2011's vampire thriller Priest ends on an explosive, yet open-ended note and introduces a unique villain, Black Hat, who was intended to make a bigger impact on the horror genre. In the movie, Priest (wasn't popular enough with critics or audiences to continue the story, even though it was clearly meant to grow and expand further.
Priest takes place in an alternate universe ravaged by vampires. A group of warrior priests defended society by hunting vampires in what was referred to as the last conflict. The Priests were therefore rendered unnecessary. When the titular Priest's niece Lucy, who is later revealed to be his daughter, is kidnapped by a horde of vampires led by the vampire-human hybrid named Black Hat, Priest defies church law and jumps back into action.
It's clear that Priest was intended to be the building blocks for a movie series. The film introduced the universe, and with his open-ended fate, Black Hat was meant to be the antagonist of the series. Black Hat's role in Priest's ending was meant to propel a film series - here's how it could have happened.
Black Hat represents a terrifying bridge between the Priests and the vampires. In the lore, he is the first human vampire. Black Hat started off as a Priest, became a Satanic Priest, and was ultimately transformed into a human vampire by the vampire queen. With that transformation, he considered himself the God of the vampires. He descended into lawlessness, wreaking havoc wherever he went. At the beginning of the film, Black Hat leads a gang of vampires who kidnaps Lucy. The rest of the film is centered around Priest hunting down Black Hat. Priest is far too concerned with building up Black Hat as an epic villain leading a new threat to Priest than building a story with a foundation.
Priest's ending is explosive but empty, due to the film's lack of substance. Priest and his team attempted to kill Black Hat near the film's end by blowing up the train he was on. But, his signature hat floated down from the wreckage nearly unscathed, insinuating that Black Hat might have survived. Since his actions lured Priest back into vampire hunting, it's clear Priest was meant to hunt Black Hat and his species in potential follow up movies. If Priest had developed a stronger plot and characters, maybe this could have happened. With the focus on building up Black Hat as a horror movie villain, Priest remains a shell of what could have been.
