Prime Evil (1988)

Watching Prime Evil (1988), I had the constant, nagging feeling, that I was watching a porno movie without the porn.  Not that there wasn't copious amounts of female nudity on display, but it constantly held back from becoming too obviously titillating and avoided graphic sex scenes.  Yet, everything else about the movie's production values, script and acting was all reminiscent of a seventies or eighties adult movie, from the era when they were shot on film, had actual plots and characters and some semblance of quality in their production values.  But, Prime Evil is actually a low-budget horror movie involving a group of centuries old Satan-worshipping monks periodically sacrificing virgins in order to preserve their relative youth.  The porno-movie feel is the result of the film having been produced and directed by prolific adult movie director Roberta Findlay who, by the eighties, was trying to move into other exploitation genres.  Presumably because, with the advent of video, the adult market was being flooded with cheap direct-to-video movies shot on tape using handheld video cameras, usually in someone's bedroom.  Such things as plot and character, went out of the window along with the budgets, as the emphasis turned solely to the sexual activity on display.

Prime Evil clearly took its inspiration from the spate of seventies Devil movies which had brought Satan firmly into the modern world.  Consequently, the movie's action takes place against a gritty and cold urban landscape, with the sect seeking out victims from rehab clinics and the like - people who won't be missed if they disappear.  Their main sacrificial victim is to be the virginal social worker descendent of one of their number, who doesn't suspect their involvement with Satanism.  But don't worry, as the forces of good are also on the case.  These include an undercover nun who infiltrates the group, the would be victim's ineffective boyfriend and a couple of not overly bright cops.  After various bloody murders and gratuitous nudity, it all culminates with the sacrificial ceremony - held in a basement - which looks set to go ahead, as the boyfriend is slain the cops incapacitated.  Luckily, though, undercover nun is still on the case, getting the physical manifestation of the demon with her crucifix, causing him to explode and the other sect members to age and turn into skeletons.  Except their leader, who escapes to sacrifice virgins another day.

By no stretch of the imagination could Prime Evil be described as a good film. A large proportion of the cast appear to be adult movie actors, delivering wooden performances and line readings.  That said, the lines they are given are unbelievably clunky and crass, particularly the would be witty quips, as when one of the cops pulls his .44 Magnum on the cult leader, saying 'I bet you've never seen one as big as this'.  The script also bogs itself down with far too many stodgy exposition speeches, feeling the need to explain every point numerous times.  Yet, despite all of this, Prime Evil is still a reasonably enjoyable watch, largely down to the fact that it actually looks like a professionally made film, not shot on blown up grainy 16mm stock like many other low-budget exploitation films and has excellent sound quality.  Moreover, it actually has some competent cinematography that makes good use of those grey urban landscapes and the direction occaisionally manages to generate some tension and suspense.  So, not a great film, but a reasonably professionally made one, nonetheless.