ridiculous rating

One of my all time favorites.

A Masterpiece!

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Years after his wife's death, a New York psychologist hears about a case of a ritualistic crime spree ravaging the city and realizes his son is the target of a vicious cult's intentions of offering children to a primitive God and race against time to stop the ritual before it's completed.While not exactly terrible, this one wasn't that great either. What really works best here is when it manages to incorporate the supernatural elements with all rituals brought in, then it really begins to become interesting. These are quite enjoyable, from the early one found in the park where only the after-effects of the ceremony can be seen which looks incredibly brutal and actually quite creepy- looking had it been officially offered on camera, the various performances and general air of mystery surrounding each of the ceremonies that are showcased throughout here and a main one where the heroes are gathered for a protection ceremony that is quite chilling for its realistic feeling. The later ones are also entertaining in their own right since this picks up considerably in the last half, where it contains a little more action and features the climactic confrontation in a large, multi-level warehouse of twisting steel and metal that looks quite frightening based on the previous supernatural events issued previously. The actual events are quite exciting, with a chilling ritual and the ensuing chase and the conclusion to it all culminates in some suspenseful moments. The set-up, which is a long and quite innovative chase through an apartment complex into a neighboring boathouse is quite fun, with the main participant being in a drugged state at the time is exciting. Alongside some quite nice deaths in here as well, these here are it's best features while it did have some wrong sides as well. The biggest one is the film's really haphazard plot which spends a ton of time early on forging a family relationship that severely drags the film out. These are just pointless interludes that show the family relationship as being quite dysfunctional mean quite little to the fact that there's much more to that. It's quite an adventure to get through them all, as they all eventually end with the same results, and they don't change any perceptions of anything at all of how the plot's going to change with the son being upset over the new relationship or the needless time spent tracking down the ritualistic expert. The only other thing that might not work is that this one features a little extreme nature for something that doesn't appear to be. The fact that this one contains a really extreme subject matter with the plot about child sacrifice. This might not appeal to a lot as being something worthwhile, and this can be something to get around while viewing. Otherwise, these are its problems.Rated R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence, Brief Full Nudity, children-in-danger and after-effects of animal ritual violence.

By it's shock start, involving horrific misfortune, in which Martin Sheen's wife is electrocuted due to a faulty appliance, in which the little son, Chris (Cross) horribly witnesses it, it has you thinking, could this be linked to the rest of what about is to ensue. Or is it, just a family tragedy. I'm not really into supernatural thriller horrors, with religious themes, though I did love Angel Heart, and I didn't mind The Seventh Sign too much, and I did love The First Power. The Believers though, I did take a liking too, though initially, I wouldn't go out of my way to see in it's showing. Of course child murder isn't something to be taken lightly, but when it's child sacrifice, it's much worse. It's disturbing, and nasty and The Believers oozes out a lot of creepy and in some cases, some truly disturbing and bloody moments. You can see, a lot has been poured into it, to make it so, including a lot of witchcraft/voodoo paraphernalia. In other words, an enthusiastic effort. Cal Jameson, (Sheen) a psychiatrist, and son, (Cross) make a new knife in a new city. It doesn't take long for Sheen to find a new love either, (hot Helen Shaver) who provides the final twist frame moment, in this pic, that never makes you lose interest. Sheen gets called in after a child sacrifice murder, where an irrational crazed suspect, and cop (L.A Laws's Jimmy Smits) is taken in. Days later, another worse child murder, involving ritual sacrifice surfaces. What's disappointing I guess, in what is an otherwise good supernatural thriller/horror with religious themes, is the story behind this particular practice/sacrifice known as Santeria (hope I've spelt that right) is that it doesn't delve enough into it, as it should, which is a quite a shame, but the flipside of that coin, that less is more approach, what have you, makes it more intriguing amidst some murky plot points. The movie succeeds in it's attempt to creep and disturb, mostly throughout, where Sheen too with his role, gives a less is more realistic performance that pays off to an extent, where Cross, just a gifted young actor, as his son, Chris, displays so many different and genuine emotions, it's like he really isn't acting. He's a natural. Helen Shaver lends fine support, while Sheen's initial wife in it's starting, does briefly. The black guy with the eye whites who creep out security baggage handlers, will remain a haunting memory, should you watch this thriller a couple of times. The third act is really good, intensifying when Chris, becomes the new one up for sacrifice, with the help of trusted/possessed parties, an old trick in these sort of films, this one, I recommend to you.

Martin Sheen plays police psychologist Cal Jamison, who moves to New York with his young son after the sudden accidental death of his wife(vividly shown early on!) He soon is called into a case involving voodoo cult rituals involving the death of chickens, but soon discovers that they want to escalate things with sacrificing children, which will include his own son... Helen Shaver plays his potential love interest, who also becomes a target by the cult.Mediocre thriller has a sensational opening, but soon becomes overly convoluted and unbelievable, though the actors are fine, and director John Schlesinger does create some effective atmosphere, the problems are too many to overcome.

Wow is this movie dumb! You will hate the superstitious Latin characters they have running around yelling and carrying on in over the top Latin accents. Sheen is a concerned father and police detective investigation some child murders in NYC. These murders are linked to a voodoo/santoria type religion that seems to be 'believed' by an unbelievably big underground community in New York City! A scary black guy with albino contacts lurks around scaring the bejesus out of the increasingly frightened latins who can only speak broken English, shriek and writhe in increasing desperation for Sheen/someone/anyone to listen to them and their need for pro-tect-C-own. There are bizarre suicides, deaths, mind control trances (at just a glance), animal sacrifices, oh, and other European American believers who wear suits and ride around in limousines who are apparently in charge of this 'religion'. I also left out a kidnapping, curses, electrocutions, and Sheen's character's rebellious, uncontrollable little kid who is constantly in danger and behaves not unlike he's suddenly had a bad reaction to angel dust!