User Reviews

In Los Angeles, Angela Holmes (Olivia Dudley) is a happy young woman, pride and joy of her father Colonel Roger Holmes (Dougray Scott) and in love with her boyfriend Peter "Pete" Smith (John Patrick Amedori). On her birthday party, she cuts her hand and Roger and Peter take her to the hospital. When she returns home, she has a seizure and they drive her back to the hospital. Then Angela is discharged but she pulls the wheel of the taxi causing a serious accident. She returns in coma to the hospital. Forty days later, she has no response and Father Oscar Lozano (Michael Peña) convinces Roger to unplug the life support system. Out of the blue, she awakes in perfect health. Soon Angela shows signs of demoniac possession and the Vatican sends Cardinal Bruun (Peter Andersson) to perform an exorcism to save her soul. Will there be time to save her body?

"The Vatican Tapes" is a decent and underrated horror film, one of the best about exorcism. The plot is based on Catholic beliefs but is engaging. Most of the cast is excellent and has good performances; maybe only Michael Peña has an inexpressive performance. The conclusion has an open end maybe with the intention of a sequel. But in general, "The Vatican Tapes" is satisfactory with an appropriate use of Handycam or surveillance video. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Exorcistas do Vaticano" (Exorcists from the Vatican")

Here we go again with the negative reviewers. I wonder what's wrong with those people? You are not going to tell me that this is the worst horror movie you ever saw, because then you talk a lot of bull... Okay it's not the best movie about possession or exorcism but it sure ain't the worst one. You can not compare it with The Exorcist because that movie was one of the first one about that subject and for that time it had everyone on the tip of their chair. Linda Blair will probably remain the best actress as a possessed person but it doesn't mean that other actors can't play that role. I thought Olivia Taylor Dudley did a good job with her performance. Looking innocent and then pure evil, to me it all looked real, and that's what's it all about with movies like this one. I surely was entertained and I saw hundreds of worse horror movies then The Vatican Tapes. Don't believe the haters here because they don't know what they are talking about.

It's not really about exorcism, though it is about possession. And I have to admit, that I am surprised by the low rating here on IMDb. It's very well crafted, has an array of good actors in it and the script is solid. While I would agree that it doesn't reach the heights of some of the best horror movies out there, this is certainly a very good movie.

The acting is strong, the story holds up and the ending works too. Yes some characters react strange to our main character, but overall it's not the worst behavior in horror movies (or in the clichés we are used to). I like the mentality of the movie and the director seems to know his stuff. As does the cinematographer (both plus leading actress are on an interesting audio commentary on the disc) too. I was pleasantly surprised by this and maybe you will be too

Greetings from Lithuania.

"The Vatican Tapes" (2015) is a very enjoyable "possession / exorcism" movie. While the plot is not really original, the ending kinda was original, really original. It has not bad mood for this kind of horror movie, and although it has clichés all around, the overall experience was positive.

Michael Peña is totally miscast in this movie, he is one of the most reliable "comic reliefs" in industry at the moment, so it is hard to take him seriously in priest robe with serious face, there were some scenes with him near the end when i just wanted to chuckle - not that he is a bad actor, he is solid one, but at this moment in his carrier this kind of movie is clearly not his strongest side. Djimon Hounsou is also a bit miscast, although this 2 times Oscar nominee is much more believable in this role. Others were OK, nothing special. Directing was also OK, and i kinda liked cinematography and editing, they create this feeling of uncertainty.

Overall, i kinda see why "The Vatican Tapes" has such a lot rating at IMDb (4.5 at the moment) - lots of recent horror movies about possession and exorcism are shoot in "found footage" style, but this one plays straight and its overall look is inconsistent, there are many close ups and shaky camera and some weird shoots, but as a whole i liked this style and as i have mentioned it creates this tension and feeling of uncertainty. Ending was also kinda original in my opinion. While this flick isn't the most original or best in its genre, it was a pretty descent one.

