Sometime in the 1920s, the inhabitants of a small town are struggling financially and morally in their (comically miserable) daily lives. The local bringer of bummer, Reverend Cage (Charles Reynolds and not Nicholas Cage), is tired of watching his congregation dwindle and is set to retire. Luckily for him, the Angel of Death has rolled into town and begins exacting some sick ass righteous justice on the local gaggle of do-badders. Adulterers, murderers, usurers, liars, gum chewers, mouth breathers, and jaywalkers are all struck down with the Angel’s scythe like wheat or grass or whatever you cut down with those things. I’m kidding, of course. He doesn’t cut down jaywalkers.

Thanks to a little bit of stalking and one particularly gruesome “blink and you’ll miss it” slasher moment combined with its obvious moral stance on the Seven Deadly Sins, A Day of Judgement (1981) gets listed as a Christian slasher film. But I found this description to be a little misleading since the slasher elements are such a small part of the action. The bulk of A Day of Judgement is dedicated to the lives of the characters as they wrestle with moral dilemmas (and fail spectacularly at doing the right thing). I’m 666 percent sure (without Googling or anything) that this is a direct prequel to the hit Netflix series “Midnight Mass”.

Director Charles Reynolds certainly knows how to make a stodgy religious film but when the idea to incorporate some exploitative elements like violence and gothic horror to increase the film’s chances at distribution came along, it didn’t end well. I give him props for making a fairly convincing period piece on a shoestring budget. That budget rears its ugly head however a couple of times when the film skipped some scenes and I had to do some mental gymnastics to figure out what was happening. Overall, this is competent filmmaking (and I’m all about cutting indie productions some slack) but my patience was tested, my brothers and sisters.

I don’t mind a stagey movie in the least. Unfortunately for A Day of Judgement, the community theatre skills of the cast are too rough around the edges and the script is just too dry to get me into the “Not today, Satan!” vibe I so desperately crave from a film. The sparse sets kept giving me the sense that I was watching a porno, so I guess it could’ve been worse. The film’s paltry music score also adds to the feeling of watching a stage play. It’s not entirely devoid of music but many scenes seem to stretch on forever without a little accompanying score to give them some oomph. The only time I was on the edge of my seat was when a farm animal was in peril. If anyone knows if that beastie survived its big scene, let me know because it will affect my final review of the film.

I’m no stranger to characters that are miserable bags of shit, but I wanted to jump inside this movie and lend the Angel of Death a hand in slaying all of these a-holes in a timelier manner. If you have a strong taste for deliberate pacing, then this film will be like an unlimited salad bar for you. For me, it was agonizingly slow with a couple of inspired artistic choices that almost made this worth the effort. I hate to be that guy but just because something is unique, doesn’t mean it’s fun to sit through. While A Day of Judgement is an interesting (and baffling) curiosity, God help me if I ever have to watch this rickety old jalopy of a movie again.

The Severin Blu-ray of A Day of Judgement looks and sounds just fine. The colors pop on screen and the overall look of this rarity is quite consistent. As for extras, Stephen Thrower is interviewed about A Day of Judgement and gives some insights into its history and production. Thrower is one of my favorite writers on film and leave it to him to find the value in this wacky, wacky movie. There’s also interviews with producer Worth Keeter and the film’s screenwriter Thom McIntyre who provide some juicy insights into working on the film.