Diabolic is a new religious horror, available in the UK from next week. After suffering terrifying blackouts, a young woman returns to the religious compound where she was raised. As she unravels the dark secrets of her past, an ancient ritual unleashes the vengeful spirit of a cursed witch.

I love horror about religion and I enjoyed Diabolic, because it’s the first time I’ve seen a movie focused around The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While I don’t think Diabolic does anything ground-breaking, it’s really interesting to see a horror set outside of the usual Catholic and Christian churches. All I know about the Mormon church, I learned from The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and The Book of Mormon. So it’s safe to say, that’s not a lot!

Elise, played by Elizabeth Cullen who will star in Evil Dead Wrath, has escaped from a Mormon compound. She’s so desperate to rid herself of the blackouts that are seemingly caused by her trauma, she ill-advisedly returns to the community for a ritual to restore her memory. Nothing about this seems like a good idea, so it’s a little frustrating that not only Elise wants to go ahead, but her boyfriend and best friend come along for the ride. Strength in numbers, perhaps, but it is the first of many silly choices from the characters. The story is heavy on religious horror tropes, but I guess that’s what we’ve come to see.

What Diabolic does do really well, is give us beautiful sets and great practical sfx. It’s a really gorgeous film, with a lovely colour palette and atmospheric locations. I was really pleased to see so much practical work and it’s really effective – two of the things that are guaranteed to freak me out (as vague as possible – repeatedly banging your head and coughing up a hairball!) are present. And freak me out, they did. It was also really nice to see a queer storyline. I can’t speak to whether it was an accurate portrayal of the church’s response, or overall depiction of the church, but it added an interesting angle.

As predictable as the story felt at times, it’s still worth a watch to enjoy the visuals and experience a different type of religious horror. A solid 3 star movie!

Diabolic will be available on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from Monday 25th May. Thank you to Strike Media for letting me review the film!