Editorials
[Exhumed & Exonerated] ‘The Sect’ (1991)
Every decade has its ups and downs when it comes to cinema, no matter the genre. Horror fans love to loft on high the output of the ‘30s & ‘40s, the ‘70s & ‘80s, and the more recent decades. More often than not, however, the 1990s are labeled as the worst decade for the genre. Not only that, but ‘90s horror tends to be written off as a whole, beyond a handful of undisputed classics. The purpose of Exhumed & Exonerated: The ‘90s Horror Project, is to refute those accusations by highlighting numerous gems from the decade. Stone cold classics will be tackled in this column from time to time, but its main purpose will be to seek out lesser-known and/or less-loved titles that I think deserve more attention and respect from fans. Let the mayhem begin!
The Sect
Directed by Michele Soavi
Screenplay by Dario Argento, Michele Soavi, and Gianni Romoli
Produced by Dario Argento
Starring Kelly Curtis, Herbert Lom, Michel Hans Adatte, Mariangela Giordano, Tomas Arana, Carla Cassola, Dario Casalini, Donald O’Brien, and Giovanni Lombardo Radice
Released on March 1, 1991
Aka La Setta, aka The Devil’s Daughter
Miriam Kreisel (Kelly Curtis) is a young schoolteacher who has been without a traditional family all her life. With few friends, her life in Frankfurt, Germany is a relatively quiet and uneventful one, until an accidental encounter with a mysterious man (Herbert Lom) sets her life on a dark path. Sinister elements have diabolical designs on Miriam and her future, ultimately forcing her to choose between a life of darkness or potentially-fatal salvation.
The Sect was Michele Soavi’s third feature as a second and his second collaboration with mentor Dario Argento. After working as an assistant director and/or 2nd unit director on films for Argento (Tenebre, Phenomena, Opera), Lamberto Bava (A Blade in the Dark, Demons), Joe D’Amato (Absurd, Endgame), and even Terry Gilliam (The Adventures of Baron Munchausen), Soavi finally began to truly strike out on his own as a filmmaker at the end of the ‘80s. Previously helming 1987’s fantastic slasher Stage Fright, he directed The Church for Argento in 1989. Two years later, the two re-teamed on this supernatural horror film.
Comprised of a trio of discarded outlines/scripts that Argento, Soavi, and Romoli all had lying around, The Sect is noticeably off-kilter as a result, even moreso than the usual Italian horror fare. As with all Italian horror, it is an acquired taste, but I’ve always found that it’s somewhat schizophrenic nature only adds to its charm. While Soavi is probably best known for making 1994’s Cemetery Man, both Stage Fright and The Church have a nice following within the horror community. The Sect, however, is often forgotten when his work within the genre is discussed.
I think this is a shame, although not altogether unsurprising. In addition to remaining relatively hard to come by (or at least easy to overlook) here in the United States, it’s also simply not as flashy and stylish a film as Soavi’s other three horror offerings. That is not to say that it lacks a sense of flair to its proceedings, but it is certainly the more subdued of the four in that regard. Both Stage Fright and The Church, while being excellent films in their own right, still contain a lot of Argento’s trademark style. The Sect is more of a middle ground between those films and what Soavi would eventually craft in Cemetery Man.
The Sect sees him slowly shedding a lot of his mentor’s visual influences, while still retaining a lot of Argento-esque story elements. If anything, Argento actual took a cue from him, ultimately employing the cinematographer that Soavi used here (Raffaele Mertes) on Trauma two years later. Both films share inventive camera movements that one expects of ‘80s Italian genre cinema, while also toning down the garish palettes that so permeated Euro-horror cinema, particularly in the ‘70s and ‘80s.
As you can tell from the brief synopsis at the start, The Sect is a bit of a Rosemary’s Baby riff. The Church also dealt with some Rosemary’s Baby-esque elements, so clearly the Polanski film is a touchstone for Soavi. Those aspects of the film work, but I find its other elements more interesting. The “birth of the antichrist” subgenre tropes are handled in a more esoteric way here, with a lot of Celtic and Pagan elements thrown into mix. There’s even a bit of Lovecraft tossed in for extra seasoning when it comes to a ritual performed late in the film, although don’t expect any tentacled beasties to appear. It’s not that kind of Lovecraftian element.
There actually is a bit of a phantasmagorical creature element at play, but nothing so fantastic as actual monsters. Instead, we have what one can only assume is Satan (or a similar surrogate demonic being) appear in the form of a large bird and engage in beastiality. Did I mention that we see his well-hung humanoid shadow first, before he takes on his babe-banging Beelzebird-form? Yeah, that’s a (big) thing that happens. There’s also a rabbit who is far more intelligent than any normal bunny. Not only does it seem incredibly aware of what is going on, but it can also expertly use a TV remote!
The film contains quite a bit of Alice in Wonderland-esque imagery in addition to its occult and esoteric elements. Practically every scene of the film has some sort of rabbit likeness or clock placed within the frame, as well as the occasional usage of red roses. Unfortunately for Miriam, it isn’t Wonderland she finds herself tumbling into as the film goes on, but Hell itself (in a manner of speaking).
