Mike Mendez’s The Convent is one of those movies where it’s easy to see how its cult following was amassed. Its release in 2000 at Sundance prompted acclaim but it unfortunately never received a theatrical run and only a few years later got a home video release. Its premise, though, is right up the alley of anyone loving the kind of thrills and gore antics of Evil Dead or, its closest resemblance, Night of the Demons – a group of friends spend the night in a convent with a sinister background, while Satanic worshippers try to usher in the Antichrist and end up unleashing a bunch of ravenous, neon-hued demons. The script from Chaton Anderson works in shades of various demon possession films and also serves up a platter of blasphemous Catholic references, and of course that’s leaving out the appearance of Adrienne Barbeau in the latter third.
What this all amounts to is a rather fun romp that wears inspiration on its sleeve while also going above and beyond feeling like a copycat of other movies. Mendez’s direction sets up all of the right elements, with the ultimate backdrop being a creepy abandoned convent that conveys all of the same atmosphere as Night of the Demons‘ Hull House while also adding a number of sinful signatures, such as a mushroom-addled psychedelic sequence, a particularly effective demon design molding the nun habit into a kind of demented hood aesthetic, and blacklight effects to conjure up neon-looking blood.
The first half of the film is exceptionally fun despite its generic setup and familiar unlikable characters, but its the final half hour that provides the best moments. The aforementioned Barbeau comes screaming in clad in leather on her motorcycle with guns blazing, here one-upping her previous horror appearances by getting to be the heroine. And The Convent doesn’t shy away from the bloodshed, adding a number of gruesome special effects onto an already unique approach with the blacklit makeup.
And at a brisk 79 minutes, The Convent gets in and out without running too long. While Anderson’s story leaves a lot of holes in its church-sanctioned abortions and virginal sacrifices for the Antichrist, it’s also obvious that the plot is a tongue-in-cheek discussion about religion that is able to make its point while also having fun at its expense. While the film probably won’t woo those that aren’t already in love with madcap demon shenanigans, this one fits in right at home as a pseudo-sequel to Demons and Night of the Demons.
4K UHD
Synapse Films has released The Convent on 4K in a UHD/Blu-ray combo pack with a new 4K scan of the 35mm negative, supervised and approved by the director and restored to its uncut form. Most home video releases of the film have lacked the full gore elements, but here viewers are treated to an excellent restoration that is clearly the best the film has ever looked. This has some fairly thick grain at times, but the UHD version of this scan in particular resolves very well – on the Blu-ray, you’ll notice a bit more noticeable chunkiness especially in certain low lighting. The 4K scan manages the film’s various smoke and fog elements exceptionally, and the Dolby Vision HDR brings out a lot of the shadow and black level depth. Also of note are the various scenes with either neon-lit effects or blue and red lighting, which are viscerally eye-popping with HDR; the Blu-ray’s presentation of these is a bit more lurid than the UHD’s more fine handling of the grade. Overall, this one looks fantastic on UHD.
Audio is presented with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround track which sounds quite good, offering solid front-centered dialogue as well as a robust bass depth enhancing the soundtrack’s industrial/breakcore tendencies. Sound effects are used sporadically and naturally audible. English subtitles are also included.
Extras are included on both UHD and Blu-ray discs. First up are two audio commentaries ported from previous home video release; one features Mike Mendez along with cast and crew on the film, and the other is a “Lords of Hell” commentary featuring the characters Saul and Dickie-boy (the two performing the ritual in the film) who both stay in character as well as recap the film as it goes on. Along with these archival commentaries, we do get a previous short behind-the-scenes featurette, an EPK, promotional trailers, still galleries, gore outtakes, and a brief deleted scene (for obvious reasons). The sole new extra on this release is a location tour of The Convent‘s shooting settings accompanied by Mike Mendez with commentary, which explores all of the exteriors as well as discussing where a majority of the interiors were filmed.
Along with the new location featurette, this release also comes with a lengthy set of liner notes by Corey Danna incorporating production notes and comments from cast and crew that really paints the picture of The Convent‘s release. Exterior packaging also includes reversible cover artwork.
Extra Features
- NEW 4K remaster of the uncut version supervised and approved by director, Mike Mendez
- NEW Mastered in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
- 5.1 stereo surround mix from the original 16-track audio masters
- Cast and crew audio commentary, featuring director Mike Mendez
- “Lords of Hell” audio commentary featuring Saul and Dickie-Boy
- NEW Video tour of both THE CONVENT and KILLERS film locations (1080p; 14:33)
- Vintage “Making of” featurette (1080p; 8:33)
- Vintage original studio Electronic Press Kit (EPK) (1080p; 11:33)
- NEW “It’s Always Something with a Virgin” Liner notes booklet from Corey Danna
- Deleted scene (1080p; 0:31)
- Gore outtakes (1080p; 5:54)
- Still gallery (no chapter breaks; 6:26)
- Promotional trailer 1 (1080p; 1:44)
- Promotional trailer 2 (1080p; 1:45)
- NEW Reversible cover art
Verdict
The Convent is a fun, familiar demon romp that should be enjoyable to fans of this type of schlocky horror comedy. The 4K restoration on this UHD is excellent, and Synapse has assembled all previous extras plus a couple additional items to round out the ultimate package for this movie. Recommended!
