MovieChat Forums > The Rosary Murders (1987) Discussion > MAJOR FAIL!!!

MAJOR FAIL!!!

posted 8 years ago by RussellDunn
2 replies | jump to latest

Rosary Murders was filmed in and around Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Detroit, Michigan. The church itself is an architectural work of art both on the inside and on the outside rivaling the old world Catholic Cathedrals of Europe. But the most impressive feature on the inside was a mural behind and above the altar of Jesus. This thing is HUGE and it you see it from the front pews closest to the altar, its kind of overwhelming in a good sense.
But its never shown in the film.
I never understood why the producers decided to omit even a glimpse of the mural. Catholic or no, its worth seeing for yourself.
Here's a link to a photo of it
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tiz_herself/2431849709

[–] dave4248185 8 years ago

I hear ya Russ. When this movie first came out (It's on MGM cable channel right now) I was in my early twenties and in the throws of my first serious girlfriend relationship. Her family was in Holy Redeemer parish and we'd go there almost every Sunday for mass then over her folks house, then to Xochimilco's for dinner. Good memories. Anyhoo, sorry if I bored you. Yes, that painting. THAT BEAUTIFUL PAINTING. That was my first thought upon seeing this movie years ago. Where's the giant picture of Jesus over the altar? The cinematographer really blew it on that one. Unless the priest there didn't want it shown in the movie, which is possible. Another part that cracked me up was the altar boy falling asleep. Ex Altar boy here. Boy I know what that's like. YAWN.

[–] mikeflw1 8 years ago

While I suspect this movie predates another movie titled THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE, there may be a reason from that movie. That movie stars Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, and Charlize Theron.

Near the end of the movie, there are scenes showing a well known very large sculpture in the Washington National Cathedral, also religious in nature. It gets some CGI animation as part of the plot, but it was shown in its original form as well. Apparently the owner(s) of the sculpture had not been asked for permission, or given permission, for the sculpture to be shown in the film. That resulted in a reworking of the movie to remove/replace the original sculpture with a CGI version, and apparently kept the original CGI.

The international versions of the movie, and DVD versions for/from Canada carry a disclaimer on the back cover. One eBay seller listing UPC 085391509028 of the movie is calling it a "recalled version".

The following text is part of that DVD listing in eBay:

This is a region 1 release. NOTE: This is the very rare recalled version with the spine number 15090. This was the first video release that came with a disclaimer on the back of the case, but after threats of a lawsuit, the DVD was recalled and the images in the film removed leading to a second release without the disputed images.

The laserdisc version of the movie also carried the disclaimer.

As you might imagine, the recall and modification of the movie was not cheap, but was undoubtedly cheaper than losing a lawsuit, AND still doing a recall.

and off we go now...