The Vatican has maintained tapes of possible satanic possessions over the years. Vicar Imani (Djimon Hounsou) shows Cardinal Bruun (Peter Andersson) the case of Angela Holmes (Olivia Taylor Dudley). Two months earlier, her boyfriend Pete Smith (John Patrick Amedori) throws her a surprise birthday party with her father (Dougray Scott) attending. She cuts herself with the cake knife and reluctantly goes to the hospital. Strange things start to happen including her unquenchable thirst. She is hospitalized. There's an incident and the police is called in but Father Lozano (Michael Peña) sees the supernatural. Angela is put into a group home under the supervision of psychiatrist Dr. Richards (Kathleen Robertson).

It's a horror without scares. It's plodding. It has no style and no pace. It has worthwhile actors but not all of them stick around. It should have Father Lozano as the protagonist since he's the most natural point of view. Angela could work if it goes more into the demon world. The story is flat and unoriginal. It's on the slow boil and stays there. It's security camera footage and slow moving plot. There is some attempt at atmosphere. The exorcism doesn't have pea soup but it does have CGI fire. This was released theatrically but it's more fitting as one of the countless VOD offerings.

One would expect a rich cultural or more in-depth take of possession premise with a title such as The Vatican Tapes. Unfortunately, it's nothing more than mediocre horror with barely anything new. Not to mention it's trapped between forced found footage style for some parts and shaky cam for the rest.

It's the story as old as the supposed entity possessing the poor victim, in this case Angela (Olivia Taylor Dudley). She begins showing weird behavior and it eventually attracts the attention of Vatican. For acting department, there are actually some decent names here such as Michael Peña, Djimon Hounsou or Dougray Scott. They all have worked in bigger movies or played different roles, and there's a visible effort here, but the material is so thin their characters feel lackluster.

Pacing is also another issue. The way it's presented might make the timeline seem odd, it switches back and forth between early stages of haunting and eventual discovery. However, the transition is poor and it doesn't escalate well, although that's partially because of the timid horror. Visually, it's very confusing, often using documentary style such as following character with camcorder perspective or CCTV videos, all of which are unnecessary and only manage to limit the presentation.

As for the creepy parts, they are practically the stuffs of old. If you have seen any similar movie in past couple of years, chances are you've seen this before. A few scenes fare better, although these are also heavily borrowed from other films. There's barely any grand sight or atmosphere of Vatican, in fact the priests from holy city almost like supporting character that pop up in small portion of the movie.

It's all right if the concept is not novel, many other movies have done old concept well. However, The Vatican Tapes relies too heavily on superficial gimmicks and sadly low on thrill.

I'm sure most horror fans with an interest in religion/exorcism based films will find something to enjoy here.

Sure it's nothing new, but it's well acted and stylishly executed in terms of cinematography.

There's not really any wasted time on screen, and it rattles along at a good pace.

So many horror films these days have a cheap feel, this doesn't. It's not a classic like The Exorcist, or The Omen, but it's a heck of a lot better than most being made nowadays.

THE VATICAN TAPES is a creepy and horror film about exorcism, professionally , though flawed , directed by Mark Neveldine . For 2,000 years the Vatican has recorded evidence of evil . May God have mercy on their souls. Truly terrifiyng story following the ultimate battle between good and evil - God versus Satan . Angela Holmes (Olivia Taylor) is an ordinary 27-year-old who lives with her boyfriend (John Patrick) . At the beginning Angela has an argument with her overprotective daddy (Dougray Scott) , shortly after she has a convulsion and her father and fiancé carry her to the hospital until she begins to have a devastating effect on anyone close, causing serious injury and death. Holmes is subsequently examined and possession is suspected, but when the Vatican is called upon to exorcise the demon, the possession proves to be an ancient satanic force more powerful than ever imagined . Later on, she is under psychiatric care under Dr. Richards (Kathleen Robertson) , suffering from the effects of being possessed by the devil . It's all up to Father Lozano (Michael Peña) to wage war for more than just Angela's soul, but for the world as we know it . She getting sicker by the time, being really possessed, as a demon into a young woman gone amok . Family relies on priests who start to visit her every day . There is something dark and sinister inside Angela , a nasty demon that goes bersek and she wants to eject it. Then , Cardinal Mattias Bruun (Peter Andersson) investigates the sinister happenings , as he attempts to help the possessed lass and he submits Angela a weird exorcism . There are some things best kept in secret.

