The Believers - The Unseen World

Nov

11

The Believers - The Unseen World

≡ Category: Drama, Highly Recommended, Horror, Mainstream, Movie Reviews, Suspense, United States |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

Country: United States
Genre: Drama/ Suspense/ Mainstream/ Horror
Director: John Schlesinger
Year: 1987

Rating:

TRASH CINEMA HIGHLY RECOMMENDED MOVIE

The Believers is unique in at least a couple of ways. I can’t recall another movie in which the most heroic characters are a lawyer, a psychologist, and a landlord, can you? It also takes the idea of witchcraft seriously instead of as an occasion for an orgy of special effects and inane dialog.

If Santaria, and other African-derived religions actually reflected reality, what would that look like? The Believers is a film entirely devoid of special effects, other than mechanical ones. In the world of The Believers, people work for a living, as shrinks, policemen, lawyers, community organizers, milkmen (hey, it was a long time ago), and so on. The supernatural happenings take place within that world, which make them that much more spooky. The Believers takes the position that there is an unseen world, that our civilization is just a veneer over a much more primitive, atavistic reality.

Cal (Martin Sheen) is a humanistic psychologist, a compassionate man of reason who has no use for superstition. After a recent tragedy, he and his son Chris (Harley Cross) move from Minnesota to New York City, where Cal will consult for the police department. When he meets his new landlord, Jessica (Helen Shaver), we can sense that there’s an incipient romance in the wind.

But all is not well in the world. Followers of a Santaria-like religion are performing human sacrifices on children in the city. Lieutenant Sean McTaggert (Robert Loggia) suspects that another policeman, Tom Lopez (Jimmy Smits) might be invoved in the slayings. He was found at the scene of one, rambling incoherently about secret cults that can get inside of you. Cal is called upon to psychoanalyze Tom, to determine if he is guilty of the crime. In small ways, the supernatural is also invading Cal’s home. His son Chris has some sort of voodoo doll (who knows where he got it from), he clutches a shell he found at a Santaria shrine in Central park when he sleeps, and their Latina housekeeper is performing Santaria rites on the sly.

Director John Schlesinger does a great job of integrating the supernatural elements into quotidian life. In the bravura opening sequence, he manages to make a milk truck menacing. Purely by suggestion, he implies that supernatural forces can manipulate everyday objects and occurrences for their own purposes.

Actually, this is not a new idea. A careful reading of the Christian bible will confirm that God has the power to manipulate the entire universe to get whatever result he wants. In The Believers, the powers of the followers of Santaria are actually much more limited.

Interestingly, in the movie’s climax, screenwriter Mark Frost, working from a novel by Nicholas Conde, makes connections between child sacrifice, war, Abraham and Isaac, the Skulls, and the Bohemian Grove Club, which boasts any number of Congressmen, past Presidents, Supreme Court Justices, and captains of industry. Certainly, we know that many successful people have bodies buried somewhere in their past, figuratively speaking, but might they have literally sold their souls for power and influence? It’s an intriguingly juicy question.

The first and second acts of The Believers are all but flawless. The tension is electric, the pacing is perfect, and the supernatural and the everyday are expertly intertwined and evoked. Where the film gets in trouble is in the third act. Director John Schlesinger unaccountably allows the pace to slacken, so the audience has a chance to get it’s bearings, and worse yet, make predictions about what is about to happen.

But The Believers is still a very strong piece of work, crammed with lived-in performances. Martin Sheen gives one of his best performances as Cal. He nails his humanism, the love for his child, and ultimately, the ferocity of a bear defending his cubs. Helen Shaver is adorable as the love interest. As the high priest, Palo, Malick Bowens is extraordinarily spooky. Jimmy Smits, Richard Masur, Harris Yulin, Robert Loggia, and Lee Richardson are very strong in supporting roles.

The Believers is a refreshingly literate take on the supernatural. It’s so pleasant to watch a movie populated by intelligent people, making intelligent conversation beyond a grade school vocabulary. The Believers is thrilling, horrifying, suspenseful, and thought provoking. If director John Schlesinger hadn’t loosened the reins in the third act, The Believers would be an all time classic. As it is, it’s an accomplished thriller that has stood the test of time.