, hoping its
worst nightmare would come to an end. And guess what?
It doesn't. Till the end, you will be guessing as
hints fly at you left and right.

So what is an Apostate? As defined by the
film..."falling away from what one believes in."

More quotes:

"Be careful out there. There are a lot of demons."

"The horror I am about to create...I need restraint."


And this one tops them all..."Did you slay the demons?
No. They don't die...they just lay in wait."

It is enthralling, captivating and inspiring. And it
all has to do with beliefs and art. But
remember..."all profound art looks ugly at first."

"The Apostate" gets a firm 10 in the psycho thriller
genre'. You may want to deem it a serial killer
thriller, but it goes much deeper than that.

Not for kids! Maybe not even suited for some adults.
Wanna be mesmerized with fear and quality acting from
Hopper and Grieco? "The Apostate" is for you. August 9, 2004

Typical straight-to-video bad movie

The story meanders way too much, the plot is put together in a way very unconducive to a coherent structure, things happen that make no sense and contribute nothing to the main story, cliches abound, and I wasn't sure at what resolution Richard Grieco's character had arrived by the end in the US version. Was he going to leave the priesthood to pursue a relationship with the art student? Maybe I would have been more entertained had I seen the European version to which the other reviewers alluded. Otherwise, this was just another straight-to-video time waster. Who writes these scripts, anyway?! April 19, 2004

One of the better Grieco movies

Ok, I've seen the European version with the sad end (didn't even know there was a "happy ending" in the US version). So, I guess I like the sad end more too. The idea of Richard Grieco as a priest is already an interesting one. Unfortunately it's not totally played to the full. Sometimes it's rather hard to see the priest standing there (not as a lack of Grieco's acting skills, but rather a lack of script and "room for a priest" there). It's an interesting action story with Dennis Hopper, but one wonders why there really was a need for a priest...besides the effect, of course. April 19, 2003

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