Horror picture shot in fits and starts with incoherent plot, dealing with a ghastly possession , as a young woman is possessed by a malevolent and heinous spirit causing creepy, scary and terrible moments ; then , a priest and two Vatican exorcists must do battle with an ancient satanic force to save the soul of the strange girl . A rare film about exorcism in similar style to The Exorcist 1973 by William Friedkin . This latter movie remains still startling and engrossing with every viewing, it spread countless sequels and imitations, one of them is this one, though , of course, it is far cry from the original Exorcist . Genuinely scary moments overcome some obvious plot devices. This is a juicy terrifying material fashioning an iconic diabolic possession, providing screams, thrills, shocks and chilling scenes .It has an extremely known premise spawns the film in ups and downs. All semblance of plausibility is extracted, leaving a main cast of little known actors : Olivia Taylor and John Patrick , to show their limited skills. However, the support cast is pretty good , such as : Dougray Scott , Michael Peña , Peter Andersson Djimon Hounsou , Kathleen Robertson , Michael Halsey .There appears briefly Michael Paré , Daniel Bernhardt and Alison Lohman who married director Mark Neveldine playing a Psych patient , but she has less than 2o seconds of screen time.

It delivers a scary and eerie ambient thanks to an expert cameraman, Gerardo Madrazo . As well as a frightening, suspenseful and chilling musical score byJoseph Bishara . Being efficiently produced by Chris Morgan , Eric Reid and Richard Wright . This silly, non-sense , late night horror picture was decently directed by Mark Neveldine , though with no originality and it has some flaws and gaps. Mark Neveldine has directed a few acceptable films such as : ¨Crank¨, its sequel : ¨Crank high voltage¨, ¨Ghost Rider : Spirit of Vengeance¨and in pre-production ¨Finding Jack¨ . Rating 6/10 . Passable and decent exorcism/horror movie . No for squamish

Exorcist movies have lost its freshness over the years due to the fact that almost every single one of them is exactly the same and trying to be "realistic", but it's just a nonsensical excuse that these filmmakers lack creativity to be scary. But not all of them, of course, suffers with that case. The Vatican Tapes is ought to be one them, however it is taken with a spin from director Mark Neveldine, by using his trademark camera-work and other sorts of insanity. Conceptually, this could have been one of the silliest horror movies ever made, but the movie puts its story together effectively by building the heat of its main villain until it becomes a weapon of mass destruction. The Vatican Tapes isn't quite scary or original, but its cold, cruel atmosphere is what strangely made it work.

The movie opens with a series of exorcism footage indicating that evil truly exists and then we cut to two Vatican exorcists who are studying a young woman, who happens to be possessed, in a video tape that were sent from a priest in Los Angeles. The story went back few months earlier and telling the complete story of how this victim, Angela, is slowly consumed by this demonic spirit. At this point, the movie is quite standard. We see this woman acting strange whenever she is visited by a mysterious raven, she often gets an excess of thirst and does horrible things to people, like blinding themselves to death or make them kill each other. It all seems ridiculous than scary, but with its aspect, it kind of works. It gives this demon a vast freedom to its menacing abilities, no matter how silly these actions get.

And "big shock", they realized that they need to exorcise Angela. People may brag about how long it took for the exorcism to come, but it was made up for building a strange atmosphere to result to this climax. The dread of the music score, the frenzy of its cinematography, the intensity of the tone; it may not be evidently scary, but the movie has established that this spirit is destructive and also could lead to the apocalypse. The movie ends with an uneasy ambiguity and there is supposed to be a concluded epic battle between the devil inside of her and the exorcists of the Vatican. But again, that's just the cliffhanger.