As the tale unwinds, things become more and more dreamlike, eventually nearing the point where one isn’t entirely sure what is real and what is not. For instance, the house in which Miriam resides appears both small and massive at times. The outside looks rather large, but the main and second floors on the inside appear almost townhouse-sized. Then there’s the double-decker basement, which is revealed to both Miriam and the audience as the film goes on.
At its lowest floor is a well that goes down at least a hundred feet. It’s also some sort of gateway to Hell that is pumping strange blue goo into the house’s water pipes. This Hell Well, in addition to its deep reservoir, has a large pipe running away from it that spills into a small knee-deep pond beside the road near the house. Just through basic calculations, the house would have to almost be atop a large hill in order to account for the double-leveled basement and the additional hundred foot drop into the well, but from the outside, it appears to only be slightly above the road. Normally one might fault this as a continuity error on the part of the production, but it has to be intentional. Furthermore, it adds to the dreamlike elements and strengthens the sense of unease that permeates the picture.
Speaking of unease, there’s something that always felt off to me about the film’s opening in the past and I finally pinpointed what it was this time. The bulk of our tale is set in Frankfurt, Germany in 1991, but the opening of the movie is set in California in 1970. It opens with the Manson-esque murder spree at the start as Damon (Tomas Arana) sacrifices everyone in a small hippie commune (including the women and children) as the first of many such events to pave the way for their eventual Antichrist ritual. Nothing in this sequence is particularly disturbing as shot. In fact, it actually shows very little, letting the flame-lit aftermath speak for itself. So why has it always managed to creep me out?
Think about it for a moment. We’ve got a Rosemary’s Baby riff of a film here that opens with a Manson-style murder. Director Roman Polanski made Rosemary’s Baby in 1968. The following year, his pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, was stabbed to death by Charles Manson’s cult. This film’s prologue takes place a year later. For some reason, I had never managed to put two and two together until now.
The prologue itself came directly from Argento and there is no way that the above connection is not an intentional one on his part. The sheer tastelessness of such a narrative choice is a subject for a different day, but one cannot deny that it makes the opening sequence more even more powerful than it is as presented.
Moving on beyond, there’s still plenty of creepy imagery to go around. Everything involving a particular death shroud comes to mind. You’d think that a stained clothed couldn’t be effectively used as a dangerous object, but Soavi manages to make it work. There are also a few knife-wielding stalk-n-slash scenes that are quite effective, as well as a rather icky morgue-set sequence. All in all, it makes for an interesting experience, even if it isn’t overly scary as a whole.
I’ve rambled on for paragraph after paragraph and still haven’t brought up the actors themselves. I won’t go on for long about them, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t praise Herbert Lom’s work as the mysterious Moebius Kelly. It’s obvious from the get-go that something isn’t right about him, even beyond the fact that he’s played by genre luminary Herbert Lom (Mark of the Devil, A Shot in the Dark). Add in Mariangela Giordano (Burial Ground), the aforementioned Tomas Arana (The Hunt For Red October), and a nice Giovanni Lombardo Radice (City of the Living Dead) cameo and you’ve got yourself a nice collection of genre character actors. As for the lead, Kelly Curtis is a capable protagonist. She doesn’t throw herself into the role quite like her sister’s (Jamie Lee) scream queen roles, but she’s good.
The Sect is an oft-beat Italian horror offering from the early ‘90s that deals with the subjects such as the occult, ritualistic murder, Satanic panic, motherhood, and paganism. It’s not the flashiest film of its type, but it remains one that lingers in my mind for days after I watch it. I hope that someday it can see a proper home video release in America, as it’s long overdue for a reevaluation. It’s not for everyone, but if your tastes lean in this direction, it might just be for you.
Up Next: The Addams Family (1991)
Previously On…
Species | Mute Witness | Popcorn | Wishmaster | Alien 3 | Cast A Deadly Spell
Disturbing Behavior | The Sect | The Addams Family
Editorials
Before ‘The Blair Witch Project’, ‘Alien Autopsy’ Showed How Real Found Footage Could Feel
The line separating artist from con man is a lot thinner than you might initially believe. While I think we can all agree that lying for the sake of profit is actively malicious behavior, isn’t it also true that the faux documentary aspect of The Blair Witch Project is half the reason why that film became such a cultural phenomenon? After all, if there’s one thing filmmakers have in common with stage magicians, it’s that misleading and misdirecting audiences is simply part of the job.
That’s why I’ve developed a habit of mostly ignoring the moral quandaries behind many of film and television’s biggest “hoaxes” in favor of appreciating the narrative elements that drive productions like Mermaids: The Body Found and even Animal Planet’s highly underrated The Cannibal in the Jungle. However, if there’s a definitive case of a highly publicized broadcast fooling the world into taking it seriously, it has to be Fox’s infamous 1995 TV special Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction.
