This is the type of movie I find that I have to watch a good 80% of to really determine how it has impacted me. Certainly, the subject is disturbing about a type of religion that I know nothing about (and certainly would not want to find out anything more),and it also makes you wonder about the people around you who follow what is considered by most to be a pagan cult. It is gory and shocking and filled with what some might consider either conspiracies or propaganda, but like films on subjects that sometimes are too uncomfortable to talk about, you have to watch it just to see what your brain is warning you against.

The film surrounds Martin Sheen who has moved from the midwest to New York City with his adolescent son after the shocking death of his wife. A gorgeous apartment on Central Park West with flirtatious landlady Helen Shaver nearby and a loving Hispanic nanny for his son has Sheen certain that he has found contentment. But a bizarre sacrifice which sends police officer Jimmy Smits over the edge changes everything for Sheen who has taken on Smits as a patient. It becomes very apparent that a plot against his own son is under foot, and that takes Sheen into paths he never would have considered going down, some which are truly spine tingling.

Scenes involving animal and human sacrifice will make the viewer grimace, and the motivations of the nanny also create a lot of questionable emotions. Is she trying to protect the boy or is she part of the conspiracy? Then there's the presence of an African man with very light eyes, seen following Sheen and his son, and between him, some Harlem shopkeepers selling supposed occult paraphernalia and the discovery of corpses (both human and mammal) creates disturbing visuals and emotions as well.

I can only watch and judge this based on the quality of the film and the entertainment value I received from it, and I must admit that I was gripped. Director John Schlesinger has certainly directed some films with controversial subjects, going down paths that many directors would not go on, so he was certainly brave in taking on this subject. but it is a film that can give you nightmares, so I do suggest not watching this near bedtime. This will have different effects for different viewers based on their own spiritual experiences and beliefs, and I can say honestly that it is a film I will never forget, even if I'll never venture down the dark paths of this subject and the film ever again.

THE BELIEVERS is a middling '80s horror flick from director John Schlesinger, who really should have crafted something better than this (his excellent '70s thriller MARATHON MAN is a particular favourite of mine). Martin Sheen is fine as a grieving husband and father who unwittingly gets drawn up in a voodoo plot in New York of all places, and finds himself battling to save his son from becoming a sacrificial victim. There was a mini-wave of voodoo flicks in the 1980s (ANGEL HEART and THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW being other notable examples) but this film seems to go through the motions without ever connecting. The actors are well chosen and Helen Shaver is certainly put to the test here, but the ending comes across as lacklustre and although the direction is nice the writing is strictly average.

Cal Jamison (Martin Sheen) loses his wife in an accidental electrocution. He moves with his son Chris to NYC as a psychiatrist for the police department. Jessica Halliday (Helen Shaver) is their landlady. His lawyer Marty Wertheimer (Richard Masur) wants to sue the coffeemaker company. Lt. McTaggert (Robert Loggia) investigates a child murder with disturbed undercover cop Tom Lopez (Jimmy Smits) at the scene. Lopez is convinced that some unknown group will kill him and tries to shoot himself. Cal is called in to investigate the voodoo murder. Palo (Malick Bowens) is the ever present voodoo evil. Cal's housekeeper tries to protect the family with her good voodoo.

The use of religion is going to anger some people and color some reviews. I guess almost any movie can cause offense if taken that way. It starts off as a crime thriller. It seems to go slowly but methodically. Then it turns more towards horror and it's quite effective. There are some good voodoo horrors. The two hours running time is a little long but it's got some good creepy scares.