Cult Girls is, well, an abomination of a film. It was written and directed by Mark Bakaitis. Bakaitis is no fool, holding a swag of awards for video clips. Yet somehow this hotch-potch which is light on surrealism, heavy on eroticism and rife with a clumsy sort gothic horror bears none of the grace and inventiveness of his video clip work.
The plot, such as it is, sees Dalia and her two sisters grow up in a heavy metal apocalyptic sect. She escapes and authorities break up the sect - or appear to.
The sect manifests again and the sisters venture into it to hopefully reunite. I gather it is some sort of cheapish Inferno.
The dialogue is stilted, the acting porcine like (hammy), the direction limp when a firm grasp was required, and cinematography stuck on muted dull shades of misery. This is not a good film.
Some reviewers have thrown the phrase 'pagan' or 'folk' horror about in relation to the film. This project is as much folk horror (FH) as it is worthy of a 10. Both are improbable to the point of nonsense. FH is typically set in a rural environment, has one or more innocents, taps into some sort established pagan structure, Lovecraftian is popular, and so on. Cult Girls meets none of the criteria often used to define the genre and bears no resemblance at all to the Wicker Man or The Colour of Space.
The very last line in the film mentions Ragana, a witch from Latvian / Lithuanian mythology. Perhaps if they had started here and developed Ragana by name as much more explicit and integral to events within the movie they may have salvaged something. But they didn't.
The anti-Christian theme is tackled, for instance, in the ritualized anointing of naked girls into, well, into whatever it is they are being anointed into. Christian sacraments are rigorously prescribed and deeply embedded in their particular tradition. The ritualized anointing in this film is nothing more than a left over from the tacky and nasty groping of the old T&A days of Ozploitation. That is to say, an opportunity to expose a little more gratuitous T&A.
One of the many issues with the film is that there is simply too much of everything: plot twists, music changes, characters, settings, scene shifts, gratuitous nudity, etc, etc. It's American but the film, They Remain, is a lesson in successful minimalist Folk Horror, minimalist in all areas including stretching a limited, minimalist, budget.
The setting fluctuates between Germany, Lithuania and some of Melbourne's industrial wastelands. I suspect it's mainly Melbourne and environs with a bit of fortuitous holiday footage thrown in. Buildings adorned with graffiti are generic as is mega death heavy metal droning and whining in the background. There is occasional and enchanting Celtic cantillating that is lovely to listen to and pushes beyond the incessant aural clichés.
I usually give credit for intent. No one goes into the making a movie with the intent of making a bad one. Budget, politics, and abilities - various other factors come into play. I'm not so certain here. It's just possible that director Mark Bakaitis wanted to be first over the line with a new wave Australian FH; first over the line at any cost. (Films like The Wave, though not 'new wave' unfortunately, confirm him as too late.)
Plot summary
Dalia and her two young sisters grow up in a pagan apocalyptic cult led by an ancient Baltic goddess of death and reincarnation. On the night of an important cult ritual, a police raid rescues Dalia as cult members flee with her two sisters. Years later, as the guilt eats away at her, Dalia finds a potential link to the cult through a prominent and despised black metal artist sequestered in the woods. Dalia journeys to find her sisters but her quest for the truth becomes a descent into Hell.
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September 14, 2020 at 07:35 AM
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A journey into hell for cast aand viewers.
Apocalyptic cult
Cult Girls: A Pagan Apocalyptic Cult in Australia led by a woman who believes she is the reincarnation of a Goddess. They believe that they will rule the Earth after civilization collapses due to climate change etc. They practice human sacrifice and one night they are raided by the police. One sister Dalia, is rescued but two others are taken by the Cult leadership who escape. Fifteen years later Dalia is still seeking her sisters she sees a tv show about a Black Metal guru/hermit who uses the same Rune as her cult. She attends a Black metal gig and meets a metalhead who helps her on her quest. Some really good imagery and horror, though most of the violence is suggested or happens off camera. Nevertheless apostates to the Cult are burned alive, people are shot and stabbed. The acting is uneven though and the narrative can be difficult to follow at times. A few plot twists as well as some of the action switches to Lithuania. If you're into Apocalyptic Cults then you might like this horror flick. Written & Directed by Mark Bakaitis. 5/10.
Oz Fest
This Australian Cult film makes the links between Cultism and rock n roll. It is shot in dark lower resolution camera that is supposed to make it look grittier than it is.
It is a dark film in which young maidens are indoctrinated into thinking their ultimate role in life is to be sacrificed to their pagan gods.
However there is a woman within the cult that develops a change of heart that manages to escape from them and wants to save those grown up maidens. There is no hint of sunshine throughout this bleak film.