La secte

Another submission into the Lovecraftian film genre. So, being an HPL fan, I rushed to ebay and found a copy.

This film, though low budget maintained a dark, sinister, atmosphere and does, indeed belong on the Lovecraftian list. Not only Lovecraft fans will like it, but so will possession movie fan, and it hold up with the likes of Rosemary's Baby, Beyond the Door, and the Manitou as a classic diabolic thriller. It reminded me of Fulchi films, but without the nonstop gore (and was still good anyway, ha ha ha). Hey, what more can you ask for? get two fixes with one flick!

If you're a fan, check it out.

"La Setta", or "The Sect", is that most unfortunate type of film, the kind with a collection of good moments but no discernable thread to string them all together. The result is a movie so boring that when a memorable scene happens, you probably won't be paying attention.

The plot has something, loosely, to do with the titular sect of devil worshippers, who appear to be based on the Manson family, at least in the movie's prologue. They kill a bunch of hippies in 1970, while a song from 1972 plays on the soundtrack. They also look shaggy and unkempt.

Then the movie switches to present day, and a kindergarten teacher almost runs over an old man, played by legendary German actor Herbert Lom. Of course, the meeting is really no accident, he's involved in the sect, and as with so many horror movies about evil cults, our protagonist is involved with the sect too, she just doesn't realise it. She's the essential ingredient the cultists need to make the devil come back or whatever.

If you think that last bit was a spoiler, the English-language distributors apparently disagree with you: they give it away in the film's title on those shores: "The Devil's Daughter".

You've seen it all before anyway, and done better: "The Wicker Man" also featured a religious cult in which the unsuspecting hero was the vital ingredient the cult needed for their evil plan. So did a little-seen, (but much better than "The Sect") Dutch movie called "The Family". "Rosemary's Baby", anyone? Maybe even "The Omen" films, in which the protagonist was indeed evil, but didn't know it at first.

It's been done before, and done better, and you've seen it at least a few times.

I said the movie has memorable moments but no interesting plot to tie them together. I think what it really has is moments that could be memorable in a better movie, but here, are not.

I'm at a loss to explain how this movie was directed by Michele Soavi, who made the superb "Cemetery Man" next. Perhaps it was the influence of Argento co-writing the screenplay that made this one so confusing and dull.

Not to mention overlong. Who the hell thought a trite devil-worshipper movie needed to be almost two hours?

You can always count on an inventive and intriguing movie when it comes to anything that Argento has touched, and this Argento-scripted film is just that! The great director has left the directorial duties up to his protégé; Michele Soavi for this movie, and that is somewhat ironic because The Sect easily tops anything that Argento himself directed in the 1990's. Michele Soavi looked pretty promising up until 1994 when he released the astonishing 'Dellamorte Dellamore', and then promptly disappeared off the horror radar. It's a massive shame that the man, up until now, hasn't followed up on his four horror films; as I, and many other horror fans (I'm sure), would agree that if he'd added a few more films to his oeuvre; he could be right up there with the master himself. The plot for this film follows a young woman who almost knocks a man down while driving in her car. She then takes the man home, but due to the events that transpire; it quickly becomes obvious that she didn't take him home purely by chance...

As soon as the movie opens, with America's "Horse With No Name", and then a character quoting lyrics from The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil", you just know that you're going to be in for a great ride; and the rest of the film doesn't disappoint! Soavi succeeds in creating a fabulously foreboding atmosphere throughout the movie, and his direction isn't bad either. The locations are great; the underwater labyrinth underneath the house at the centre of the movie, which echoes Inferno, being the very best in that department! Soavi excels at direction, and this only reinforces my point about the massive shame it is that he hasn't followed up on Dellamorte Dellamore. His camera angles are superb and he really knows how to build tension and suspense! Herbert Lom is the pick of the cast, and the classic horror actor delivers an excellent hammy performance and every moment he's on screen is a delight. The film definitely does have problems, however; the fact that it's about twenty minutes overlong is one of them, and the rather silly ending is another - but on the whole, this is an excellent exhibition of horror and comes with a high recommendation from yours truly!

"La seta", a.k.a. "The Sect" or "The Devil´s Daughter", is a terrible and too long "Rosemary's Baby" rip-off with an incoherent story. The segments in 1970 in California and 1991 in Frankfurt are absolutely unnecessary and do not add any value to the plot. The lead story of the school teacher Miriam Kreisl, performed by Jamie Lee Curtis' older sister Kelly Curtis, who is awfully dubbed in Italian, is full of unnecessary comings and goings. A young woman living alone in a lonely place bringing a lunatic stranger home is something that does not make any sense. Everything the guy does at her place during the night could have been done while she is at school with the exception of the worm in her nose that would have taken a moment during any night by anybody from the satanic cult. The conclusion with the devil´s baby sacrificing to protect Miriam is another absurd in the poor story. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "A Filha do Demônio" ("The Devil´s Daughter")

Jamie Lee Curtis' older sister Kelly is front and centre here as she plays Miriam Kreisl, an expatriate American schoolteacher working in Frankfurt, Germany. One day she nearly runs down an elderly, weird stranger named Moebius Kelly (genre veteran Herbert Lom, "The Dead Zone"), who passes away after she brings him to her house to recuperate. From there, even nuttier things begin happening, starting with the discovery of a catacombs beneath Miriams' own house. A handsome young doctor named Frank (Michel Adatte) sympathizes with her, and attempts to help her unravel the mysteries now abounding in her life.

Written by director Michele Soavi along with his producer / mentor Dario Argento and Gianni Romoli, "The Sect" is noteworthy for some very slick, stylish, accomplished filmmaking. This is supplemented by a screwy plot where, for a while anyway, you're not exactly sure where all of this is going. The ultimate diabolical plans for Miriam automatically call to mind another horror classic that has clearly inspired "The Sect", but that won't be mentioned here. And this plot is helped along by some genuinely interesting and compelling horror film imagery; viewers may be pleased by the various squirm-inducing (although not necessarily gore-oriented) effects set pieces. Among the elements incorporated are a hallucinogenic insect inserted into a nostril (!), Miriams' sweet but magical pet bunny, who at one point does some channel surfing (!!), and a Manson-type Satanic cult leader named Damon (Tomas Arana, "Gladiator").

The film eventually goes on a little too long to be completely effective. The subplot with Miriams' friend Kathryn (Mariangela Giordano, "Burial Ground"), for example, isn't all that necessary. Still, it's hard to deny the overwhelming, crazed atmosphere of "The Sect", enhanced by an excellent score by always-reliable Pino Donaggio ("Piranha" '78, "Dressed to Kill" '80, "The Howling").

The performances are all reasonably good, with sexy Curtis creating a likeable lead character. Italian film veterans Giovanni Lombardo Radice ("Cannibal Ferox") and Donald O'Brien ("Zombi Holocaust") also appear, but it's the magnetic Lom and the effectively creepy Arana that leave the biggest impact.

Highly recommended to fans of Spaghetti Horror and director Soavi.

Seven out of 10.