The Apostate

San Juan is being terrorized by a killer, a vicious beast who cuts up his victims and uses their blood to paint the walls with brilliant expressionist art laden with religious symbolism. Well, wouldn't you know it, but the killer manages to kill the brother of a guy who is both a priest and a genius artist, and is therefore able to track the killer down by following his brush strokes and his religious proclivities.

Poorly acted (except for Dennis Hopper) grade-c thriller with only two redeeming aspects:

NUDITY REPORT

Two women are completely naked, and offer clear and prolonged full-frontals: Bridget White, as a model, and Johanna Quintero as a wild party girl.

Male nudity: Brandon Williams is seen naked from the rear.

The presence of Hopper in an otherwise unknown cast.
Lots of nudity.

I don't know why they chose to structure it this way, but there is no mystery at all. You know that Hopper is the killer, and you know the priest is going to be able to track him down. Hopper is kind enough to speed up the plot a bit by actually coming to confession and telling the priest he did it. And the priest is kind enough to speed it up even more by having an uncle who is the detective assigned to the case. Blah, blah .....

DVD info from Amazon.

advertised as widescreen, not so. Is only available in 4:3.
no extras

The only mystery in the movie is introduced after most people will have turned it off, thinking it was over. While the rest of you were rewinding, I was watching the credits to identify the naked people, and the police fouind another murder after they already got Hopper. So who was it? A copycat? Or was it the priest, a man with the potential to become as deeply disturbed as Hopper, and a man to whom Hopper said, "you want to be me, but you'll never be me".

I don't really understand what happened, but I don't care either. It's that kind of movie.

The Critics Vote

no major reviews

The People Vote ...

With their votes ... IMDB summary: IMDb voters score it 5.4, although I can't imagine why it is that high

IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a D. Creepy, but dull, movie. Might be worthwhile if you just love Hopper. Otherwise, only worthwhile for the beautiful nudity from two gorgeous woman.