JP Nunez
Up until about two weeks ago, I had never heard of The Parish, but after seeing the trailer for it, I immediately put this movie on my to-watch list. Unlike way too many horror trailers these days, this one isn’t filled with cheap jump scares and worn-out clichés like people walking slowly down dark hallways.
Sure, there are a couple of jumpy moments, but they’re few and far between. Instead, this trailer is more about creepy imagery and atmosphere, and it uses those elements to raise some intriguing questions about the film’s plot. For example, who’s that boy who turns to the girl and says “Help me” as if his life depended on it? Who are “the angry people” that the girl mentions to the priest? And what does the woman’s dead husband have to do with any of this?
The trailer doesn’t give us any answers, and the little bit we know about the story just makes me even more curious. Here’s the plot synopsis for The Parish:
“A widow haunted by the gruesome death of her husband uproots her daughter and moves them to a peaceful rural town. Then the real nightmares begin when she and her daughter stumble upon a long-buried scandal. They team up with the town’s priest after encountering a creepy young boy, a hostile janitor and a blood thirsty nun who will stop at nothing to protect the deadly secrets of The Parish.”
That’s a pretty compelling premise on its own, and when you combine it with the questions raised by the trailer, it makes me want to see this movie just so I can find out what the heck is going on here! In fact, that’s probably my favorite thing about this trailer. Horror movies sometimes focus so much on the scares that they forget to give us an interesting story, so it’s always nice when you find one that looks like it’s going to avoid that pitfall.
But the plot isn’t the only draw here. This trailer also promises some really creepy moments. In particular, I like that it features a good mix of big, in-your-face scares with some subtler scenes that just let you stew in their inherent creepiness. Variety is always good, and scares are no exception.
The Parish comes out on VOD and DVD on March 16, so we won’t have to wait too long to find out if it makes good on the trailer’s promises.
So what do you think of the trailer for The Parish? Do you agree with JP that it looks like it’ll have an interesting story and some good scares? Let us know in the comments!
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