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The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

This movie has a concept that was ahead of its time. One has to have some level of intelligence and no Catholic hang ups to understand the twisted mind set of the two main characters. A surprising ending as well! Every time I watch it I see more that I had missed originally. The scenery is real and the frightening artist portrayed by Dennis Hopper reminded me of his character portrayal in Blue Velvet. I absolutely loved the chubby priest who, for a time, added a bit of comedy. I just worry that, since it was released over 10 years ago that it might have been toned down a bit due to the suggestion of priestly improprieties. The direction was brilliant.

I'll give writer/director William Gove credit for finding someone to finance this ill-conceived "thriller." A good argument for not wasting money subscribing to HBO, let alone buying DVDs based on cover art and blurbs. A pedestrian Dennis Hopper and a game Richard Grieco add nothing significant to their resumes, although the art direction is not half bad. The dialogue will leave you grimacing with wonder at its conceit; this is storytelling at its worst. No tension, no suspense, no dread, no fear, no empathy, no catharsis, no nothing. A few attractive and often nude females spice up the boredom, but this is definitely a film best seen as a trailer. I feel sorry for the guy who greenlighted this thing. Good for late-night, zoned-out viewing only. You have been warned.

"The Apostate", a dark drama airing on HBO, tells of an insane artist (Hopper) who slashes his victims and paints on walls with their blood and a Jesuit priest (Grieco) and artist, the brother of a victim, who sets about to find the killer through his art. A grisly, moody flick set in sweaty San Juan, Puerto Rico, "The Apostate" puts Grieco through his paces as it plods along toward a predictable conclusion under oppressively heavy and dark atmospherics. An okay journeyman effort, what the film lacks in story it makes up for with attitude, music, drama, and art. Worth a look for those into B-flick drama with liturgical overtones.

This movie was a mess. It had the absolute worst editing I have ever seen. It was almost like at the end of a scene the writer wanted to go to commercial, and the filmmaker added a second of black screen to fulfill the writers dream.Under the messy direction and editing, there was a glimmer of something good. A good idea, a compelling spark. But somewhere it went wrong.The story is about a quasi-psychic priest who is trying to solve a string of murders. The first thing that is hard to bite into is Richard Grieco as a priest. Well the part doesn't call for him to be a good priest and he succeeds rather well. The second problem is Dennis Hopper as the crazy bad guy. He always plays the crazy bad guy. Very ho hum.Oh, a thought occured to me that maybe all the jumpy, horrible editing and disconnected plot was trying to add a sense of the confusion the character (Grieco) was experiencing. And just to prove that it was contrived they rolled the credits backwords. Not a good sign for any movie.