The Believers

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=125 BGCOLOR="#990000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="043467d1dvldzz.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="7" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><B>YikesHorror.com</B></FONT><B>     </B><B>|     </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Book Antiqua" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="YikesHorror.com"><U><B>home</B></U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id41.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Horror Beginning with B"><U>Horror Beginning with B</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id69.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Babysitter"><U>The Babysitter</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id91.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bad Dreams"><U>Bad Dreams</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id92.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Basket Case"><U>Basket Case</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id93.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Basket Case 2"><U>Basket Case 2</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id94.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Basket Case 3: The Progeny"><U>Basket Case 3: The Progeny</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id95.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bay of Blood"><U>Bay of Blood</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id70.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Beast Must Die"><U>The Beast Must Die</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id105.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Beast Within"><U>The Beast Within</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id106.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Being"><U>The Being</U></A>   |   <B>The Believers</B>   |   <A HREF="id71.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Beyond Darkness"><U>Beyond Darkness</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id108.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ben"><U>Ben</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id109.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Beyond Dreams Door"><U>Beyond Dream's Door</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id110.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Beyond the Door"><U>Beyond the Door</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id111.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Beyond the Door II"><U>Beyond the Door II</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id112.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bits and Pieces"><U>Bits and Pieces</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id72.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Black Christmas"><U>Black Christmas</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id113.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Black Room"><U>The Black Room</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id114.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Black Roses"><U>Black Roses</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id116.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blackout"><U>Blackout</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id115.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blackenstein"><U>Blackenstein</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id117.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blackula"><U>Blackula</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id514.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Blair Witch Project"><U>The Blair Witch Project</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id73.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Blob"><U>The Blob</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id75.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blood Beach"><U>Blood Beach</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id128.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blood Cult"><U>Blood Cult</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id129.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blood Diner"><U>Blood Diner</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id130.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blood Feast"><U>Blood Feast</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id176.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blood Hook"><U>Blood Hook</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id76.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blood Lake"><U>Blood Lake</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id118.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blood Link"><U>Blood Link</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id119.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blood Mania"><U>Blood Mania</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id77.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blood Rage"><U>Blood Rage</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id78.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blood Spattered Bride"><U>Blood Spattered Bride</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id131.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blood Spell"><U>Blood Spell</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id132.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blood Tide"><U>Blood Tide</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id133.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bloodstalkers"><U>Bloodstalkers</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id120.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blood Massacre"><U>Blood Massacre</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id121.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blood Moon"><U>Blood Moon</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id139.