The craft is interesting for a rather generic exorcist storyline. The camera-work may put people off for being just another shaky cam mess, but it's actually not quite a mess. The cinematography and editing are decently put together and it instead brings momentum within the chaos happening on screen. It's more action movie aesthetic than horror, but it's the tone that breathes the anxiety. The acting is decent, as well, though Michael Peña is mostly a studying witness to get his character fully fleshed out, but he does a solid job as the supposed protagonist, anyway. Dougray Scott makes for an effective concern father of Angela. Djimon Hounsou and Peter Andersson spices up the screen whenever they're around in their very small roles. But who really impresses among this cast is Olivia Taylor Dudley, who gives creepy glares and intense paranoia as the ticking bomb of all possessed victims.

The Vatican Tapes is meant to be absurd, but in an intriguing way. The real terror definitely happens in the ending which is left for a sequel or ambiguity, but what came from that effect is a rather unfeeling tone that establishes how mercilessly evil this entity is, that even the priests are seriously preparing themselves to stop it. The exorcism climax is also enjoyably ultimate, if not too ridiculous. The story is still standard when it comes to this genre, but The Vatican Tapes at least tried something a little bit different and a little too outlandish that can be rather fascinating. Even with its silliness and clichés, you can still be invested by how they never underestimate this villain.

Possession films in the past such as "The Devil Inside" have proved to be sick, and freak out the audience with the display of it's demonic possession. PG-13 possession films have proved to be quite sick, and perhaps good as well, hence "The Last Exorcism". This possession film, "The Vatican Tapes" comes out solid, but tends to be quite clichéd.

Starting off with the story of this film, of which seems to be quite simple. Our main character becomes possessed, and it progressively gets worse, and worse overtime. Her family, with the aid of some priests must figure out what's wrong and stop it. It seems very simple, but the way the story is executed in this film was very solid, for what it was, a simple, straight to the point plot. As the story continues, we get more in depth with the demons personality, per say. We get to see what it can do, and how it possesses it's powers to it's advantage. Overall, the story / plot is quite simple, but without spoiling anything, the movie carries it all out solidly, holding it's grasp.

The acting of this film, in my opinion was fine. Just fine. We get some pretty decent actors combining together in this film, which is great and all, but the situations they had to face lead they're acting to be a bit sketchy at points. Some parts of the film, for example when the actors fall back, scared, you kind of stare at the movie asking yourself .. "What?" Parts of which they DO seem serious, just seems funny toward the audience watching. In this case, they SEEM to be overacting when certain points come, but are actually not, instead are seeming that way due to the specific situation they're being put in. But in conclusion to this element, the situations that came to horror [ The scares, exorcism, etc. ] it was fine, not fantastic.

The scares of this movie, is defiantly something to conclude with. It's pretty much clichéd. You've pretty much seen this tactic in many films before. Dose this perhaps ring a bell? A bird flying at the window? Through it? Yea. We've seen this before, at least once. There's also, once again, without spoiling anything some other scares that have been seen before, on top of that, some of them are even horribly placed in time, making a failed attempt at scaring the audience, instead of scaring them, giving them a laugh even. There are also some scares floating around that will make you jump, but then when you realize what it was that made you jump, you'd ask yourself "How did that scare me!?" Either way, the point being there are few, to no scares that will get you deep in the core in this film. In conclusion, if your looking to get scared, from either tension itself, it won't happen. If you want an ear blasting loud noise, here you go! Another cliché method themed film filled with those!

In conclusion. The movie had simple flaws of which are extremely clichéd, however, the movie held grip with a solid execution, as well as some decent demonic possession methods. It dose hold many elements you typically see in other possession films, sure, but it was solid, and managed to keep the audience entertained. One way or another. It wasn't that bad of a film, but it lacked in critical horror elements, like scares, and tension. As there were none. But never the less, this horror flick was not bad at all. Just.. flawed deeply, and held back due to it's PG-13 rating.

Bemused by low scores for The Vatican Tapes, for me it was very good. It's a slow build-up, an original(ish) story - unlike some by-the-numbers possession-related flicks, and not "predictable". Worth an hour and a half of your time...

One of the worst things about being a horror buff is having already seen things done the same way over and over again. You are constantly trying to find something fresh but a lot of times you simply see the same thing with only the places and people changing. You become jaded and harsh to the newer films. I think that is some of what is happening with this film. I gonna review it not based on or in competition with others.

