11 of the Most Disobedient Priests In Fright Films

In a future where vampires and humans have been at war for centuries, priests have become fighters against vampires and have seemingly beaten them. Paul Bettany stars as Priest, who defies Monsignor Orelas (Christopher Plummer) when vampires capture his niece, and he discovers that the vampire menace has risen again. Also, as Maury Povich would say on his show, "He is the father."

The Cleansing Hour is about a former priest who does fake exorcisms on a live stream show once a week for profit and calls himself Father Max (Ryan Guzman). I don't think the Church would be on board with that. He left the Church because he lost his faith after seeing so many abuses committed by priests that went unpunished.

Álex de la Iglesia's horror-comedy The Day of The Beast is centered on a priest and theologian who feels he must commit as many sins as possible to prevent the foretold birth of the Antichrist. He will sell his soul to get close to the delivery and won't let being a priest stop him. Without question, the Vatican did not command him to do this. The Day of the Beast can also be found on our list; The Devil Is In The Details: Spine Tingling Films With Satan.

Autopsy is a sexy Giallo film where a morgue assistant with an overly vivid imagination Simona Sana (Mimsy Farmer), and a former race car driver turned priest Father Paul Lenox (Barry Primus), team up to prove that his sister's alleged suicide was the work of a serial killer. While Father Paul doesn't give in to the temptation of a relationship with Simona, he's fiery about his belief that his sister didn't kill herself.

During a time when it seems like the Apocalypse might be imminent, a priest Father Lucci is sent out by the Vatican to investigate. A pregnant woman Abby Quinn (Demi Moore), has visions that her pregnancy would be The Seventh Sign of the Apocalypse. It turns out that Father Lucci is Cartaphilus, a porter of Pontius Pilate who refused to give water to Jesus Christ during his walk to the Crucifixion. Father Lucci/Cartaphilus wants the Apocalypse to happen to end his curse to walk the Earth until the end of time, and he tries to kill Abby and murders a martyr. The Vatican did not issue that order.

In Thirst, directed by maestro Park Chan-wook, a Catholic priest Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho), is inadvertently turned into a vampire when he volunteers as a test for an experimental vaccine for the Emmanuel Virus. He is a good man with secret doubts about his faith, and his new vampire nature drives him to seek blood to survive. He tries not to harm humans but enters into a relationship with a local woman, murders her husband because she lies to him about abuse, and kills her, only to revive her as a vampire. While Sang-hyun is moral and tries not to hurt anyone, his undead life defies the Church.

A young priest Khoma Brutus (Leonid Kuravlyov), fights an evil witch for three nights through the power of prayer. Unlike many other films here, this priest isn't resisting the Church, but when trapped in the chapel where the witch's body lies, he must fight the witch's power with everything he has.

A lot is going on in Nightbreed, directed By Clive Barker. There's a secret group of monsters living in a sanctuary called Midian. A psychologist/serial killer, Philip Decker, happily plying his trade on everyone he sees. But finally, the local priest Father Ashberry first swears allegiance to Baphomet, the monster creator of Midian, and then swears vengeance on the Nightbreed. He also revives Philip Decker with Baphomet's blood. This is not an advisable action by a representative of the Church.

Reverend Meeker (Del Close) is definitely not doing the Lord's work when he decides that the Blob is the promised Apocalypse and saves a bit of Blob in a glass jar to unleash it on humanity again. After so many people died and they went through all that trouble to defeat the Blob, a reverend wants to unleash the alien menace again because he's lost his mind. He's a rebel who has lost his mind.

There are two rebel priests in Stigmata. Father Paulo Alameida (Jack Donner) and Father Andrew Kiernan (Gabriel Byrne) both challenge the authority of the Church. Alameida is trying to translate a previously unknown Gospel that the Church wants to suppress. Kiernan is trying to save the life of the possessed hairstylist Frankie Paige who is not possessed by a demon but by Alameida. Stigmata is also one of the films on our list of 10 Scary Movies Where The Religious People Are The Bad Guys.