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NEFARIOUS: CHRISTIAN HORROR WITH
THEOLOGICAL DEPTH
by Thomas M. Sipos,
managing editor [October 8, 2023]
[HollywoodInvestigator.com]In religious themed horror films, Satan and his minions often
get the best lines. So too the demon Nefarious, who not only steals
all his scenes in
Nefarious, but even has the film named after him.
We never see Nefarious in all his dark glory. We only see the man he
possesses, a serial killer named Edward Brady (Sean Patrick Flanery).
After he is convicted and sentenced to death, Brady claims that
Nefarious made him kill all those people. Why didn't Brady say so
during his trial? Because Nefarious wants Brady to die in the electric
chair, so he wouldn't let him use that as a defense.
Now Brady must be psychiatrically reevaluated to see if he is
competent to be executed. Dr. James Martin (Jordan Belfi) is tasked to
determine if Brady is insane or only pretending to be possessed by a
demon. That Brady might actually be possessed is never seriously
considered by Martin or the prison authorities.
Nefarious could as easily be titled Interview with the Demon.
This is a talky film, much of it devoted to Dr. Martin and Nefarious
debating theology and morality inside a prison interview room. Martin
is an atheist who tries to poke holes in Nefarious's supernatural
claims, thus proving that Brady is feigning his possession. The demon
in turn challenges Martin's rational world view and secular humanism.
The film's theology is old school fire and brimstone, not feel-good
Christianity. Nefarious gloats that his side is winning, and that so
many more people are entering Hell than Heaven. Although Martin
insists that good and evil are societal constructs, not something that
can be clinically diagnosed, he cites diversity, gay marriage, and
hate speech laws as examples of humanity's moral evolution. To which
Nefarious laughs.
At one point, Martin calls for the prison chaplain. Nefarious reacts
with hostility, until he realizes that the chaplain is a modern
minister who doesn't believe in demons. Calming down, Nefarious says
he wishes he'd met the chaplain earlier. "We're good," he
tells him.
Some detractors complain that
Nefarious is "Christian propaganda" masquerading as horror. It's
true that screenwriters Cary Solomon, Chuck Konzelman, and Steve Deace
have worked on other Christian films (God's Not Dead,
Unplanned,
Do You Believe?). And yes, lead star Flanery is reputedly a devout
Catholic.
Not that
Nefarious is preachy. Its acting is intense, and its literate
script raises many dramatic puzzles. Nefarious tells Martin that
before the day is up, he will have committed three murders. (No, this
is not a cheap horror film where Martin goes on a killing rampage.)
And that he chose Martin to write his biography, a dark gospel for the
New Age. Martin denies he will kill anyone, nor that he will write a
book about Nefarious.
And the big question, what will be Dr. Martin's diagnosis? Who
is Nefarious? Fraud, lunatic, or demon? It's no coincidence that three
possibilities -- fraud, lunatic, or God -- similarly apply to Christ.
Ultimately,
Nefarious is a film that Christians who hate horror films might
nevertheless enjoy, and even use as a teaching tool.
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