Episode 137 - Cult Potential

With Julie gone this time, on assignment for "Action News from the Cave", we went for some older, weirder, more obscure selections for the podcast this time. Both films are focused on cults, but there's not a single blue oyster anywhere to be found. We start off with 1972's Enter the Devil, from director Frank Q. Dobbs. It is set in south-western US border town where strange lights and the sound of chanting are disturbing the locals. So they call in an expert who's studying strange cults to get to the bottom of things. This is a solid, but really low-budget production that exceeds it's budgetary restraints in truly impressive fashion. A well told, tight little story and surprisingly good performances ( for the most part ) really set this one at the top of the heap. We follow that up with 1975's The Astrologer ( also known as Suicide Cult ) which was the directorial debut of James Glickenhaus, who would go on to give the world ( and this podcast ) many more films. It is adapted from a novel about a top-secret government group called "Interzod" that studies the "zodiacal potential" of every person on earth, and follows their quest to discover the identity of the second coming of Christ...it is just as crazy as that sounds, and very compelling stuff. We recommend both films! Another thing we recommend is for you to write us a goddamn letter! Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to [email protected] or [email protected]. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.