Welcome back to Movie Recaps. Today I will show you an action, adventure, fantasy film from 2011, titled Priest. Spoilers ahead!
Watch out and take care. The priests can be seen closing in on the Sola Mira Hive. Once they manage their way inside, Black Hat observes that there is something wrong, but Priest is adamant about their orders to find the Queen, so they press on.
They hear some noises up front and ready their weapons, when they suddenly realizes that it's a trap, as there people get pulled under ground. Some of them get taken and others escape toward the daylight. Though when they reach the last tunnel Priest doesn't succeed in helping Black Hat avoid capture.
The world of the priests is a world that had always had vampires. A bloody war between the humans and the vampires had been fought for ages, destroying each other and the world itself. Facing extinction, the humans retreated into walled cities under the protection of the church.
Then they created the ultimate weapon against the vampires - the priests. They were powerful warriors, trained in the art of vampire combat, who singlehandedly decimated the vampire threat. The remaining vampires were put into reservations, so the church disbanded the priests.
Only a few of them remain, integrated into a society that no longer needed them, falling into obscurity along with the vampires. Many years later, Owen bores into the ground checking the levels of radiation. He tells his wife Shannon that according to his findings, they might be able to start planting.
Lucy arrives home and immediately makes a sly remark about the food she can smell. Owen asks her where she has been and when she says that she was in town, he gets angry because she disobeyed his word. She says that she's old enough, but he tells her that rule doesn't apply to where they live.
Sacrifices need to be made there. Lucy gets angry because she feels like a prisoner in the outpost they live in. Shannon interrupts their argument and makes them say grace, effectively calming them both.
Suddenly, the ground shakes and Lucy gets scared. Owen checks outside and sees a pack of vampires approaching the house. He tells the women to get down bellow.
Shannon opens their hiding place and gets Lucy inside, telling her not to scream whatever she hears. She remains in the house to help Owen. Lucy hears gunshots and her parent s screaming, being ripped apart by the vampires.
The hatch opens and someone walks in, terrifying Lucy. Cathedral City's skyline can be seen. It is still under the protection of the church.
Its denizens are constantly under the eye of the ruling clergy. As Priest can be seen walking among the people, the church bells toll and everyone stops to pay homage, with an disembodied voice saying that to go against the church is to go against god. Priest goes to a confessional and enters the automated booth.
He begs to be forgiven for his sins and his voice is recognized by the machine. An automated Monsignor Orelas appears on screen and the priest immediately moves to his confession. He had dreams about the war with the vampires and the time when he couldn't save one of his men.
The priest has begun to question and doubt his faith. The automated Monsignor replies that the devil has many shapes and that one can combat him by personal sacrifice and labor, then gives him his prayers of contrition. Later, the priest is going back to his home and is in an elevator with a boy and his mom.
The boy asks about his tattoo, but his mom tells him that he mustn't talk to priests. Just as he is about to enter his apartment, he knock over a man that has been following him. Hicks tells him that he is the sheriff where his brother Owen lives and that he's been hurt, Lucy taken by the vampires and Shannon killed.
The man follows the priest inside and tells him that Lucy has talked about him as a war hero, the best at killing vampires. He says that he will go after her and he could use him by his side. The priest can't just accept.
He goes to see the ruling clergy to ask them for the reinstatement of his authority as a Priest. Monsignor Orelas was informed by Monsignor Chamberlain of his troubles. The priest tells them that his family was attacked by vampires, to which the Monsignor laughs, saying that no vampire has escaped the reservations.
He thinks that it was the work of wasteland bandits and that the sheriff was mistaken. The Monsignor says that there is no vampire threat anymore. Chamberlain tries to aid the Priest in his quest, but he shuts him down and orders the Priest not to shake the faith of the citizens.
The priest continues to question him and he is reminded by the Monsignor that questioning the authority of the clergy is absolutely forbidden. If he disobeys them, he would be stripped from the order and excommunicated. Meanwhile, in a fast moving train, Lucy is kept in a cage by the vampires.
She's taunted by one of them, until Black Hat arrives. He tells her that she's in a cage for her own protection. She tells him that her uncle the Priest will come after her and him.
