Envoûtés

After his wife dies, police psychiatrist Cal Jamison (Martin Sheen) moves with his son, Chris (Harley Cross), from Minnesota to New York City. There, he quickly becomes embroiled in a bizarre string of occult-related murders of children and apparent suicides of adults.

If you enjoyed The Serpent And The Rainbow (1988), Angel Heart (1987) and Rosemary's Baby (1968), there's a good chance you'll enjoy The Believers as well, as it bears quite a few similarities (although it's certainly not a rip-off). In my view, it's not quite as good as those other three films, which are all 10s in my book, but it is well worth watching.

The principle flaw, which probably arises from trying to condense a novel--in this case Nicholas Conde's book, The Religion--into a screenplay, is that The Believers quickly brushes over some developments so that it's occasionally difficult to follow, especially towards the beginning. We can sense that there's much more to the story but that there just isn't time to show all of it to us.

However, a characteristic of the subgenre of occult/voodoo horror films is a prominent surrealism and dream-like narrative flow, so what might be more of a flaw in another kind of film can be more of an asset here. The Believers also benefits from a great cast--Sheen is a delight to watch (and listen to) as a psychiatrist who can fly off the handle in rage at the drop of a hat, and Jimmy Smits is wonderfully insane every time we see him.

The Believers is also worth checking out for its cinematography and set design. The set for the climax is a visual treat and integral to the plot. And the tag scene after the climax is remarkable for its visual change--beautiful, wide-open spaces and bright colors. It's just too bad that the sequel set up by director John Schlesinger never came to fruition.

"The Believers" stars Martin Sheen as a forensic psychologist who moves with his young son to New York City after the death of his wife. Shortly after their arrival, a series of brutal ritualistic child murders plague the city, and his son becomes gravely endangered.

This little-talked-about late '80s quasi-horror film starts out promising--there are ominous deaths, grim warnings, and disturbing occult murders involving young children. The focus here is an urban take on Santeria that has been appropriated and perverted for nefarious purposes. The first half of the film is quite engaging, with Sheen's character slowly descending into this world and learning more and more about it, including benevolent forms of it, which are practiced by his Puerto Rican housekeeper.

At its core, the film is truly about the blind leading the blind--people so dedicated to an ideological belief that they are willing to engage in horrific acts to validate it, dragging others into their underworld as human collateral. Like much of John Schlesinger's work, "The Believers" is quite stylish, and there is a fair amount of suspense in the first two-thirds of it--but by the final act, the film begins to wobble into the realm of ridiculousness. Despite the fact that it runs nearly two hours, there is a surprising amount of connective tissue missing from the film, particularly regarding the cult practices and their overall intentions--the implications often come across as vague or oblique. There are two plot twists thrown into the mix in the last twenty minutes, and a showdown in a warehouse that feels frightfully overwrought and unbelievable. The film does end on a grim, immediate note, however, which does mitigate some of this.

Overall, I found this film quite engaging, though it lacks cogency, particularly in the third act. It is admittedly stylish and well-acted, but it contains too many unnecessary voids, especially when you take into account its runtime. I suspect the film may have been a victim of editing problems based on the way it is pieced together, though it's difficult to know for certain. Worth a watch for fans of cult-themed films, despite its lack of clarity at times. 6/10.

***SPOILERS*** Moving to New York City with his nine year old son Chris,Darley Cross, after his wife Lisa, Janet Laine Green, died in a tragic electrical accident psychiatrist Cal Jamison, Martin Sheen, got a job in the New York Police Department as a special therapist for cop's who have deep emotional problem's, that in many cases could lead to suicide.

Called to a deserted theater to talk a cop out of killing himself Cal get's his first taste of what was to happen to him his son Chris and to almost everyone else he knows by the time the movie "The Believers" is over. Officer Tom Lopez, Jimmy Smits, has become suicidal after finding this young boy skinned alive and murdered, on an altar at the theater, as well as having his police badge being stolen by those who committed this ghastly crime. Lopez is terrified that he'll be the next victim with his badge, like a voodoo doll, having a hex put on it by the boys killers.

