A powerful biotech company has breakthrough technology allowing them to clone history’s most influential people with just a few fragments of DNA. Behind this company is a cabal of Satanists that steals the shroud of Christ, putting them in possession of Jesus’ DNA. Archangel Michael comes to earth and will stop at nothing to end the devil’s conspiracy.
“The Devil Conspiracy” is a supernatural thriller in which the Shroud of Turin is stolen from the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy, by a cabal of Satanists hellbent on possessing the DNA of Jesus Christ. They plan on using the DNA and injecting it into the uterus of a healthy woman so that Lucifer, who was locked up in hell by Archangel Michael, can take possession of the child, be reborn, and take over the world with his legions of demons.
After this element is spelled out for us, a young American woman, Laura (Alice Orr-Ewing), is kidnapped and impregnated with Jesus’s DNA. At the same time, a young priest, Father Michael Marconi (Joe Doyle), who is friends with Laura, tries to prevent her abduction but is killed by the Satanists in the process. Archangel Michael then takes possession of his body and proceeds to lock and load with an arsenal of weapons to prevent the Satanists from achieving their diabolical objective.
“The Devil Conspiracy” is reminiscent in tone of the 2011 fantasy horror, “Priest,” starring Paul Paul Bettany and Karl Urban; it starts with a very intriguing premise but then turns into a shoot-em-up spectacle that is better than it has a right to be. It is also indicative of the 2010 fantasy horror “Legion,” which also starred Paul Bettany as Archangel Michael as he tries to save a pregnant woman whose child will be the savior of the world after Satan and his minions are unleashed from hell.
Cinematographer Milan Chadima impeccably shoots the film, and the cast, as a whole, does well with the, at times, pedestrian but engaging script. Director Nathan Frankowski utilizes the beautiful and haunting Czech Republic countryside, and the few glimpses of hell we witness are evocative of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Mount Doom from “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” filled with flying demons, volcanoes, and massive lava flows. The fight scenes are well-staged, with many impressive action set pieces.
I only wish the filmmakers had chosen to make this a dark, supernatural, and psychological horror instead of turning it into an all-out action flick. While the action is stellar, the story is intriguing enough that it could have benefited from a more practical approach, highlighting the possible implications of meddling with celestial powers and the ramifications that would surely follow. As it stands, “The Devil Conspiracy” makes for a thrilling and entertaining distraction.
In Theaters Friday, January 13th