What she doesn't know is that Black Hat is counting on that fact precisely. Monsignor Chamberlain tells the Priest that the judgment is final, but he is disappointed that after all that he has sacrificed they wouldn't listen to him. Chamberlain says that the war has long been won and the priest disagrees.
He tells the priest not to commit sacrilege just to hunt down a small band of scavengers. The priest says that he has too and police storm the bar that they are in. Chamberlain says that he needs to think of the greater good and not stir up something that might cause more damage.
The priest is disappointed, even though Chamberlain wants to help him not make a mistake. He is ready to break his vow and takes down the officers one by one in a matter of seconds. Later, he is seen preparing himself and his weapons to go after the girl.
He uncovers his vessel and rides out of Cathedral City. The priest leaves the final vestiges of the human world and enters the desolate and cruel landscape of the wasteland. With incredible speed, he reaches his brother's outpost.
The priest enters the trashed homestead and finds a photo of Owen's family. The sheriff thinks he's looting, but when he realizes it's the priest he's glad to see him come. They ride to town together.
Once they arrive, the sheriff gets a salesmen out of his town for trying to sell his people fake weapons against the vampires. The townspeople protest and say they do need the weapons, but Hicks tells them that there are no more vampires. Later, him and the priest talk while waiting for the doctor to let them see Owen.
The priest walks in and sits next to him. Owen asks him why he never came back, to which he says that he no longer could. When Owen laments that he could not save Shannon because he didn't have his gift, the priest comforts him saying that he gave her a life that he couldn’t.
She never forgot about him. Owen begs him to promise that he will find Lucy and kill all of the vampires. Later, the sheriff tells the priest that the clergy is looking for him and that they don't allow the rescue of Lucy.
He says that he wants to join the priest's rescue party, but he tests him by refusing. Hicks grabs a bullet and cuts it in half mid air with a knife. The priest asks if he's any good with a gun and he tells him that he's even better than with a knife.
Before he leaves the room, he asks the priest why he's preparing the bullets since they don't use guns and he replies that they are for him. Back in Cathedral city a squadron of priests has been called in to the Monsignors. Their orders are to bring Priest in, dead or alive.
Priestess doesn't like that order. But they still ride. Priest attends his brothers funeral, who's been laid to rest next to Shannon.
Hicks joins him at Owen's outpost and asks what he's found. The priest has found footsteps that don't match to either the vampires or their familiars. They will begin the search in the direction where those came from.
The two of them ride out to the closest vampire reservation. The sheriff says that they are a fallen tribe. They won't have much time since the Sun is coming down.
Once they enter, they see that there are no guards there and that the place is crawling with illegal familiars. The sheriff explains that most of those people are voluntary familiars, wanting to get infected eventually. They approach a familiar and he tells them that the priest isn't welcome there because their lands are protected.
The sheriff tells him what their looking for and the familiar says that no one has passed through their reservation. They open the main gate and walk inside, finding the place in a terrible state and the guards bodies scattered on the ground. The priest walks into a cell and interrogates a familiar, threatening him that he will open his master's coffin if he doesn't tell him where Lucy is.
Suddenly a group of familiars appears, ready to fight. They attack the sheriff who runs outside, just to be attacked by the other familiar. The priest appears just in time and kills the familiars, except one.
He interrogates him, but he defends the vampires and makes the priest out to be the monster. The sun begins to go down and he tells him that he's too late, because the night is their time. Once the sun has set, the vampires come out of their coffins and instantly surround the priest and the sheriff.
The priest takes out a bible and begins to read, but instantly pulls out weapons from between the pages and uses them to kill two of the vampires. He battles another, while Hicks tries to shoot one, but when he gets overpowered the priest kills that one too. Suddenly, one of the vampires lets out a scream and runs away.
The priest returns to the familiar and asks him again. He says that they took her West, but that he doesn't even know what is coming. The vampire comes back and attacks the priest.
They battle and fall inside the confines of the reservation. Hicks waits with his gun out, but the priest is the one to get out alive. The two of them talk about what they should do and the priest says that the Sola Mira Hive is out West.
