Sandcooler Hell yeah! That's pretty much the feeling the average person will have throughout this compact and action-filled piece of garbage. It's an incredibly crazy, riveting and somewhat moronic 75 minutes, it's the kind of project that defines what B-list horror should be all about. The hilarious (in a sadistic way) opening immediately drags you in, and the movie just utterly refuses to let you go after that. Demonic zombie nuns, fluorescent(!) blood, hot chicks, washed-up gangsta rapper Coolio playing a cop, I thank God for showing me all this pure uncut greatness. If all this stuff can't get your attention, I really don't know what will. The Adrienne Barbeau appearance is just icing on the cake, brilliant role. Of course this movie isn't particularly well-made or well-written, but I stopped caring roughly ten seconds in. Loads of fun.

Scarecrow-88 In the spirit of NIGHT OF THE DEMONS comes this demon comedy gorefest, THE CONVENT. Clorissa(Joanna Canton)is dating the star quarterback. Mo(Meghan Perry)is a hot goth chick who was once good friends with Clorissa. Clorissa was once attired in goth wardrobe but abandoned such a persona in favor of joining the preppy bunch. Kaitlin(Renée Graham)is the annoying, self-absorbed cheerleader babe. Richard Trap, Dax Miller, Liam Kyle Sullivan and Jim Golden are the frat bunch who coerce Clorissa and Kaitlin into hanging out at a notorious convent, having been shut down when a Catholic school girl(as seen in the opening of the movie)went ballistic massacring nuns, Mother Superior, and priest during their usual worship service. Mo is kidnapped by a group of wannabe devil worshipers and sacrificed to Lucifer and this ceremony unleashes a demonic presence which continues to spread after each murdered victim(each victim turns into a demon). Most of the movie follows the human bodies possessed by demons attacking the next victim within the abandoned convent. Clorissa, fortunate for her, is able to escape and enlists the aid of the girl, now a woman(in the form of a bad ass Adrienne Barbeau), who slaughtered the nuns and priest 40 years ago. Barbeau's name is Christine and viewers will probably want to rent this movie just to see her packing heat, wielding a machete, and riding a motorcycle. The usual assortment of disposable victims are executed in grand style, director Mike Mendez' THE CONVENT reminiscent to one of those crazy Japanese gore films with lots of surreal ultra-violent sequences given mad precedence over any sort of quality story. Those who are possessed have this weird sort of body glow(the lighting is often in candy-color neon which gives the film a certainly unique look)and their eyes are bright. I often refer to EVIL DEAD because this particular film features those kinds of grotesque demon possessed humans with faces distorted, with misshapen foreheads, eyes of a different hue, in essence, those afflicted carry the manifestation of evil physically. Not to mention, the claws and teeth, for which are on display as victims are torn into or attacked with great ferocity. One scene has a victim's face skin pulled clean off. Another is possessed after being showered with blood! The gore and make-up effects can be tacky at times..I recall certain heads smashed resembling rubber masks you might wear on Halloween. I do think the appeal here is absolutely the go-for-broke demonic rampage and subsequent Barbeau executions as she uses a shot gun to blow human monsters apart before lopping off their heads with the machete. Coolio and Bill Moseley show up in cameos as police officers giving the kids a hard time after finding them in the convent goofing off. Perry, as the vocal, blunt goth chick, who speaks her mind, leaves the film much too soon for my tastes. THE CONVENT would make a good triple feature with NIGHT OF THE DEMONS & THE HAZING.

Nancigee741 The opening scene of the movie, in the church, is wrong in this aspect: In 1960, all the nuns would have been kneeling at railings across the front of the church facing the altar for Communion. Their backs would be towards the pews, & the church entrance as well. The priest would have not been facing the people, either. The priest would have been standing, with his back to the congregation,at an altar against the front rear wall of the church. This is why most really old churches have this ornate altar across the front rear wall, while newer, modern churches just have an altar sitting out in the middle.The changes all occurred AFTER the 1965 Vatican II Conference and as far as I can remember, were effective in early 1966. So it was not until, say 1/1/1966, that people started receiving communion standing up in a line and the priest started saying the prayers for the Mass at an altar facing the congregation.AND the entire mass was in Latin in 1960....another of the Vatican II changes...The Mass and prayers were said in English after 1965.This is what years of Catholic school got me: trivial knowledge no one else remembers. LOL.... I cannot comment on the rest of the movie for historical accuracy because my teenage kids only forced be to watch the first few minutes (they wanted to see what I would say). They were floored when all I said was it is historically incorrect.

Backlash007 The Convent is an 80's film made in the year 2000. Normally I would be very pleased with this, but the comedic elements go too far in this one. If this film would have been played more seriously I would give it a shining review. It had all the great elements of a classic. It had a good storyline, good actors, great gore, a few genre veterans (Bill Moseley and Adrienne Barbeau), and it was highly reminiscent of Night of the Demons (a favorite of mine). The first 30 minutes are really engrossing and just drip with the 80's. But when the goth kids (one of whom works at the Dairy Cream) show up it's played directly for laughs. I was a bit puzzled as to the total change in tone and knew right away that I wouldn't be adding The Convent to my collection. But I was definitely entertained by this piece so I can't say I didn't have fun. The highlight for me was watching a demon getting a flashlight shoved in it's mouth and through the back of its head. That is a rather wicked scene. If I could compare Mike Mendez to a director it would be Brian Yuzna. Sometimes they need to reign in the goofy comedy and maybe go for some smarter laughs.