The Sect — The Sect( UHD/ Blu Ray)

The Sect is an early 90’s euro cult blend of thriller, fantasy, and horror. It regards a living on her own/rabbit-loving thirty-something teacher- who after nearly knocking down an elderly man gets tied up with a strange dark cult. It was the third film helmed by Milan-born Michele Soavi, and co-written by none other than Dario Argento. Here from Severin is a double disc UHD/Blu-Ray release of the film- taking in a 4K scan, and over three hours of extras.

The Sect (La seta) is from the year 1991- been filmed in Frankfurt, LA, and Incir De Paolis Studios, Rome. Michele Soavi had six features to his name, as well as twenty-two TV films/ TV episodes/ documentaries.  His features take in theatre set slasher Stagefright (1987),  gothic ‘n’ gory shocker The Church (1989), and intelligent zombie horror comedy Cemetery Man (1994).  He was seen as the natural successor to the likes of Argento and Fulci- but due to the bottom dropping out of Italian horror in the 90s, he never got to fulfil his full promise.

The film opens with a moody panning back shot of what looks like a blood-tinged lake, we get a caption telling us it’s 1971 California. We see a group of hippies under the shade of a caravan tarp- there’s a man painting a woman's breast, and a few women preparing food in the background. A grabby Jesus-like figure steps into the group- quoting Rolling Stone lyrics- he eats with them, though later as night sets in he & his buddy kill the whole group.

We jump forward to the then-present-day Frankfurt. We first see a balding Giovanni Lombardo Radice (City Of The Living Dead, Cannibal Ferox) jumping out of a car in the city centre dumping a baby with the woman he’s in a car with, and running after a woman chasing & killing her in her home. 

We then get introduced to the elderly, scraggly-haired, and stubby Moebius Kelly(Herbert Lom) warping up something in brown paper, and getting on a bus. On the bus, we see him acting erratic, before pipetting brown liquid into his eyes.  The bus stops for a break- so Moebius decides to step out in the road- peering at the sun through his hands, along comes a car that nearly hit him. Inside the car is  Miriam Kreisl ( Kelly Curtis) a rather timid, living on her own woman- who is obsessed with rabbits- be they real, in ornament, or picture form. She takes the old man back her house, and things start to go decide awry/ weird for the schoolteacher.

As the film unfolds we go down into the teacher's house- finding a blue water well, that seemingly leads to another place/ dimension. Over the film's length, we get a blend of dark fantasy & light horror elements- with notable elements being a bug up the nose scene, a brutal kneck pecking by a huge crane, a face pulled off, and a few other things. I’d say the film is more of a thriller, with dark fantasy elements- with the horror elements being fairly few & far between.

The film's opening flashback &, the scene with Giovanni Lombardo Radice really felt somewhat stuck on, and you wonder quite where the film is going. When we get into the main story this is initially fairly engaging/ interesting- and as it unfolds there are still moments of promise/ neat effects set-up. The problem is that is far too much of the film rather dragged- and this isn’t helped by our lead Kelly Curtis( Jamie Lee sister) who is largely rather flat and vapid for much of the film's runtime. Lom is certainly the highlight here as the ageing & more than a little shifty/sinister old man on a mission.  

I think you need to go into The Sect with your expectations set. This is mainly a thriller, which is often fairly talky with decidedly mixed acting. Yes, there are some nice shot set-ups, moments of unease & effective one-the-hell-is-going-on-here curiosity, as well as some interesting/ creative imagery, and one or two gory murders.

 

Moving onto this recent UHD/ Blu Ray double disc set- on the first UHD disc we have just the film & a trailer. On the region A Blu-ray, we get the film and three-plus hours of extras. The 4k scan looks bold and bright- with good depth & clarity throughout the film.

So on the extras side, we have the following impressive selection. Sympathy For The Devil(20.14) interview with director Michele Soavi. He begins by giving a rundown of how he & Dario first met/ when they started working together.  We find out the idea for the well in the film comes from his own house- this is built on top of an ancient Roman villa, with its own well. He talks about this being the second film he and Dario worked on- though initially, they were going to work on a project called The Golem, which was to be based on Gustav Meyrink’s 1915 novel Der Golem- this never happened. We find out Dario wrote the basics of the film's script- with this being filled in/ developed by Soavi and Gianni Romoli.  He talks about how water is key in this, and all of his films- we find out he was born under a water sign. He touches on how the plotting is influenced by Celtic culture. Moving on he talks about the cast- he initially wanted Lisa Wilcock( Nightmare On Elm Street 4 & 5) as the lead, but she was pregnant. We find out that Initially he was disappointed in  Curtis when she turned up in Rome, after the contract was signed- complaining she was shorter & less pretty than he thought she was- but apparently in time he came to appreciate her. He talks about the film's other leads, and we find out the film was influenced by both Rosemary Baby & The Wickerman.

(You're The) Devil In Disguise (15.19) Interview With Co-Screenwriter/Producer Dario Argento. Catacumba ( 33.22)  Interview with Co-Screenwriter Gianni Romoli. Cult Of Personality (20.09) Interview with actor Tomas Arana. Owner Of A Lonely Heart (12.17) Interview with Actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice. In The Shaded Area (27.57) Interview with Cinematographer Raffaele Mertes. Four Times Argento (12.44) Interview with Composer Pino Donaggio. Total Eclipse (12.51) Interview with Special FX Artist Sergio Stivaletti. Oh Well (5.21)  Interview with Set Designer Antonello Geleng. The Birth Of Evil (25.20) Interview with Film Historian Fabrizio Spurio. Into The Dark Well ( 5.21) Interview with Alan Jones, Author Of Profondo Argento. And Catacomb In The Kitchen (5.21) which finds Michele Soavi Showing us his Basement and the well. So a huge selection of very interesting/ worthy extras.

It's great to see Severin put out this extras-stacked release of The Sect- these push up a two-star film, to being a three-star release.  And of course, we have the classy ‘n’ crisp 4k scan is excellent too.