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blood Relations"><U>Blood Relations</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id79.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bloodsuckers"><U>Bloodsuckers</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id140.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bloodsucking Freaks"><U>Bloodsucking Freaks</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id141.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blood Tracks"><U>Blood Tracks</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id142.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bloody Birthday"><U>Bloody Birthday</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id80.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bloody New Year"><U>Bloody New Year</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id81.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blue Monkey"><U>Blue Monkey</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id82.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blue Sunshine"><U>Blue Sunshine</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id83.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Body Bags"><U>Body Bags</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id84.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Body Parts"><U>Body Parts</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id85.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Body Shop"><U>The Body Shop</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id86.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Bog"><U>The Bog</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id87.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Boogeyman"><U>The Boogeyman</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id88.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Boogeyman II"><U>Boogeyman II</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id89.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Boggy Creek II"><U>Boggy Creek II</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id90.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Boneyard"><U>The Boneyard</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id143.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Brain Dead"><U>Brain Dead</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id144.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Brain"><U>The Brain</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id145.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Brain Damage"><U>Brain Damage</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id146.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bram Stokers Dracula"><U>Bram Stoker's Dracula</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id159.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Bride"><U>The Bride</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id160.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bride of ReAnimator"><U>Bride of Re-Animator</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id161.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Brood"><U>The Brood</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id162.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Burial Ground"><U>Burial Ground</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id163.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Buried Alive (1977)"><U>Buried Alive (1977)</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id164.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Buried Alive (1989)"><U>Buried Alive (1989)</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id165.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Buried Alive (1990)"><U>Buried Alive (1990)</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id166.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Burning (1981)"><U>The Burning (1981)</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id167.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Burnt Offerings"><U>Burnt Offerings</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=190 BGCOLOR="#111111" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <B> <IMG SRC="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/serve?bfmid=1375281&siteid=39403516&bfpid=063816&bfmtype=products" BORDER="0" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" NOSAVE ><A HREF="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=1375281&siteid=39403516&bfpid=063816&bfmtype=products" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="http://www.gamestop.com/common/images/sbox/063816a.jpg" BORDER="0" ALIGN="center" ALT="BLOOD THE LAST VAMPIRE" ><BR>BLOOD THE LAST VAMPIRE</A> <P>  </B></div> <div> <B> <IMG SRC="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/serve?bfmid=2181&sourceid=39400659&categoryid=dvd_scifihor2" BORDER="0" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" NOSAVE > <A HREF="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=2181&sourceid=39400659&categoryid=dvd_scifihor2" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="http://a1204.g.akamai.net/f/1204/1181/24h/www.affiliate.net/affnet/images/vid_dvd120X90C.gif" BORDER="0" WIDTH="120" HEIGHT="90" ALT="Check Out Our Horror Collection"></A>  </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Arial" ><B> <IMG SRC="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/serve?bfmid=9613914&siteid=39400670&bfpage=promolinks" BORDER="0" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" NOSAVE > <A HREF="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=9613914&siteid=39400670&bfpage=promolinks" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="http://www.emusic.com/images/affiliate/DJRap_120x240.gif" BORDER="0" WIDTH="120" HEIGHT="240" ALT=""></A>  </B></FONT></div> <div> <B> <IMG SRC="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/serve?bfmid=9613914&siteid=39400670&bfpage=promolinks" BORDER="0" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" NOSAVE > <A