Hicks has thought that all of the hives were destroyed, but he says that they should still check and perhaps if they find the missing vampires from the reservation, they will also find Lucy. Then he gives Hicks a few pointers on how to kill vampires because they don't move like humans. If he wants to kill one, he needs to anticipate their moves.
In the meantime, the salesman from the town pays a visit to Black Hat to give him some information. He asks for some compensation, but Black Hat threatens to drink his blood, so he gives him the information regardless. The salesman tells him that the priest showed up in the town after they took Lucy and that he was with the sheriff.
Black Hat tells him that he's done well, but still drinks his blood and makes him into a familiar. Simultaneously, Priestess has arrived to the outpost and she is on their trail. The Priest and the sheriff ride out West.
While having a break, the priest asks him if his brother knew that Hicks was together with Lucy, to which he replies no. And to his question if he loved her, he replies yes. The priest tells him that if she's infected he'll kill her.
The sheriff says that he won't allow him to do that. Finally, they arrive at he hive and climb its walls. Once they step inside, the priest has flashbacks of the time he was there during the war.
He lights up the hive and tells the sheriff to shoot anything that comes up and isn't him. The priest drops down in the shaft. Hicks finds a toy buried under the dirt and explores the level of the hive that he's on.
A creature appears behind him. In the meantime, Priest investigates the tunnels of the hive. He sees someone run past him and follows them.
When he sees a light at the end of a tunnel, he gets jumped by Priestess. Priest asks her what she's doing there and she tells him that she was sent by the clergy. She and the others split up at the reservation.
He tells her that he had no choice but to brake his vow. They hear shots in the distance. When they find Hicks, Priest tells him that the creature is a hive guardian, that's too big to get down there.
Priest and Priestess jump out to fight it. The creature knocks Priest out and then runs after Priestess. It circles them from above waiting to strike.
They work together to get to the creature and Priest is the one to strike the last blow. Suddenly, the creature awakes and Hicks shoots it dead. Later, the priests talk, while Hicks guards the entrance.
Priestess asks why would there be a guardian in an abandoned hive. Then she tells him that the sheriff will try to stop him from killing Lucy if she's infected. Priest thinks he wouldn't be able to.
They talk about what they did after the war and share their hardships. She tells him that she won't take him in, but that she came there to warn him. She, much like him, is suffering from PTSD from the war.
In the good moments though, she thinks about him. The three of them continue exploring the hive and get to a new, rebuilt section. They go in, only to find a massive hive, made for a new army.
The only problem is that there is no one there. As they continue to investigate, Priestess tells Hicks that Priest was taken much later by the clergy and his sacrifice was greater than for most of them. He walks up to them saying that the air is changing and they find a huge exit looking to the town of Jericho, where the other priests were headed.
Simultaneously, the vampire train arrives at the Jericho station, to the disbelief of the man who works there. It stops right in front of him, but no one gets out. When he goes to check the door, a vampire kills him.
Then Black Hat walks out, calling the others to begin (the hunt). A family is listening to music, when a vampire crashes into their home and kills the father. The entire town is under attack of the vampire army, as Black Hat conducts it like an opera.
Suddenly the three priests that were after Priest arrive and face him. He takes down the first one with no problem. Black Hat asks the two remaining ones if they want to join him.
The following morning, the group arrives at the town, to find it desolate. They separate to search through the buildings. Priestess finds dynamite.
And Priest walks into an empty house. Hicks and Priestess meet up and he tells her that there is no one left. She says there were too many mouth to feed.
They find Priest in the middle of town, praying in front of the bodies of the other priests. She joins him on the ground. Hicks asks what kind of vampire could have killed three of them.
Priest replies that it is something they haven't seen before. Then he realizes how the vampires could have vanished from the city before sun rise. They go to the train station, where Hicks tells them that the rail goes up to the cities and Jericho is the last stop in the wasteland.
Priestess and Priest realize that the entire thing was a systematic plan to get the priests outside of the cities, so that the entire vampire army can take down the defenseless cities. She shows them the dynamite and makes a plan in which she will take down the railway and the two of them will get Lucy from the train. Priest heads to fuel the bikes.