This film isn't as bad as some have made it out to be. I felt that it carried a steady creepiness throughout and the actors were decent. The story was well scripted and it could've been setting itself up for a sequel. I didn't care for the pace. It seemed to drag at times. I thought the stunts weren't the best but they were ok. I didn't consider them or the CGI as being cheesy or too cheaply done.

All-in-all, this isn't one of the best but it is a far cry from one of the worst.

I was entertained for an hour and a half, and had my expectations subverted - in a positive way (not in a Rian Johnson way, thankfully). It is well shot, using good effects, it has a reasonable script, with on par performances all round.

'The Vatican Tapes' is an okay movie. It's nothing extraordinary, but it's not bad, either. It may well be enjoyed by a general audience; alternatively, how much it finds favor with more niche viewers may depend on how discerning they are.

This is a story about ill omens culminating in demonic possession and, as even early press releases foretold, attempted exorcism. From those plot points alone this is technically a horror feature, but at least for my part, there are more thrills here than genuine chills. Will fans of horror films, generally, like 'The Vatican Tapes?' Maybe.

One of two things that I specifically enjoyed about 'The Vatican Tapes' is that build-up - the increasing sense of suspense, of something not being quite right, as the ill omens and eerie goings-on accumulate. So it is, with me, for just about any horror movie, and this is no different. Any horror film can throw blood, gore, monsters, and death in the viewer's face. Even in an otherwise mediocre feature, it takes a more deft hand to let pieces slowly settle into place, leading to a climax, than to immediately show one's hand.

The emphasis in marketing, and the general thrust of the narrative, is the suggestion of exorcism, not unlike other exorcism horror films that find release every few years or so. If that's your cup of tea, great, but to be very honest, it's certainly not mine. It's a relatively rare horror film that I find in any way frightening to begin with, and it's harder still to take them seriously when the premise is constructed around some paranormal whatsit that select folks, in real life, somehow believe are very real things. Media that centers "ghost-hunting" is laughable for just that reason, and it's why I readily give exorcism films a pass, too. 'The Exorcist,' as far as I'm concerned, is highly overrated. So that's certainly not the appeal for me here.

What is the draw? Well, the other thing that I specifically enjoy about 'The Vatican Tapes' - for me, as is undoubtedly true for others, it's the casting of Olivia Taylor Dudley that pulled me in. Djimon Hounsou and Michael Pena have the star power, but it's Dudley that has the featured role as possession victim Angela. Dudley cut her teeth with Internet sketch comedy group 5secondfilms, and as a fan of those hard-working rascals, I certainly can't turn down an opportunity to see an alumnus in a major feature film.

And, truly - I 100% recognize that I'm a bit biased here; if not for Dudley's involvement, there's a significant chance I wouldn't care about this movie at all. Even so, as far as I'm concerned, Dudley's performance is ultimately the reason to watch 'The Vatican Tapes.' She convincingly makes Angela very relatable as she struggles to understand what's happening to her, and very believable as the film takes a turn heading into the very worthy climax. As the narrative resolves the climax and reaches toward its conclusion, Dudley perfectly exudes Angela's calm and cool demeanor, the ending suggesting further thrilling events beyond the roll of the credits here.

Numerical ratings are less important in reviewing a movie than the words behind them, but even at that, I'm a little torn on how to summarize my feelings. I like the building tension, and love Olivia Taylor Dudley's performance (and I'm happy to see that at least some published critics agree with me on that count). I enjoy the ending. Yet I recognize my bias, and recognize that outside of these specific aspects of the movie that I enjoy, the film can be a bit middling, without much for audiences to necessarily be excited about.

It's not revelatory, yet I like 'The Vatican Tapes.' Whether or not you will, too, probably depends on how much you like to engage with its constituent parts. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show - just don't expect an end-all-be-all picture.

I love possession movies because that's really the only thing that scares me, I enjoyed it and had a cool ending! Plus I relate these movies to the real world, I feel earth is the devils playground, the ending made sense to me!

Yes same story again, a girl possesed by the evil gods etc, but its a well made movie with a nice script and it really is a horror movie. it gave me some chills and i dont remember many post-millenial horror movies to do that to me. recommended for sure!