HREF="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=9613914&siteid=39400670&bfpage=promolinks" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="http://www.emusic.com/images/affiliate/DJRap_120x240.gif" BORDER="0" WIDTH="120" HEIGHT="240" ALT=""></A>  </B></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=355 BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>The Believers</B></div> <div> <B>()  skulls</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>*Blood* *Violent* *Strong Language* *Brief Nudity* *No Sexual Situations* *Not Particularly Gory *</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>1987/Color/110 Min./HBO Video & Orion Pictures Corporation/Rated R</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Director.............John Schlesinger (Marathon Man, Midnight Cowboy)</B></div> <div> <B>Screenplay.......Mark Frost</B></div> <div> <B>Music.................J. Peter Robinson</B></div> <div> <B>Producer...........John Schlesinger & Michael Childers & Beverly Camhe</B></div> <div> <B>Director of Photography..Robby Müller</B></div> <div> <B>Executive Producer..........Edward Teets</B></div> <div> <B>Based on the Book "The Religion" by Nicholas Conde</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Dramatis Personae</U></B></div> <div> <B>Cal Jamison...........Martin Sheen (Dead Zone, Firestarter, Wall Street)</B></div> <div> <B>Jessica Halliday....Helen Shaver (Best Defense, The Color of Money, Gas)</B></div> <div> <B>Chris........................Harley Cross (Cohen and Tate, Stanley and Iris)</B></div> <div> <B>Kate Maslow..........Elizabeth Wilson (The Addams Family,Regarding Henry)</B></div> <div> <B>Dennis Maslow.....Lee Richardson (The Fly II, Amazing Grace and Chuck)</B></div> <div> <B>Donald Calder.......Harris Yulin (Bad Dreams, Melvin Purvis: G-Man)</B></div> <div> <B>Sezine.....................Raul Davila</B></div> <div> <B>Palo.........................Malick Bowens (Out of Africa)</B></div> <div> <B>Mrs. Ruiz................Carla Pinza</B></div> <div> <B>Marty.......................Richard Masur (It, Risky Business, Shoot to Kill)</B></div> <div> <B>Lt. McTaggert........Robert Loggia (Big, Prizzi's Honor, Psycho II, Scarface)</B></div> <div> <B>Tom Lopez............Jimmy Smits(L.A. Law, Running Scared, Tommyknockers)</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Critique</U></B><B>: A power hungry international black magic sect seeks to enhance its power by completing the cyclical ritual sacrifice of a young boy. As police psychologist Jamison seeks to find out about the murders, he doesn't suspect that prominent citizens, friends, and relatives are part of the conspiracy to sacrifice his son. From the opening scene to the dramatic battle in the girders with the black magic priest, The Believers is one of the tighter horror films in the last decade and one of the best kept secrets in your video store. The scene transitions are the slickest, the leitmotif imagery, in particular the milk of the early electrocution scene, and the handkerchief, blend one scene into another with continuity and signal trouble subtly. The strong cast delivers convincing performances, in particular Martin Sheen as Jamison battling for the life of his son, and Raul Davila who is mesmerizing as the prophetic Sezine. The Rosemary's Baby touches of the gigantic and all-pervasive non-profit conspiracy of believers is a trope we can't get enough of. As in Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown, Jamison's terror and that of the audience grows with the discovery of each new cult member, each either a friend, colleague, or respected member of society, a devastating revelation of helplessness, betrayal, and isolation, more, the realization that your entire world may not be what you hoped, rather, its perversion. If a combination of Caribbean cult and conspiracy is what scares you, try also Wes Craven's </B><I><B>The Serpent and the Rainbow</B></I><B>. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Plot Summary</U></B><B>: Cal Jamison, his wife, and son Chris hang out and have fun, a loving family totally happy until in a freak accident, his wife is electrocuted to death by the coffee machine while she stands in spilled milk. Meanwhile, a child sacrifice takes place at a voodoo ceremony in Haiti. Cal councils people on letting go of their guilt- cops that is. He is the new NYPD psychologist. Chris plays with a doll called Chief Blackcloud in their new apartment/office with the attractive and dynamic young landlady Jessica and Haitian housekeeper, Mrs. Ruiz. As Cal and Chris play in Central Park, Chris witnesses the discovery by police and joggers of the leftovers from an animal sacrifice. Chris takes a walnut icon with him from the scene and they leave to visit their lawyer and hobby magician Marty. A mysterious Caribbean visitor arrives at the airport gets by customs largely through hypnotic suggestion while the cops are checking out yet another ritual murder. At dinner with in-laws Kate and Dennis, Chris shows his icon to the gumbo-making hosts, who admire the piece and suggest he make a necklace of it. As the Jamisons go to bed, Mrs. Ruiz places a crucifix in a glass of water before the kitchen window, then removes it and leaves. On her way to her slum home, Mrs. Ruiz and other Spanish Harlem travelers are stopped by police; the Cuban-American cop, Tom Lopez, who discovered a new ritual murder, has had his badge stolen on the spot and is reduced to a babbling wreck. He tries to kill himself, but police colleagues stop him. Mrs.Ruiz prays over her rosary. Chris is suffering from nightmares. McTaggert, from the police psychology unit calls Cal to see Lopez. Tom came upon the scene, they were expecting him. When he awoke, the sect was gone and the sacrifice beside him. Tom says the spirits help "them" and that they walk through walls. Tom saw "his" eyes - and believes "you can't stop the seven powers". Cal and McTaggert drink after viewing the mutilated sacrifice. Cal, who is smoking again, begins reading about Santaria, the beliefs and rituals brought by African slaves to the Caribbean. It's