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This is one of the most disturbing movies I have watched in a while. An entirely different kind of cerebral horror is taking place in this film. I grew up in a small town overrun with religious brainwashing. This is some next-level discomfort.
Michael O’Keefe plays Danny Stetson, a young man with the opportunity to make the Olympic gymnastics team, but he meets a mysterious woman. Karen Allen plays Rebecca, the young woman in question who lures Danny into a “commune.” Karen Allen plays Rebecca. She effortlessly lures Danny into the community with her piercing blue eyes and sweet demeanor. Once inside Danny stops questioning everything in front of him. Peter Fonda plays Kirklander, a charismatic madman, that is as manipulative as he is persuasive.
Kirlander is the leader of the commune that quickly exposes itself as a cult. He spends day and night trying to build a community of young people to do his bidding. Yes, they build houses, gardens, and living quarters, all while making them shed their past names and find a path with god. But, not in a fun spiritual way. The kind of path that leads to blind zealotry.
Danny gives up his whole life and opportunity to join this cult. He gives up his name, clothes, and identity to please his leader. Danny’s father, played by Brian Dennehy, is desperate to get his son back and will spare no expense to find him and get him back. Kevin ( Dennehy) hires Charles Pratt, a private investigator, and bounty hunter who has experience trying to deprogram people from this cult. Woods has been hired by other parents in the past with varying degrees of success. Pratt is played by James Woods and he shines in this role very convincingly. He is eccentric and strung out. He never sleeps and spends all of his time trying to take down Kirklander and his cult.
Pratt’s only option is to track down and kidnap Danny. Pratt spends a large amount of time trying to undo the brainwashing in his own way. If he can accomplish that he can start to take down the cult from the inside. Breaking Danny from Kirklander’s spell is going to be the hardest part though. Danny’s mind is deeply disturbed and trapped in the deceitful web of lies.
Members of the cult eventually find where Danny is being held and try to fight their way into the house. A bunch of young guys of medium and average build decide they want to tangle with Brian Dennehy. Kevin (Dennehy) throws a few of them around for a bit before they eventually have the numbers. They still don’t get the better of the situation though. A pretty damn good fistfight in the rain persists. I won’t reveal if things work themselves out or not, because this is a deeply disturbing film.
Watching this is like watching an exorcism film, just without the demons and spirits. This is more reflective of real life to me. This is the kind of film that should be shown in psychology classes to show how deeply manipulative people can be to each other while pretending it’s all in the name of love. Gaslighting can be accomplished in many ways. Negativity can be very deceptive and appear to be nurturing and enlightening.
This was recently released by KINO LORBER on Blu-ray. I am extremely happy I bought this blindly. A very dark and deceptive film about the psychology behind brainwashing and cult worship. It is also reflective of blind religious followings and the dangers it can present.