Well I went into this movie expecting it to be bad. It wasn't in theaters very long and reviews I read on it were bad but I thought it was very impressive writing. My boyfriend's Christian and has read the bible twice so naturally he understood what the anti-Christ was more than I did but even if you're not exactly sure what the anti-Christ is I feel the movie does it's best to explain it.

I think the reason most were disappointed was because every time one of these types of films comes out audiences expect someone to try and top The Exorcist (which realistically isn't possible, it's a classic). Not to mention people understand the devil is evil and demons are evil but this was something different. There's only one Christ so obviously the anti-Christ is a false prophet. In a sense the anti-Christ is like the devil because the anti-Christ can deceive and trick people into thinking they're good.

But I think the reason most didn't like this film was simply because they didn't understand what an anti-Christ is and couldn't fully appreciate the twist ending. I like that everything wasn't happily ever after and wrapped in a nice bow. I just hope they don't do some bull crap part 2 like The Last Exorcism did. Anyway it's nice to see films trying to think outside the Exorcist box creating films like this and The Lazarus effect even if their execution isn't perfect it's refreshing.

Besides I'd rather see a ton of these type of films than see someone try to remake or "re-imagine" The Exorcist(even though you know that's coming). To sum up this was interesting and kept you wondering exactly what the hell was gonna happen so to me that's a good thing. Check it out.

It's not just another exorcism movie. It's updated for the modern age story wise and while it does go through the motions of a possession story, it's still very interesting due to the serious nature and beautiful imagery. Speaking of imagery, the lighting is beautiful, and the shots in general are great. The most interesting aspect is how perfect it is with all the story elements it covers. It's like the perfect exorcism movie and nothing is really missing, and it goes further than other ones I've seen. It has a more modern story and implication like I mentioned previously. Overall I was very pleased with this film and I'd love to see a sequel like Mark Neveldine has talked about!

Concerned with the world at large, a priest and a cardinal from the Vatican investigate the series of strange phenomenon surrounding a young woman in America who's at the center of a series of strange accidents only to discover something dangerous is inside her that will destroy mankind.

This was a decent enough genre effort. One of the better features here is the fact that this one really works the low-key nature of the possession rather nicely in how it builds up her eventual situation. With the first half slowly building up her case about being possessed, running this in conjunction with the idea of trying to sell her new boyfriend to her father, the incidents at the birthday party or the bird attack on the bus-ride they take together gives this some rather fine starting points which gets extrapolated later on in several rather impressive sequences. The chilling scenes of her awakening from the coma inside the hospital and then later attacking the officers through supernatural influence when they appear to question her makes for quite an enjoyable time here as this one really goes out to offer the idea that she's become possessed by something as the fact that all this evidence is mounting together, alongside the visual changes to her body as well as the more traditional scenes of the possession as the speaking in tongues or knowing secrets she possibly couldn't. Even the extraordinary fun of the rampage at the asylum where she forces the inmates into a frenzy attacking each other and the staff through suggestion and creates such a disruption to their training that it sets up the great finale. Once it focuses on the idea of the possession and battling the demon inside, the exorcism sequence here is quite fun with the majority of the focus on trying to vanquish the evil which isn't new at all but certainly manages to maintain quite a fevered tone by the time it pulls out the fine twist at the end which fully reveals the fate in store for this one which is an incredibly chilling and powerful twist that works rather nicely. Together these manage to hold this one up over it's few minor flaws. The main issue with this one is the utterly unbelievable amount of setup needed to finally convince people of what's going on, with the entire first hour seemingly devoted to telling the idea of her being possessed through events that really should've been investigated a little further. The scenes at the hospital should've been more than enough to sell somebody on her situation, yet this one has to wait until the various rounds of interviews conducted at the asylum and then seeing the chaos caused which is so deep into the film after these other events that it seems ludicrous they'd wait this long and makes the exorcism come out of nowhere with little build-up. As well, the finale runs a little too long and really didn't need to be there, causing this one to come up with a brief exorcism attempt and then running way too long on the final reveal that doesn't really need to be there. These here really manage to hold it back.

Rated PG-13: Violence and Language.