It's that old nutshell of the mother love plot mixed with religious extremism and a ton of symbolism with something to offend the few people who will probably see this film. we open with a church service and a very upbeat Christian song that sounds like it could make the pop charts, and then we see the son of the church's organist going out and killing women he considers unworthy of Christ's grace. Mom has a breakdown then confesses to the Reverend, Reverend punishes mom, and son pays for his sins.
Some interesting visual elements both artistic and disturbing, overload this film, yet surprisingly, it moves at a snail's pace and only the last 15 minutes seem to put everything together. Veteran actors Ann Todd and Patrick Magee are joined by Tony Beckley as the troubled son with Todd obviously in old age makeup so they can show her looking younger in flashbacks.
Magee can only fill a small space so his congregation is hardly a megachurch, so his being able to manipulate someone to go out and kill in the name of ending sin seems far-fetched. Beckley is not a very interesting psycho, so the results of this film are pretty forgettable. The musical numbers however do have a nice best to them, and the photography and editing of angles comes together nicely. Still, it's a one-dimensional view of the Christian religion that doesn't do any favors for those who have basic liberal beliefs. Easy to skip, and if you don't, easy to forget.
Some interesting visual elements both artistic and disturbing, overload this film, yet surprisingly, it moves at a snail's pace and only the last 15 minutes seem to put everything together. Veteran actors Ann Todd and Patrick Magee are joined by Tony Beckley as the troubled son with Todd obviously in old age makeup so they can show her looking younger in flashbacks.
Magee can only fill a small space so his congregation is hardly a megachurch, so his being able to manipulate someone to go out and kill in the name of ending sin seems far-fetched. Beckley is not a very interesting psycho, so the results of this film are pretty forgettable. The musical numbers however do have a nice best to them, and the photography and editing of angles comes together nicely. Still, it's a one-dimensional view of the Christian religion that doesn't do any favors for those who have basic liberal beliefs. Easy to skip, and if you don't, easy to forget.