Interview

The writing and directing team of Chuck

Konzelman and Cary Solomon (God's Not

Dead, Do You Believe?, Unplanned)

released their new movie Nefarious on April

14. It tells the story of a mass-murdering

inmate (Sean Patrick Flanery) who is slated

to die for his crimes in the electric chair but

not before a visiting psychiatrist (Jordan

Belfi) determines if he is sane. The inmate is

possessed by a demon, Nefarious, who tells

the psychiatrist that he is going to commit

three murders of his own. CWR spoke with

Cary Solomon and Fr. Darrin Merlino, CMF,

who was priest-theological advisor to the

film (and also played a prison guard in the

movie) about the challenges faced in the

making of Nefarious, the reality of demonic

activity, and what they learned through the

experience.

CWR: How did you get the idea to do the

film Nefarious?

Cary Solomon: Chris Jones, a friend who

had produced a movie for us, showed us A

Nefarious Plot by Steve Deace. In it, a

demon talks about how he destroyed

America. We knew Steve, and we knew the

book would make a good movie. Steve's

story had no story or structure, but just a

demon ranting, so we contacted Steve and

asked his permission to write a story with a

beginning, middle and end, and a couple of

twists along the way. He agreed, and we got

started. CWR: Much of the movie centers

around the dialogue between Nefarious and

the psychiatrist. How did you develop it?

Cary Solomon: Chuck and I can take no

credit for that. We're just a couple of guys

from New Jersey; we don't talk like that. We

watch the movie and hear the dialogue and

are shocked. Did that come from us? We

believe it came from the Holy Spirit. We did

our research, talked to Fr. Darrin Merlino

and Fr. Carlos Martins, one of the world's

premiere exorcists.

We're also devout Catholics, fanatical

Catholics. We love Jesus and the Virgin

Mary. Chuck is a cradle Catholic, and I'm a

convert. We do what we do because Jesus

tells us to do it. We also know how to tell a

story and figure out what a character might

say in a scene.

In this movie, we also wanted to take on

certain issues of the day, like with the

abortion sequence. It was a tremendous

opportunity to make a statement there....

We also wanted to make a movie that was

entertaining. No one wants to watch a movie

that is a sermon. CWR: Sean Patrick Flanery

as Nefarious, the demon, really made the

movie.

Cary Solomon: We had worked with Sean

about twenty years ago, making a secular

movie. He is a phenomenal actor, the

greatest I've ever seen. He's probably best

known for The Young Indiana Jones

Chronicles and The Boondock Saints. We

called him up to be in the movie, and he

replied, "If you write it, I'm in."

Our psychiatrist, Jordan Belfi, was a last

minute find. He's smart, good-looking, and

looks like a psychiatrist. The Holy Spirit told

us, "That's your guy." CWR: And Glenn

Beck?

Cary Solomon: Mr. Beck helped us on our

movie Unplanned. He showed us he had

courage, which I admired. He's the man he

says he is, which impresses me. We wanted

a media personality, like a Glenn Beck or a

Ben Shapiro, to interview our psychiatrist.

We didn't think anyone on the liberal side

would want to do it, and we knew Steve

Deace works at TheBlaze, so Steve asked Mr.

Beck and he said yes. Glenn Beck was

amazing; he did his scene in one or two

takes.

CWR: Fr. Merlino, how did you get involved

with this film?

Fr. Darrin Merlino: I've been friends with

Chuck and Cary for more than a decade

now. In fact, they were the first people I

interviewed for my program, Hound of

Heaven. I had a Mass at my mother's home

in Huntington Beach for family and friends,

and they came by and told me they were

working on the script for Nefarious. I told

them I'd like to read it and serve as the

theological consultant.

When it came time to film the movie I asked

to play the part of the priest, Fr. Louis, but

they told me I didn't look the part. They

offered me the role of an extra instead. I

would also be on hand to celebrate Mass,

bless the set, and pray with people.

CWR: You experienced demonic harassment

while making the film?

Cary Solomon: Yes. Ever since Unplanned,

it's been a battle. This movie pulls the devil

out of the darkness into the light; he works

best when no one believes in him. We had

eight or nine car crashes in about 13 days.

The cars were destroyed, but the drivers and

passengers unhurt. The building in which

we shot our scenes about the devil groaned

due to one of the worst wind storms in

Oklahoma history. But, whenever we paused

filming the scene, the wind eased. When we

started filming again, it came back. Our

equipment often seemed not to work.

We had our premiere with many big names

in attendance, such as Glenn Beck and

Senator Ted Cruz, and the lights in the room

started flickering. The video we shot got

corrupted. Fr. Carlos Martins was there, and

he said, "I know what this is." He gets his

holy water and starts doing the rite of

exorcism for a place that is possessed,

praying his prayers in Latin. Behind him he

can hear the demonic chanting of a female

voice. He gets to the part of the prayer that

commands the demon to bow down to the

great and terrible name of Jesus, and the

chanting stops, the lights start working, and

the video is no longer corrupted.

