Set in a rural U. S. farming community during the 1920s, this preachy low-budget regional outing involves an angel of judgment(depicted as a scythe-wielding harvest reaper) bringing forth wrath upon a group of morally and spiritually abraded individuals...a greedy banker, a curmudgeonly old lady, a spiteful drunk, and a scheming adulterous couple.
Despite the drowsy pace, A DAY OF JUDGMENT is actually fairly well appointed for such a scrimpy project. With closer than usual attention paid to period-setting details(the wardrobe, sets, and cars are overall pretty true to the era), there is at least moderate success in creating an interesting atmosphere to the goings-on, and the players(likely recruited from supper-clubs and playhouse theaters) perform sufficiently. Unfortunately, the entire project boils over with the declamatory religious hyperbole of a Jack Chick comic tract, especially in the final curtain...an "inspirational" finale which sort of quashes the film's horror mien, and reveals its true religious crusade. It's one of the better-known entries in the Christian horror microgenre, which also includes such "winners" as SATAN WAR(1979), THE ENEMY(1974), THE GRIM REAPER(1976), THE RAPTURE(1972), THE WEDNESDAY CHILDREN(1973), SIX-HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SIX(1972), and YEARS OF THE BEAST(1981). In most cases, these films were church-funded and shown exclusively in religious forums, and subsequently picked up by minor video distributors who deceptively marketed them as straightforward horror titles.
A DAY OF JUDGMENT is nominally passable entertainment, but in all honesty, it should be offered door-to-door by ladies in matronly dresses.
3.5/10.
Despite the drowsy pace, A DAY OF JUDGMENT is actually fairly well appointed for such a scrimpy project. With closer than usual attention paid to period-setting details(the wardrobe, sets, and cars are overall pretty true to the era), there is at least moderate success in creating an interesting atmosphere to the goings-on, and the players(likely recruited from supper-clubs and playhouse theaters) perform sufficiently. Unfortunately, the entire project boils over with the declamatory religious hyperbole of a Jack Chick comic tract, especially in the final curtain...an "inspirational" finale which sort of quashes the film's horror mien, and reveals its true religious crusade. It's one of the better-known entries in the Christian horror microgenre, which also includes such "winners" as SATAN WAR(1979), THE ENEMY(1974), THE GRIM REAPER(1976), THE RAPTURE(1972), THE WEDNESDAY CHILDREN(1973), SIX-HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SIX(1972), and YEARS OF THE BEAST(1981). In most cases, these films were church-funded and shown exclusively in religious forums, and subsequently picked up by minor video distributors who deceptively marketed them as straightforward horror titles.
A DAY OF JUDGMENT is nominally passable entertainment, but in all honesty, it should be offered door-to-door by ladies in matronly dresses.
3.5/10.