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SUICIDE CULT
This ultra-obscure train wreck of a movie is a colossal embarrassment, but it is undeniably fascinating to watch the film’s hideously confused storyline—which somehow mixes astrology, mass suicide, CIA intrigue, mind control and the Second Coming—unfold...or, more accurately, unravel.
The Package
I’ve no idea when or where this ludicrous no-budgeter, bearing a 1976
copyright date, was ever released outside its brief appearance on home video
back in the eighties. It was loosely based on John Cameron’s 1972 novel
THE ASTROLOGER and directed by future action specialist James Glickenhaus (THE
EXECUTIONER, SHAKEDOWN); interestingly enough, however, NO screenwriter is
credited...NOT an encouraging sign!
The Story
I’ll do my best to transcribe this film’s ungodly mess of a storyline, but
it’s going to be difficult. It begins with a voice-over describing how in some
future time astrology has been refined to a science, courtesy of a secret branch
of the CIA called INTERZOD. The voice-over also informs us that the Second
Coming of Jesus Christ is imminent—in ten days, to be exact (periodic subtitles
reveal how much time is left until the momentous event).
Alexei Abarnel is the head of INTERZOD. He can configure the “Zodiacal
Potential” of any individual simply by typing his or her birth date into a
computer; the configurations of most folks are uninspiring, but a few
individuals are “Zodiacally Privileged.” It’s these people the company is
keeping a close eye on, particularly those with negative Zodiacal Potential;
foremost among the latter group is an evil cult leader who resides in India and
has an unfortunate tendency to induce his followers to suicide.
Abarnel travels to India to meet a female colleague, who, it turns out, has
a plan to take out the cult leader. Utilizing logic comprehensible only in the
mind of this film’s unknown screenwriter, she’s developed a device which can
transit images directly into people’s brains, which she’s going to use to
implant a staged training video in the cult leader’s head; she hopes this will
inspire him to emulate the video and cut himself with a poisoned knife. Got
that? It doesn’t matter, as the cult leader discovers the woman’s plan and offs
her before she can carry it out. To make matters worse, somewhere around this
time (the film doesn’t really specify when), the hero’s pretty blonde
girlfriend is kidnapped by the cult.
This is an especially unsettling development, as Abarnel has discovered
that his GF is in fact the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary, and is set to give
birth to the Second Coming. As it turns out, though, she’s already birthed the
child in question—this is revealed in a later scene when she’s rescued from a
secluded campsite where the cult leader has inexplicably dumped her. The evil
scumbag, it seems, has somehow honed in on the child, who’s living in a NYC
orphanage. But how did he find out? Furthermore, doesn’t the fact that the
Messiah’s already been born invalidate the film’s countdown-to-the-Second–Coming
conceit? And what exactly does a psychic woman who makes frequent appearances
throughout have to do with any of it? Your guesses are as good as mine.
The Direction
It’s a good thing director James Glickenhaus’s subsequent films all have
simple action-revenge narratives, as, based on SUICIDE CULT, storytelling
clearly isn’t his strong point--but then again, look at what he had to work
with! The film is choppy and disjointed from start to finish (possibly the
fault of reediting by producers and/or distributors, which would explain the
scant 82 minute running time) and all but flaunts its cheapness. The India-set
scenes are particularly noticeable in this respect, looking like they were shot
in somebody’s backyard. As if all that weren’t enough, the story is obnoxiously
dialogue-heavy, leavening any chance Glickenhaus might have had to create
striking visuals. Perhaps this is why he begins and ends every major sequence
by fading in from and out to a negative image; it’s something, I guess,
but not nearly enough to save this film from complete disaster.
Vital Statistics
SUICIDE CULT
Continental Video
Director: James Glickenhaus
Producer: Mark Buntzman
Screenplay: ???
(Based on a novel by John Cameron)
Cinematography: Francis A. Romero
Editor: Victor Zimet
Cast: Bob Byrd, Mark Buntzman, James Glickenhaus, Alison McCarthy, Al Narcisse,
Monica Tidwell, Ivy White