Priest: The second actor Paul Bettany-director Scott Stewart collaboration (after the mildly disappointing “Legion”), this vampire-western is a post-apocalyptic horror tale involving humanity’s war against vampires based on the Korean comic of the same name. In the future, humanity is forced behind crowded, polluted city walls under the protection of the Catholic Church, who create human warriors called ‘priests’ to tackle the vampire threat. After the end of the war, the priests are marginalized by their superiors who grew fearful of their influence. After a vampire attack destroys his family, a Priest (Bettany) comes out of his enforced retirement to track down those responsible and rescue his niece Lucy (Lily Collins) who was taken hostage. Along the way, his disillusionment with his superiors grows, as they refuse to believe a vampire menace still exists. Priest is joined in his mission by a local sheriff (Cam Gigandet) and another Priestess (Maggie Q). However, they are up against enemies beyond their experience, led by Black Hat (played by Karl Urban). Christopher Plummer, Brad Dourif, and Stephen Moyer are here in support. This is a better effort than “Legion”, but still not great filmmaking. The special effects are routinely good (these are not sexy pre-born again Anne Rice vampires to look at, they are all-CGI blind albino cave-dwellers with sharp pointy teeth). There are a number of “gotcha” moments in it, which I expect from any decent horror movie. It was fun for what it was, but won’t win any awards. And at a brisk 87 minutes, it doesn’t overstay its welcome. Woodchuck sez, “Worth a look.”
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