Thursday 29 September 2016

Thursday Movie Picks: Cults/Secret Socities


Don't forget to check out what Wandering Through the Shelves picked, the blog that started Thursday Movie Picks.

Its odd how everyone wants in on a secret society and cults are seen as scray things to avoid and usually involve the devil or someone being sacrificed. Well, that only applies to one pick this week...


Sound of my Voice
This was one of those films where I was dying to see but was quite disappointed by the end. A couple wan to make a documentary about a cult that they have heard about and their leader who claims to be from the future. They infiltrate the group but end up being on opposingsides about the leader, Maggie. There is a good story here but very little action. The cult seems non threatening but when Maggie wants to meet a young girl who she claims is her mother, the couple have to decide whether its gone too far or not. The ending is unsettling and makes you wonder but as a whole, the film loses pace too soon.

Eyes Wide Shut
Stanley Kubrick's finaly film about a man who tries to find out about a secret society was underwhelming.  The then married Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman was meant to be a 'big deal' but just wasn't. After being invited to a party with his wife, Bill encounters strange happenings and decides to pursue them. After speaking to a piano player he knows, he finds out that he has a 'gig' playing blind folded. Bill, curious, goes along to this 'party' dressed in costume and mask to discover that it is an orgy of some sorts as well as a strange ritual. People die and disappear myteriously and Bill's wife, Alice has weird dreams where she has sex witho other men while he watches. As I said, not great.

The Wicker Man 
 The film is disturbing and you can feel the creeping terror throughout the film. The notorious ending is horrible mostly because of how helpless the situation is and how terrifying. The late great Christopher Lee is perfect as the head of the weirdo cult of Summerisle but I'm actually feeling scared just thinking about the film again. Let us not think about the remake. Ridiculous really.