IMDb RATING
6.1/10
1.8K
YOUR RATING
An enigmatic faith healer - who appears to possess genuine magical powers - and a political fixer vie for influence over a senator and his family.An enigmatic faith healer - who appears to possess genuine magical powers - and a political fixer vie for influence over a senator and his family.An enigmatic faith healer - who appears to possess genuine magical powers - and a political fixer vie for influence over a senator and his family.
- Awards
- 5 wins & 6 nominations
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe sequence where Alex Rast (Mark Spain) is seen being dangled off the side of a cliff by Gregory Wolfe (Robert Powell) did not use trick photography or deceiving camera angles. Spain was hung over the side of a cliff-face but was wearing a safety-harness which was not visible to the audience as it was attached through the underneath of Powell's white cloak.
- GoofsThe levitation of the piano reveals that it is hollow and contains no strings, hammers or metal pieces. If it was a complete piano, there would be a tremendous sound of string notes as it hit the floor.
- Quotes
Gregory Wolfe: I know there are powers at work in the universe. For those higher powers, the de-materialization of a given target would be child's play.
- ConnectionsFeatured in At the Movies: Spacehunter/Tough Enough/WarGames/Harlequin (1983)
Featured review
Black magic and corruption a recipe for murder and revenge
Powell stars in this eerie Ozploitation thriller as a mysterious faith healer and magician (akin to a modern day Rasputin) whose cure for a senator's ailing son leads to betrayal and revenge. Hemmings co-stars as the emasculated senator whose wife (Duncan) the charismatic jester is now involved imperilling their lives. Broderick Crawford also appears as a shady political figure in one of his final film appearances, whilst Australian veteran actors Gus Mercurio and Alan Cassell have prominent supporting roles (although given the movie purports to be set in the US, both use accents, Cassell's being dubbed)
The atmospherics are spot-on, and despite the supernatural aspects, there's nothing fantastical about the underlying sinister attitude (although his outfit is sometimes distracting), and quiet menace of which Hemmings grows suspicious. It's genuinely scary at times and although there's a few missed opportunities for suspense, and some contrivances to tolerate, Powell creates a cultivated and engaging character at times as sympathetic as he can become cruel. That's not to say the performance is uneven though, it's just good acting.
Wincer shows his talent for storytelling, seamlessly blending dark occult themes with occasional dry humour (a great scene where Powell enthralls and then enrages his dinner party hosts with a crafty carrot trick), and then the more violent climax is tense and unnerving. Not a masterpiece, and the decision to set the story in another country was an unwise distraction (it would've worked perfectly well set locally with less distraction) from what is still an engaging Ozploitation thriller.
The atmospherics are spot-on, and despite the supernatural aspects, there's nothing fantastical about the underlying sinister attitude (although his outfit is sometimes distracting), and quiet menace of which Hemmings grows suspicious. It's genuinely scary at times and although there's a few missed opportunities for suspense, and some contrivances to tolerate, Powell creates a cultivated and engaging character at times as sympathetic as he can become cruel. That's not to say the performance is uneven though, it's just good acting.
Wincer shows his talent for storytelling, seamlessly blending dark occult themes with occasional dry humour (a great scene where Powell enthralls and then enrages his dinner party hosts with a crafty carrot trick), and then the more violent climax is tense and unnerving. Not a masterpiece, and the decision to set the story in another country was an unwise distraction (it would've worked perfectly well set locally with less distraction) from what is still an engaging Ozploitation thriller.
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- Chase_Witherspoon
- Feb 5, 2024
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Box office
- Budget
- A$850,000 (estimated)
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