Justin P. Lange is the director and writer of the new horror film starring Guy Pearce and Vadhir Derbez, The Seventh Day. The story is about a renowned exorcist - Father Peter - who must train a young apprentice - Father Daniel Garcia - to be part of the fight against the spread of the devil. This is because it is believed that there is an army of possessed priests, soldiers of the devil, and demons hiding in the light of day just waiting for the call to attack. It will be through several tests and hazardous situations during his first day of training that Daniel learns his true spirit and resilience as a defender of good.
The director recounts growing up in a Catholic family and that his fascination with exorcisms led him to read Hostage to the Devil by Malachi Martin and one of the passages specifically caught his attention:
"The exorcist is the centerpiece of every exorcism. Everything depends on him. He has nothing personal to gain but in every exorcism he puts literally everything of value at risk (...) every exorcism is a hand-to-hand confrontation with pure evil. (...) There must and will always be a winner and a loser. And no matter what the outcome, the contact is partly fatal for the exorcist. He must consent to an irreparable and terrible damage of his inner being. Something dies in him. A part of his humanity will wither due to the close contact with the opposite of humanity: the essence of the devil (...) There will be no turning back for his loss. This is the minimum price an exorcist has to pay".
He also expressed his concern about the role of the Catholic Church in relation to these issues: "The Church is the only element in society with the authority and the remedy to counteract the manifestation of evil...such help is rarely available today. Instead, ignorance, disinterest, disbelief, even outright reluctance on the part of many Church authorities to discuss the issues of demonic possession and exorcism are commonplace.”
And to finish and invite us to watch the film that will be released in Latin America in 2021, he says: "We live in an increasingly dark world, where even people who share the same last name become complete strangers in front of our own eyes. It is hard to know who to trust, or what to believe. These are scary times, and scary times call for scary movies."
Enjoy it!
