The Believers (1987)

Absolutely brilliant

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Ok, I'm currently watching this on Comet Channel... I don't know what's supposed to be scary about this. I'm about half-way through and finding it very hard to force myself to watch any further. It's slow-paced, exaggerated, with too may scenes of just people blabbering on about things we don't see. Plot points just jump around, the tone is inconsistent as hell. It's often silly and the overacting is the only thing that elicited any emotion from me aside from boredom. It often throws in symbolism no one outside of whatever this belief system is would understand in the least. As such, there's no impact. There's no dread or tension when we have no clue why spooky music plays in response to a kid dropping a cowrie shell. What the heck? I suppose people who believe in this nonsense in reality find it frightening. For those who live in the 'real' world, it's just dull and dumb.

Cal Jamison (Martin Sheen) loses his wife in an accidental electrocution. He moves with his son Chris to NYC as a psychiatrist for the police department. Jessica Halliday (Helen Shaver) is their landlady. His lawyer Marty Wertheimer (Richard Masur) wants to sue the coffeemaker company. Lt. McTaggert (Robert Loggia) investigates a child murder with disturbed undercover cop Tom Lopez (Jimmy Smits) at the scene. Lopez is convinced that some unknown group will kill him and tries to shoot himself. Cal is called in to investigate the voodoo murder. Palo (Malick Bowens) is the ever present voodoo evil. Cal's housekeeper tries to protect the family with her good voodoo.The use of religion is going to anger some people and color some reviews. I guess almost any movie can cause offense if taken that way. It starts off as a crime thriller. It seems to go slowly but methodically. Then it turns more towards horror and it's quite effective. There are some good voodoo horrors. The two hours running time is a little long but it's got some good creepy scares.

John Schlesinger was best known for movies like "Darling", "Midnight Cowboy", "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "The Day of the Locust" and "Marathon Man". But now he directs something totally different.To understand what happens in "The Believers", it helps to have foreknowledge of Santería, a syncretic religion practiced widely in the Caribbean. It is based in the Yoruba culture (in present-day Nigeria), but includes influences from Roman Catholicism and the indigenous American cultures. The movie depicts a satanic offshoot of Santería mixed with brujería (Spanish for "witchcraft"), that is sacrificing children in New York, and is now targeting the son of Martin Sheen's character.If you expect a slasher movie, this is nothing of the sort. There is some violence, but no guts getting torn out or anything -- only one scene can truly get called shocking (you'll know it when you see it) -- and there's limited sex/nudity. I'd say that the movie's strength is its depiction of how Sheen's character slowly but surely learns about a culture with which he was previously unfamiliar. The movie does make clear that the religious cult is not Santería, but a different group. After all, every religion is bound to have its wackos.Does the movie have any downsides? Well, Robert Loggia's cop came across as a little silly, but I'd call that the only true downside. Otherwise, this is a good one. Also starring Helen Shaver, Richard Masur, Jimmy Smits and Harris Yulin (who I at first mistook for Richard Jenkins, aka Nate Sr. on "Six Feet Under").

I read the complaints from some of the reviews for this film on this web site and they are absolutely and completely ignorant. I'm sure these are the same people that gave "Independence Day" nine stars. Do any of these critics know how difficult it is to write screenplays let alone adapt a novel into one. This film is a wonderfully done artistic creation that relies on true acting, wonderful cinematography, excellent direction, and great screen writing. This is a quality voodoo horror film for intelligent viewers that need more than pointless deaths and nudity. Wonderfully done creation.