About a deaf-mute child who claims to have seen a vision of Mother Mary, miraculously cured, and cures others. A tale about evil masquerading as good. The book is interesting not because of the horror (which I won't spoil by telling more) but because Herbert seems genuinely interested in the problem of the relationship between the Church and simple and desperate folk's faith when that faith may prove to be naive and dangerous. A little girl called Alice. A deaf-mute. A vision. A lady in shimmering white who says she is the immaculate conception. And Alice can suddenly hear and speak, and she can perform miracles. Squires, John (8 March 2021). "Sam Raimi-Produced, Jeffrey Dean Morgan-Starring Horror Movie 'The Unholy' Dated for Release". Bloody Disgusting . Retrieved 8 March 2021.

Shrine: Now a Major Film Called The Unholy – the Novel Is

D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 8, 2021). "Sony Dates Horror Film 'The Unholy' For Easter Weekend". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved March 8, 2021. Herbert is capable of granting a fine evocation of rural Sussex as it was at that time and as a sympathetic but realistic portrayal of the Catholic Church and its servants. Then there is that horror, so close to William Peter Blatty's enormous success, which builds up on a premise of ancient supernatural evil working its way into the world through innocent faith even if the ending becomes something that just has to end a little absurdly because there is nowhere else for it to go.

The project was announced in December 2018 under the working title Shrine, with Sony Pictures adapting Herbert's novel of the same name. The cast was announced between 2018 and 2020, with principal photography commencing in Boston,but on March 14, 2020, filming was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

James Herbert obituary | James Herbert | The Guardian James Herbert obituary | James Herbert | The Guardian

D'Alessandro, Anthony (14 March 2020). "Sony Halts Production On Kevin Hart's 'Man From Toronto', 'Shrine' & 'The Nightingale' ". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 15 May 2020. Some very cool horrific scenes regarding the car /tanker accident, the church basement and hooded nuns, a weird scene with Alice and a cat, some character deaths including more than 1 type of father and a seemingly rushed ending that involved a psychotic anti religious gunman, lightning, earth shattering quakes and underground zombies lol. N'Duka, Amanda (27 February 2020). " 'Shrine': Screen Gems Horror Pic Adds Cary Elwes, Katie Aselton & More". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 29 February 2020. Alice, who they believe is unaware of Mary's true nature, wishes to hold a church service by the tree and broadcast it to the masses. Delgarde warns that those pledging themselves to Elnor would make her stronger and condemn their soul to Hell. Gerry, Natalie and Delgarde try to perform a ritual in the church to stop this, but Elnor appears and crushes Delgarde with a burning cross.There are obviously alot of religious themes and undertones here, which is fresh off the exorcist and the omen and all the other 70s and 80s religion horror stories. I enjoyed the character of Fenn and Father Hagan and Delcarde. Fenn isn't religious and is rationale and logical and the two religious characters , while devout catholics, know that things aren't right here and go against their brethren hierarchy in some ways. It adds some depth to their characters. Each chapter begins with a quote from a famous literary work, often a fairy tale or poem dealing with folklore, like the Grimms' canon, Peter Pan, and Hans Christian Andersen. The third-person narrative switches between several points of view, including village businessmen, Catholic officials, and other minor, as well as important, characters.

Shrine (1983) DLS Reviews - Shrine (1983)

Squires, John (March 8, 2021). "Sam Raimi-Produced, Jeffrey Dean Morgan-Starring Horror Movie 'The Unholy' Dated for Release". Bloody Disgusting . Retrieved March 8, 2021. There is an interesting cast of characters who all have their own involvement with what is happening - Fenn the journalist who is covering the story, Father Hagan the local priest who is overwhelmed by the sudden attention his church is receiving, a couple of local business owners who see opportunities to make money from the new tourists, to mention just a few.At this point I want to jump in and point out however that along with many other authors, James Herbert's books developed and changed through the years - his early books where very visceral and tactile - sometimes at the expense of characterisation, but as the years went on he would mature and start to take on a more subtle and restrained approach and in some ways even more terrifying style. The Shrine was one of his early books and some of the scenes certainly reflect this.**. In 1845, in Banfield, Massachusetts, Mary Elnor, a woman who has been accused of witchcraft, is hanged from a tree and set on fire. Before she dies, however, her ash is kept in a kern doll, indicating the doll has been possessed by Mary's spirit. A context may be the Fatima manifestations in Portugal in 1916/1917 which, even today, divide liberal 'rational' Catholics from simple faith conservative Catholics, Anglo-Saxon reasoning catholics from 'peasant' deep faith Catholics. It certainly was a good enough suspense story, though quite a drag to read at times. The overly descriptive paragraphs were at first a wonder (to someone like me who can't write descriptions that well), then ultimately became a bore and a hindrance as they seemed to slow down the story's progress. I understand the need to instill a gloomy setting, thus the numerous references to gray, bleak afternoons and cold, bitter winds, but sometimes it just feels a little over the top. (SPOILER) I liked the story behind the nun's revenge, though the actual revenge itself was quite a let-down regardless if it was completed or not. The main character was oookay, but I think the effort to make him appear agnostic just contradicted the whole thing (can't explain properly).