The Sect (1991)

just watch it!

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Soavi has succeeded in making bizarre films in his career and my favourite above them all is Dellamorte Dellamore (aka The Cemetery Man). So the expectations were quite high for this movie. It is understandable that Soavi was finding himself as a director and with Dario Argento the film may end up being interesting at least and incoherent at most.The script was written by Argento with a couple of others and we all know that most Argento's films have quite a weak script and this time it's not different. People who know Argento's films can see his impact on this film and some fans may even like this but for anyone else there isn't much to see.The film would have been so much better with higher quality soundtrack, so if there had been someone like Morricone himself making a few scores for the film it'd have raised the film to a higher level.Secondly the film should be cut to 90 minutes, so easily about 30 minutes could be cut out without losing anything significant. The film doesn't engage as much as it should and i was just waiting for it to end after the first hour.Acting isn't too good either. I wasn't expecting to see a masterpiece and i can watch and even respect a bad movie. But this is just a bland "americanized" horror flick which lacks a sense of style that many Italian horror films used to posses.In overall many fans may like the film but for anyone else it's just a waste of time.

An evil, Devil-worshipping sect, led by their enigmatic leader Moebius Kelly(Herbert Lom)have dastardly plans for Mirian(Kelly Curtis)and it concerns unleashing evil on the world through a sordid type of birth.That's the best I can do to explain this baffling supernatural, surreal religious horror outing from director Michele Soavi whose camera is always moving, capturing the action of every scene. The way an unusual blue water flows in Miriam's house' pipes or the POV of a rabbit as it moves throughout Miriam's abode..Soavi's camera captures such action intensely. There are quite a few bizarre moments in this flick like Giovanni Lombardo Radice's stabbing of a woman, later having her heart found in his pocket in a subway as a looter tries to lift something from his coat leading to his suicide after police surround him after aborting the train. Or a bizarre sequence where Miriam's neck is picked at by a crane. Herbert Lom has the most interesting part as the sect's leader, who informs Miriam of why she was selected to carry out benevolent plans against the world and God. There's a hole in her house's basement with major significance to the plot as it works as a type of gateway. What occurs to Miriam's schoolteacher friend Kathryn(Mariangela Giordano)when her face is "attacked" by Moebius' facial death shroud, and Frank(Michel Adatte), Miriam's confident whose a doctor she depends on as her life is spiraling out of control,when he discovers what the sect is up to(..like Frank, we are an eyewitness to a very disturbing ceremony where a female victim's face is removed so that their leader can gain "new life")are also very strange occurrences within the film. Miriam soon finds herself on her own against the dangers of a sect wielding a power far greater than mankind has ever known.While, at first, I tried to make sense of it all, soon I just gave up and enjoyed Soavi's distinctive camera-work..he really doesn't take an easy way out trying every type of visually innovative trick he can think of to make each scene memorable. And, there enough wildly imaginative ideas at work to keep one from getting bored. Very dreamlike, hypnotic score from Pino Donaggio seems to mesh well with Soavi's style and the film's strange subject matter.

Well this is not and usual terror film like other Hollywood movies. M. Soavi, director of another excellent movies like Dellamorte Dellamore or La Chiesa, takes you to a strange world where the evil surrounds Miriam, a lonely girl who is the victim of a sect, she is the person who must brings the devil to the earth. Visually, the film is incredible, genial camera angles, excellent colours and sounds management that makes you enter the story. There is also a reference to La Chiesa, the hole at Miriam's house, is the door to the evil, like the hole at the church of La Chiesa. Strongly recommended in order to see a different terror from Hollywood

I first saw this film prior to its original release in the UK at the London Film Festival where Michele Soavi himself was in attendance. Afterwards I shook the man's hand and congratulated him on a fine film. The whole audience was very appreciative really. That was the last time I saw it until I finally found it again on a fine import dvd from xploitedcinema. I'm glad to say it still holds up very well indeed - the story grips from the start and doesn't let go right up to the incredible ending. Ok, so the story may have echoes of Rosemary's Baby but how often do you see a truly original horror film ? I can only think of a handful. Track this film down and you won't be disappointed.