There's a lot more. Steve Deace got an

infection and almost died. Chris Jones is

putting his little boy in a car seat and an

SUV drives by going 45 mph and hits the

car, narrowly missing Chris and his son.

John Sullivan, our marketing guy, gets out

of his car and a woman driving by had fallen

asleep at the wheel and crashed into the car.

He was okay, but the car was destroyed.

Newsweek calls to interview us about the

film and 45 minutes into the interview our

interviewer apologizes and says, "I'm sorry,

but my battery is dead. Can we re-do the

interview?" He re-tapes the interview, but

calls back later and says, "I'm sorry, but the

tape is blank." He emails us some questions

to which we respond in writing. We try to

email back our responses, but the email

won't work. We can email other people, but

not Newsweek. We got smart, though, and

prayed to Jesus, the Blessed Virgin, St.

Joseph and St. Michael and suddenly the

email went thorugh.

At one point, nine of our 15 key personnel

come down with COVID; I was in the

hospital for eight days. Then three days into

filming we were struck by a union strike, no

strike vote taken or grievances listed, just a

strike. They then tried to get the federal

government to shut down our production

with an injunction. We went to court, and

won on 29 of 30 counts. We're appealing the

final charge.

I could go on for an hour about all the

demonic harassment we've had. When we

do the DVD release of the movie, in the

bonus materials, we'll be talking about this.

We experienced demonic interference on

Unplanned, but it was nothing like this. If

you don't believe in the devil, declare war on

him and find out what happens. But the

Lord told us to put on his armor and he is

with us; I want you to do this.

Fr. Darrin Merlino: The devil tried to take

me out! I had appendicitis during the

filming in Oklahoma, and when I went in for

the operation, my appendix burst. The

doctor said had I waited another hour I

could have died. God really protected me; it

happened on the Feast of Our Lady of

Guadalupe, so I also think the Blessed

Mother had my back. Also, when we were

filming the scene in which the devil shares

his dark gospel, Oklahoma had it most

sustained wind storm in history. Every time

the director would yell action, the wind

would blow so hard it caused the metal on

the roof to bend. It sounded like the Titanic

ripping in half. Then the director would yell

"cut", and the wind would die down. It was

like that all day for 12 hours.

But the most startling thing to me happened

one night when I said Mass at an Airbnb in

which we stayed. First off, it was December,

and the house was decorated for Christmas.

When we came into the home in the

evening, all the religious-themed

decorations had been thrown down and

damaged. The secular decorations were

untouched. I set up a table with an altar

cloth and corporal for mass. I left the room

and came back, and discovered an entity

had urinated on the upper right and lower

left of the corporal, and defecated on the

exact spot where I would have put the host.

It was as if the devil had marked the spot...

There was no person or animal in the room

that could have done it. It was the craziest

day of the whole shoot, and the most

demonically attacked I have ever been.

CWR: What impact did participating in this

movie have on your faith?

Fr. Darrin Merlino: I had never seen God

and the devil "play tennis" like this before.

The devil didn't want this movie to happen.

The amount of supernatural energy he spent

trying to stop the movie was quite

remarkable.

CWR: What reaction has the film had? Cary

Solomon: We've have a very small

marketing budget, so it has been hard to get

the film out there. We've worked with the

Catholic media, we've reached out to

Evangelicals and conservative personalities,

such as Glenn Beck. Of those who have seen

the film, 99 out of 100 are flattened,

stunned. They are aware of the devil in their

lives and want to be free of him. Women

who have had abortions are regretting their

decision and coming to the Lord. People are

coming back to see the film two and three

times, and are bringing their family and

friends. Priests are telling me the film is

spectacular, and the Evangelicals are saying

the same thing. And, this is in a film in

which there is no spectacle. Much of it

depicts two guys talking in a room. A

16-year-old kid told me it was the greatest

movie he's ever seen. He's fired up with his

faith, and said it made him believe in God

even more. This is the generation we need to

reach-we did the poster as we did to bring in

non-believers age 15 to 25-which is obsessed

with the occult. This is why the devil is

trying so many things to stop this movie.

You have to admit that there is something

dark going on in the world like never before.

Evil is running amok. But there is a

merciful, caring, compassionate God who

wants us to turn away from evil.

Fr. Darrin Merlino: We priests are really

critical of religious films, but I can say that

my fellow priests who I've spoken to, as well

as exorcists, have been shocked how good it

is. You can watch this film two or three

times and not pick up on everything. It is a

classic that you can watch over and over,

and use it as a basis for discussion about

moral and societal evils. It is a great

catechetical tool. Despite its intense

moments, I very much enjoyed the

experience.

CWR: What is the best way to see the film,

and how can people follow your work? Cary

Solomon: Check and see where it is playing

in a movie theater in your area and go. If

you want more movies like this, please

patronize it. It will be available for

streaming, and we'll be coming out on DVD

as well. To follow our work, you can look us

up online, or visit

www.believeentertainment.com.