BELIEVERS

BELIEVERS

Beneath the opening credits we see cult member IO (Erik Passoja, UNDER MY SKIN) being interviewed by a condescending TV presenter, discussing the beliefs of his sect, the Quanta Group. He says the end is nigh, but she's not having it.

Next we're introduced to paramedics Dave (Johnny Messner, RUNNING SCARED) and Vic. Dave's a married man expecting his first child, while Vic (Jon Huertas, RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR) is his loner friend without a care in the world. They're called out to tend to a woman who's collapsed at a petrol station outside of town.

When they arrive - at the Haxan petrol station, no less - the paramedics attend to Rebecca (Deanna Russo, REST STOP), who's suffered a heart attack. Her daughter Libby watches in horror, becoming even more distressed when a truck approaches. "They're here!" she screams.

Before the paramedics can grasp what's going on, Vic has been shot in the shoulder and they're forced onto the truck with Rebecca and Libby. Despite Dave's protestations that Rebecca needs medical attention, they are whisked away across the desert at gunpoint.

Their destination is a remote commune ran by the Quanta Group. It's enigmatic leader Dr Talbot (Daniel Benzali, DEAD HEAT) tends to Rebecca while IO is given the task of interrogating the two men.

He locks them in toilet cubicles when they refuse to accept they are now part of a select group and can never go home. Later, Libby is locked in the cubicle beside them and they learn that the group is made up of scientists and mathematicians who believe they have discovered a formula that reveals the end of the world as coming soon. Dr Talbot has formed the commune in a promise to help them all "leave this Earth" before Armageddon arrives.

Vic initially fears they have stumbled across a suicide cult, but suspects something even more sinister when he sees Rebecca, alive and well - he swears she died in his arms on the back of the truck earlier.

When Dave and Vic finally get to meet Talbot (over a Tannoy speaker: he has various allergies so refuses to mix with people), he freaks them out further by appearing to know everything about their personal lives. He tries to convince them to join his plight, but they just want out - which means some torture and brainwashing may be necessary.

Meanwhile, the police have started a search for the paramedics on the outside, and Dave desperately tries to hatch an escape plan ...

BELIEVERS, from BLAIR WITCH PROJECT co-director Daniel Myrick, has an interesting premise and starts off well. It takes no time at all to get down to the main thread of action.

But then it dips, badly, during it's mid-section. The script plods aimlessly for about forty minutes as the Quanta Group's philosophies are explained over and over again. Is Myrick trying to brainwash the viewer too? Not sure, but it just ends up being as patronising as that mid-section in THE MATRIX, where the filmmakers obviously thought their audience was too thick to "get it".

Other than that, and the movie's distinct TV-film feel, BELIEVERS is satisfying enough. It's atmospheric for the main, and has a decent villain in the mysterious Talbot. Shame that Messner is unconvincing as the macho hero.

No doubt you'll guess the twist ending well before it happens, but it's still pretty unsettling when it comes.

Quietly compelling stuff (though equally forgettable), BELIEVERS also benefits from a canny restrained use of suspense from Myrick. It's the best of the Raw Feed titles so far.

Warner's disc presents the film uncut in anamorphic 1.77:1. There's some grain evident in the darker scenes, but the video quality is generally good, sharp.

English audio is available in a satisfyingly solid 5.1 mix that adds to the tension well. Option English subtitles are available, as well as in 8 other languages.

Static menu pages include a scene-selection menu allowing access to the main feature via 21 chapters.

Extras kick off with an extended version of the opening TV interview. This comes equipped with optional English subtitles and is just over 3 minutes long.

Then there's a couple of very brief featurettes that I suspect are actually deleted scenes: an introduction to the Quanta Group facility, headed by IO; IO explaining the formula they've hit upon; Talbot's hidden camera footage. These add up to approximately 8 minutes of footage.

A faux forensics video is mercifully brief, trying - and failing - to duplicate the mock documentary feel of BLAIR WITCH's famous DVD extras.

Finally, we get the obligatory trailers for REST STOP and SUBLIME.

Passable fare.

Review by Stu Willis


 
Released by Warner Home Video
Region 2 - PAL
Rated 18
Extras :
see main review
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