It’s been over three decades since that eerie footage first haunted television screens right at the peak of the ’90s ufology craze, and in that time, the video has taken on a life of its own. From countless parodies and references in everything from The X-Files to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (as well as John Dower’s recently released tell-all documentary The Alien Autopsy Scandal, which I’d highly recommend to genre fans everywhere), there’s no denying the legacy of the Alien Autopsy video. However, I rarely see the tape discussed as what it truly is: a highly convincing found footage film directed by a passionate stage magician and brought to life by masterful practical effects work.
That’s why I’d like to invite readers to join me on a deep dive into one of the most infamous broadcasts of all time in an attempt to reevaluate the footage as a fascinating narrative experience rather than a complete hoax.
The TV Special That Convinced Millions It Was Real
Ray Santilli next to Extraterrestrial replica in ‘The Alien Autopsy Scandal’
For starters, regardless of whether or not you believe that there was in fact an extraterrestrial crash in Roswell during the summer of 1947 and that some form of autopsy was performed on the victims, the producers behind the black & white recordings, Ray Santilli and Gary Shoefield, insist that their video was a “restoration.” Though I’d argue that the proper word is “remake”of genuine footage that was too damaged to air on television. That’s why the duo went on to recruit filmmaker and eccentric magician Spyros Melaris and sculptor/monster designer John Humphreys to bring their version of the autopsy to life and sell it to the highest bidder.
This is where the story of the Alien Autopsy as a narrative experience really begins. Melaris claims that his approach to the faux recording consisted of striving for extreme period accuracy in both shooting equipment and setting while also planting subtle details that would initially seem like mistakes but could later be revealed to actually fit the time period. That being said, the filmmaker was under the impression that the short would be released for free as a PR stunt, with the team later producing and selling an informative documentary chronicling exactly how the footage was faked and commenting on how easy it is to manipulate public perception with a good old-fashioned magic trick.
This obviously isn’t how things went down, and that’s likely the reason why Melaris has since distanced himself from everyone else involved with the project. Yet, no amount of behind-the-scenes drama can undermine the genuine effort that went into making the short as impressive as it is. From the sourcing of real animal organs from a local butcher to make the organic part of the creature more lifelike to the highly detailed sculpt that made use of a hollowed-out underlayer that could be filled with fake blood and assorted viscera, there’s a reason why so many Hollywood specialists are still impressed with the artistry on display here.
Of course, the believability is only half the story, as I think that the best part of the autopsy is how Melaris builds on the existing tension by obscuring certain details and often embracing the chaos of what a real examination of extraterrestrial life could feel like. The camera often goes out of focus at just the right time to make certain effects hit even harder, and we can only speculate as to what the hazmat-suited doctors are gesticulating about during the operation. There’s a real air of mystery to the whole thing that almost makes it feel like a cosmically terrifying, cursed film containing forbidden knowledge that civilians were never meant to see.
So when Fox’s Fact or Fiction brings in the specialists to comment on the film and its otherworldly subject, it’s no surprise that we end up with one of the most memorable mockumentaries of all time – albeit one where the participants are unaware that the footage they’re commenting on is basically a large-scale practical joke. A joke that the network was obviously in on, as many participants claim that the TV special cut out significant portions where guests point out that they believe the footage to be an elaborate hoax.
The Lasting Impact of the Hoax Turned Cultural Event
Regardless, I remember going to bed terrified after watching reruns of the special and thinking about the respected pathologist who claimed that the body was almost certainly inhuman, with even effects maestro Stan Winston commenting on how difficult it would be to recreate some of these visuals through practical puppetry. That’s not even mentioning Jonathan Frakes’ dramatic hyping up of the disturbing imagery as if he was talking about the tape from The Ring, with his spooky demeanor here likely being responsible for his later role as the host of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction a few years later.
Personally, I’d argue that the Alien Autopsy phenomenon had just as much of an impact on me as a horror fan as The Blair Witch Project, a film that was almost certainly influenced by the success of this immensely popular hoax (to the point where they even produced their own TV special commenting on Heather’s found footage). Even if Fox didn’t intend to produce a narrative feature about the aftermath of the Roswell crash, the end product still holds up remarkably well as a highly entertaining mockumentary exploring the idea that we may not be alone in the universe.
While neither Santilli nor the rest of the production team has ever commented on this, I also think it’s very likely that the idea of a faux Alien Autopsy could have been influenced by Dean Alioto’s The McPherson Tape/UFO Abduction. I’ve already written about how this granddaddy of found footage was co-opted by rogue ufologists who began selling bootlegs of the tape at conventions as if it were real evidence of a close encounter, so it’s not that much of a stretch to imagine that Santilli and company could have heard about this phenomenon and been inspired to come up with their own highly profitable hoax.
At the end of the day, it’s unlikely that the Alien Autopsy film is recreating any real footage from Roswell, but I can still appreciate the short and the accompanying television event as a standalone horror story that still influences the way we see found footage to this very day.
After all, the possibility that something could be real is often much scarier than finding out for sure – and that’s why I think Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction is still worth revisiting three decades down the line.
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