Nefarious-Chuck Konzelman & Cary Solomon

This film came recommended to me by my Father right around the Superbowl. He said that it was a horror film about a Serial Killer on the night of his execution being evaluated by a psychiatrist and exhibiting multiple personalities with a Christian flavor.

Okay, I love horror films, heavy dialogue, and I am a practicing Christian.

I'm in.

There were parts of Nefarious that I enjoyed and others that just stuck in my craw to the point that I couldn't expel the splinter.

I applaud Christian films for their willingness to expand beyond the cookie cutter barriers of delusional cult followers pumped full of poor mans opiates, collectively smiling from beginning to end, as if they are under some hypnotic spell. I admit it myself, when I had a haphazard relationship with God and a passive attitude towards my spirituality, Christian films of the past did very little to draw me back into the fold.

To ignite any sense of intrigue.

It was only after emerging from real life trials where I was face to face 40 hours a week with unfiltered evil in the form of problem gambling addiction that I truly began to gravitate towards accepting God's handling of my affairs henceforth.

Not through the sugar-coated medium of musicals, antiquated epics, or softy tales where danger comes close but is always kept at a minimum safe distance.

With the advent of titles fresh to the market like Jesus Revolution, The Shift, Nefarious, and Song of Freedom I feel as if they are pushing upon that barrier almost enough to break through to the main stream and be revered to the level that CGI fairy tales and brash comedies are regarded.

But they just aren't there yet.

Until they learn to remove the gloves and dialogue as authentically and brashly as they propose Satan incarnate would, I feel as if they will forever be shelved in that realm of delusional fools that most of the world perceives them to be.

Once the sugar coating is removed, authentic impact is truly delivered.

The Exorcist was as scary as it was, because you really felt as if that was Pazuzu in possession of a human host. Requiem for a Dream was as shocking as it was, because it threw the horrendous effects of addiction under a microscope. American History X, Taxi Driver, Scarface, Holy Spider etc.

Films which learned how to weave that fine line of shocking and necessary imagery into a tale without exploiting such matters strictly to attract an audience of sickos that get their rocks off on brutality.

Christian films, I believe, are beginning to understand this and the results are being proved at the box office.

Unfortunately for Nefarious, as much as I would like to, I couldn't quite place it onto the higher shelf of film making.

Sean Patrick Flannery's acting was very good. His ability to flip flop between Edward and Nefarious, in particular, was impressive. And I really was impressed by the ending scene and how they didn't shy away from showing that part.

But what was most annoying was the absence of curse words.

The dialogue was impressive and thought-provoking. But you can't expect me to believe that the best and most vicious insult one of Satan's little hellions could come up with was "You ignorant bag of meat!". It just fell too flat for me. Now, mind you, I'm not asking for Joe Pesci to show up and hurl an interrogation at Nefarious to find out if he was there to fuckin' amuse him. But if you're willing to include the excruciating details of ancient infant sacrifice and not pull the camera away at the end, why not go for the full Monty and write some dialogue that genuinely fits the character. Get your hands dirty if that's what it calls for. Don't compromise.

I, personally, believe that God is willing to forgive a few F bombs if that's what it takes to draw a few lost sheep into the flock.

But then again, that's just me.

Stars: **1/2

Verdict: Pass

Cousins: My Dinner with Andre, Sunset Limited, Dead Man Walking, K-Pax, Vanilla Sky