Pater Noster and the Mission of Light

I just finished watching Pater Noster and the Mission of Light, and first off let me say thank you Chris for another great film! I would like to recommend this film to any Horror fan that might be interested in watching an insane psychedelic acid trip gone off the deep end. What might happen when a group of friends that are really big on finding and collecting rare records get invited to meet a band that has not been heard from in decades?

If you by chance have had an opportunity to check out Chris Bickel's previous films 2017 The Theta Girl, and Bad Girls 2022 you might have some sort of an idea of what to expect and if not I recommend that you at least give them a look see.

As a vinyl collector who also has more than a passing interest in cults, this indie horror flick sounded tailor made for me. I was not disappointed. It was obviously written by someone who is well versed in both obsessive music collection and religious cults. While it does suffer a little from some of the typical issues present in many low budget efforts (some of the acting and dialog could be a little stronger), it more than makes up for it with its ambitious scope and the gonzo nature of the final act. Gorehounds will not be disappointed, the practical effects are well done and plentiful. The catchy and authentic sounding cult tunes didn't hurt either. I liked it so much after watching it streaming online that I bought the Blu Ray.

I had no involvement in the making of this film and did not even contribute to the crowdfunding campaign. I just read some other good reviews of it online and gave it a chance.

Honestly, for general audiences this movie would probably rate a 4-5. However, for those who like low budget gorefests, I'd rate it a solid 8.

I'm so glad I made the effort to see this one on the big screen--Chris Bickel is a genius at film and music genres and he has studied them his entire life--and it shows in PN and The Mission of Light. A Beautiful classic horror flick! I was worried that it would give me PTSD like some recent horror films but this film was perfect! It was scary but I walked away feeling great!

The storyline: A California-type cult from the 70's strayed from its original purpose and became a Satanic nightmare. A modern-day record store collector is drawn to it but after she and her friends discover the mysterious group, assuming that they're just a friendly family lead by an MIT professor, everything goes south...

While I came to support an artist associated with the film I found I actually enjoyed the movie on its own merits, not something I would have been drawn to but expanded my movie pallette slightly 🎥🎞 I enjoyed the experience of seeing an independent film shown on the large screen in a theatre setting surrounded by other patrons supporting small budget locally produced artistry. Support dreams, dream big, break molds. Thank you to the Independent Picture House theatre for allowing is to experience this film as it should be. I also enjoyed the cast and crew qiestion & andwer session at the end of the showing.

TLDR: An interesting homage to old school cult cinema with a soundtrack that is strangely addictive. While an enjoyable watch, the film suffers from the normal issues with lower budget indie cinema in that that production value is lower and the script may have benefited from one more pass.

Christopher Bickel does a solid job with his throw back cult film about a nefarious hippie commune who uses music to lure in an unsuspecting record store clerk into a situation straight out of 60's/70's psychedelic cinema. The cast here is fairly good with the standouts being Adara Starr as the main protagonist, Max, and I was thoroughly entertained by Mike Amason as Pater Noster. The rest of the cast rounds it out well enough considering the budgetary restraints. The gore, surprisingly, was ample and utilized a style befitting of the timeframe. Some cliches and tropes had me rolling my eyes at times, but with any homage to a classic style of cinema that is to be expected. I don't foresee that many audience members will capture anything new in this film, but it's use of music both as an inciting event and as a frame for the story was well done and not something that I see very often. The idea of a film having it's own score/soundtrack is a lost art in modern cinema and I really wish it would make a comeback. Short story long, this is an entertaining, throwback piece of low-budget cinema that deserves a watch by anyone who is a) a fan of folk music, b) a fan of cult cinema, and c) someone looking for something new to see but is tired of the bloated studio fare that is normally served up.