Taken away to a psychiatric ward for observation Lopez later escapes and in a last act of desperation calls Cal for help but commits Harri Kari before Cal and the police can come to his rescue. Martin together with NYPD Let. McTarggert, Robert Loggia, go to this drug rehabilitation center where Lopez worked as a youth counselor on his off time. Meeting with the center's director Oscar Sezine, Raul Davila, it becomes obvious that Lopez and Sezine, both practitioners of Santeria, were being used as dupes for what the center was only a front for the practice of Brujeria,Spanish for witchcraft. Those oculists running the center were secretly using the youths there in their blood and murder rituals.

The A.C.H.E Drug Rehibilitation Center was founded by this rich weirdo Robert Calder, Harris Yulin, together with his spiritual adviser the even weirder Polo, Malick Bowens, an African Shaman Priest. Getting the pesky Lopez out of the way, by having him kill himself, these blood-worshipers were now ready to commit a series of murders of young boys to usurer in the Summer Solstice, June 21, which is a major holiday in their, Brujeria, religion.

Polo taking Let. McTaggert's NYPD business card, that he gave Sezine, and putting a hex on it causes him to go off the deep end and later blow his brains out. Cal's girlfriend Jessica, Helen Shaver, later at a party, and fund raiser for the A.C.H.E Center,in Calder's honor has her powder puff spiked, by Polo, where she develops a large blistering infection on her face that almost kills her. Cal's maid Carman(Carla Pinza), also a Santeriaist, feels that this Brujeria cult is after his son Chris and tries to protect him, with a number of Santeria rituals. Cal misunderstood what Carman is doing fires her thus leaving Chris, and himself, to face these dangerous and blood thirsty blood-worshipers maniacs all by themselves.

Cal is then tricked into leaving Chris with his long time friends the Maslows Dennis & Kate, Lee Richardson & Elizabeth Wilson, at their summer home in the country not realizing that their members of this blood cult who in fact sacrificed their own son some 40 years ago to it and now want him to do the same with Chris!

Disturbing and creepy movie that gets a bit off course at the very end with what looks like an alternative ending, in 1987 before they became popular on video and DVD movies,that suggests that a sequel to "The Belivers" is soon to follow, it didn't.

The Believers can be viewed as an exposition of believers of anything. The primary object of the movie is the religion Santeria and the practitioners of that religion but, the underlying thread is that any fanatical and misguided believers in any religion are the same.

The black magic brand of Santeria practitioners weren't the only Santerians in the movie. There were others who were far less dangerous, even if their customs and ceremonies were strange. The understanding though is that in every religion there are probably messages or passages that are misunderstood by the fanatics and they end up doing extreme actions in the name of said religion.

The Believers goes deep into the black magic aspect of Santeria. By pure happenstance Cal Jamison (Martin Sheen) and his family get wrapped into that world. The movie is eerie and suspenseful as we are navigated through this strange religious world.

A widowed therapist (Martin Sheen) moves back to New York City to find himself assisting the NYPD in a series of slayings linked to a Caribbean Voodoo-like cult. Things get worse when he discovers they want his son for a human sacrifice. Helen Shaver plays his landlord and possible romantic interest.

"The Believers" (1987) is an adult-oriented crime drama that gets increasingly horrific. The plot and tone are akin to "Wolfen" (1981), albeit with the brujería cult replacing the super-wolves. It's leagues superior to the similar "The Serpent and the Rainbow" (1988).

The diabolic angle makes for some ugliness (e.g. death due to electric shock, suicides, grisly sacrifices, snakes and creepy arachnids), but there are rays of light as well. Sheen is outstanding as the protagonist while Shaver offers her wares to the table. The shocking spider sequence was later ripped off by "Urban Legends: Bloody Mary" (2005).

The movie runs 1 hour, 44 minutes, and was shot in New York City & Toronto.

GRADE: B-