a thousand years older than Christianity, but in modern practice, African Gods are now mixed with Christian saints. During a power outage at the hospital, the insane Lopez strangles a security guard and escapes. Cal runs through the rain to bring Jessica her cigarettes and stays the night. Chris can't find his icon, and flies into a rage at Jessica, breaking the vase she gave Jamison as a house-warming present. Cal discovers that Mrs. Ruiz had hidden personal effects of his and Jessica's inside as a love spell. McTaggert calls Cal to see another mutilated child. Lopez is a suspect. A police shield is involved in an incantation. Cal attempts to speak with the author of a book on Samaria, but no one will speak with him. Cal discovers hidden a Samaria icon and has planted a few other personal effects in Chris' room, resulting in a shouting match between Cal and the realtor Jessica. Chris' birthday ends in anger and tears when he gets a present from the father's new paramour, Jessica, but he dashes it in the street nearly flattened by traffic when he flees screaming "She's not my mother!" Cal spanks him. The boy is distraught over put by his father's new relationship. Lopez, not looking well, calls Cal and invites him to a coffee shop, saying both he and his son are in danger. But Lopez steals a "New York" magazine cover on millionaire Robert Calder, orders a water, mixes an herb drink, convulses, steals a giant knife, and disembowels himself crying "culebras" (snakes) in his stomach, before a chain-smoking Cal arrives. McTaggert and Cal visit a rehabilitation program where Lopez volunteered and where the last child victim was a client. On the wall hangs the New York magazine on Calder. The director of the center, Oscar explains to Cal that Santaria has nothing to do with the ritual murders. Cal coerces an invitation to the charities ball to honor Calder, the main financier of the project. Mrs. Ruiz is busy again putting up icons and Chris is lighting candles for his mother at church, while the mysterious Sudanese guest shadows father and son. At the reception for the influential Calder, who himself lost his son to a "drug overdose", Jessica overhears how Calder promises the drug rehabilitation center runner assured that McTaggert will not interfere with all the work the center has done. Someone slips into the ladies' room and puts a spell on Jessica's compact. Suddenly, the Voodoo guest goes into a trance and and dances like a crazy sexy zombie, captivating, hypnotizing Jessica. When he reaches to tear off Jessica's necklace, Cal intervenes and they leave. Meanwhile at Doc's house, the cleaning lady is trying to protect a screaming Chris with a ritual when the doctor busts in and fires her. The housekeeper is trying to help Chris, but Cal shows up at the wrong moment and smashes a crucial icon. Later at the police station, it is discovered that the sons of the cult members, all reported to have died of drug overdoses, were but eight years old at the time of their deaths. In addition to this, their birth certificates are missing. A scared McTaggert insists we're dropping the investigation to blame Lopez. He's scared. They go to Lopez' corpse and find centipedes in his entrails. Chris is sent off to his grandparents in Santa Fe for this time of turmoil-he hugs Jessica goodbye. Oscar, the expert and a Santero priest who wants to help them, explains that the icon Blucharia, in black magic is the walnut icon, the symbol of the trickster, Elinganiador(?). The first three sons were sacrificed by their fathers to destroy their enemies, the last children of the summer. Summer solstice, the last day of which is June 21st. Lopez was trying to tell them Calder brought the priest here. Calder lost his son five years ago. Oscar urges them to trust him and performs incantations over Chris' picture. A chicken is sacrificed and Cal squeezes blood from feathers into a bowl with Chris' picture. At home, Jessica develops a nasty boil which becomes worse by the hour. When Cal calls Kate, she lies that Chris is out in the boat with Dennis, standing in the background are Calder and the Sezine. A frightened McTaggert calls Cal, and when he arrives to speak to McTaggert, a paralyzed McTaggert points a gun at him and shows Cal missing files that prove that Calder killed his son. McTaggert urges Cal to destroy Calder, shoots the incessantly ringing phone, prays, gives Cal a gun, and shoots himself with another. Jessica's cheek is a giant red bulge, begins throbbing, and thousands of bugs burst forth from her cheek. As Cal calls Marty, he witnesses Jessica's struggle through the window and gets her to the hospital. A repentant Kate calls Cal to try to save Chris, but Sezine pulls the phone jack. Cal leaves the gun with Marty and Marty drops him off in Santa Fe. As he leaves, Marty notices a limo hidden at the house. Dennis gives Cal a drugged drink, and explains that he and Kate, too, had once been through a difficult time, during Kate's field work was in the Sudan in 1946. Their son Daniel was only four years old when his sacrifice saved the life of the very special boy Sezine. In walk Sezine, Calder, and Oscar, who urge Cal to join them. Cal tries to escape, but he's drugged and after he discovers his slain mother-in-law, they retreat to an empty heavy industry factory where the ritual begins before a gallery of hundreds of prominents who file by to shake Cal's hand. Sezine hands Cal a knife and a bowl is placed beneath Chris. Above, Marty mingles with the crowd. Cal swears that he believes, turns to stab Dennis. Marty opens fire on the guests and the three flee in different directions. Using Chris' voice, Sezine calls Cal. Sezine injects Marty, but the magician is able to burn him off with a lighter and a hand full of gunpowder. Cal stabs Calder to death and liberates Chris. Sezine returns and is killing Cal when Chris calls to Sezine luring him to fall to his death. Jessica, Cal, and Chris start a new life on a farm, where Cal discovers that Jessica has erected an altar in the barn, she claims, to protect them.</B></div> </td> </tr></table></body>