Earleen Carey as Lucile Lari White as Housekeeper Production English actor Ben Cross was cast in the film as the lead of Father Michael; at the time, he was a roommate of Cuban director Camilo Vila, who offered him the role. Exterior photography was complete in New Orleans, after which the production relocated to Florida, where interiors were filmed. In crafting the elaborate special effects for the film's conclusion, effects designer Jerry Macaluso was inspired by the Alien queen in the Alien film series. The effects team created a large, thin animatronic creature that stood tall. The film's conclusion, which features a protracted showdown with the demon in the church, was shot with this version of the creature; in the scene, the church's stained glass windows systematically explode before the creature is damned to hell. However, director Vila was unhappy with the creature's appearance on film, after which an alternate version was crafted by a different special effects team; this required that the ending be re-shot under effects supervisor Bob Keen. Release The film was released theatrically in the United States by Vestron Pictures in April 1988. It grossed $6,337,299 at the box office. Critical reception Walter Goodman of The New York Times wrote of the film: "Camilo Vila's direction is on the labored side - ponderous movement accompanied by dirgelike music. The photography is as murky as the story, filling the screen with shadows that are periodically blasted by an unilluminating light. There's enough dry ice and tomato sauce laid on to supply a fast-food joint for a couple of years. The theaters may have to be exorcised, or at least aired out". The Washington Posts Richard Harrington wrote in his review of the film: "It's getting so that horror films can be judged by their exit lines. In the case of The Unholy, that line is "take me out of here". By the time it rolls around, most viewers are likely to wish it had cropped up at the beginning of this tedious film that dares to go where everyone has gone before (most recently John Carpenter in Prince of Darkness). Home media The film was released on DVD by Lionsgate in the United Kingdom in 2007. In 2012, Lionsgate has released the film on DVD in North America as part of an 8-horror film set featuring titles from Vestron's catalogue, such as Waxwork (1988), Chopping Mall (1986),