Meanwhile, Black Hat offers food to a very tired and battered Lucy. He tells her that he wants what everyone wants, to be free to live without the penalty of sin. Lucy grabs a knife and hides it, then asks him what he is.
He explains that he thinks that the vampires are more pure than the humans and that he is the one that will wash clean the unclean world. Black Hat adds that her and Priest will help him do it. Back in Jericho, Hicks asks Priestess how can Priest kill Lucy if she's infected when she is he's own flesh and blood.
She tells him that becoming a familiar means that she is no ones flesh and blood anymore. Before they leave town, they burn the bodies of the other three priests. Priestess tells Priest to remember that their power doesn't come from the church, but from god.
She loves him and tells him that a part of her hoped that Shannon's death would free him at last, then leaves him with a special weapon. They ride together toward the train and stop to oversee it, when Hicks threatens to kill them if he doesn't promise that he won't kill Lucy if she's turned. He's confused as to why he would even care.
Priestess says that Lucy is his daughter, who was just a baby when the clergy took him. He gave her to Owen and that was his sacrifice. Priest tells him that if he kills him, he won't be able to save her by himself, but the can only do it together.
As they approach the train Priest tells Priestess to blow up the rails regardless if they are still on it. Hicks enters the train from the back. She rides out in front and familiar riders go after her.
Priestess engages her nitro drive and escapes them. Hicks walks into a vampire layer and Priest gets on top of the train, where Black Hat is waiting for him. Black Hat explains to the bewildered priest that the vampire queen turned him into a human vampire and asks him to join him so they can return to the city as brothers.
Priest asks about his daughter and he tells him that she's waiting for his decision. He attacks him, but Black Hat deflects his attack and tells him that he's stronger than him now so he can't win. Meanwhile, Priestess sets up the explosives on the tracks and arms them, as she sees the riders incoming.
She prepares to fight them and engages with them instantly. She kills them all in an incredible feat of power and technique. Suddenly, she notices that one of the familiars has taken apart the detonator and she comes up with a new plan.
Priest and Black Hat are fighting on the train, almost matching in skill and strength. But the vampire always finds the upper hand. He asks the priest to join him again, but he refuses and flings his fist toward him, with Black Hat dodging his every move.
He knocks priest over and thinks he's pushed him under the tracks, but he latches on to the rain. Simultaneously, Hicks is navigating through the train and escapes a hive of vampires awakening, then he runs into Lucy, being taken away by a familiar. He wants to blow up the door, when the priest punches his way into the train.
All of a sudden, the vampires enter the train car. Hicks shoots at them first, then blows holes in the celling for the sunlight to come in. They go after Lucy through the train and when they eventually reach her, Black Hat stops them from getting to her, throwing Hicks off the train.
Hicks finds a familiar’s motorcycle. Priest is getting trashed by Black Hat, but Lucy manages to get out of her captors grip and light him on fire. Then she goes after the vampire, who tells her that the priest is her father.
They fight again and he stabs the priest to a wall. Black Hat takes Lucy out of the train and leave priest to burn. At the same time, Priestess has mounted the explosives on her bike and rides toward the train.
Priest wakes up and gets himself off the wall. Black Hat is ready to turn Lucy, when he suddenly appears and strikes him. She falls, but he grabs her in time.
They dangle of the side of the train and Black Hat gets ready to push them off, when they see Priestess approaching. She jumps of the bike as it hits the train and Priest jumps off of it, holding Lucy, at the same time. The train gets decimated along with all the vampires in it.
Hicks sees the explosion and rushes toward it. He arrives and finds Priest and Lucy alive. The girl jumps in his arms.
Priestess walks toward them and Black Hat's hat falls on the ground. Later, Priest enters a mass held by Monsignor Orelas. He approaches him as he belittles him for coming back.
Priest throws a vampire head in front of his legs and tells him to check the burning train outside of the city. He says that the vampire queen was not among them. Orelas calls him a charlatan and a menace.
Priest says that the war with the vampires is just beginning as he walks out. He meets Priestess in the wasteland who informs him that she has told the others who will meet them at the rendezvous in another city. He rides away into the sunset.
