Cult Girls

source: Cult Girls

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.

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.

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.)

For those after more of an indie feel and less Hollywood in your horror flick then this film is for you. So refreshing to see such a well crafted folk horror out of Australia! 9/10.

What a great joy it was to watch this film. The director Mark Bakaitas has a great visual style and it shows wondefully well in this film. Fantastic mesmerising performance by Jane Badler. All the main performances were also great. A great indy Aussie film.

Felix Stewart gives a powerful, OSCAR WORTHY performance. Once again, this is proof of the academy's completely unfounded disregard for the horror genre. Similarly unfair situations spring to mind, such as Toni Collette not being nominated even once for her stellar work in Hereditary... I mean, I kind of get it, because she was the only good part in Hereditary but this film is an all-round masterpiece! I'm pretty sure that I'm not getting those mixed up.

Fantastic all round. Enjoy the journey is my recommendation. Original in its delivery, in itself. Nourishment for escapism that I was drawn into. Scenery, sound, acting, editing, grading are fantastic. I found this highly interesting and entertaining. A credit to the genre possessing a captivating fantastical thread woven through its seam.

Cult Girls was very very different, from any film I have seen. It had many beautiful locations, & scenery's, showing different parts of the world. I had so many favorite locations I absolutely fell in love with. The special effects, aerial shots and cinemaphotography was incredible. It was very dark, bold and strong but it also comes across very beautiful and majestic in its own way. The soundtrack and music was very spiritual and fit the film perfect, it almost felt and sounded like, something you would hear in a Vikings or Warrior film. I felt very connected to it all, the directing, casting, acting, music, makeup, hair and wardrobe department , and every other cast and crew involved have done an incredible job. Everyone worked extremely hard on this production. It was an absolute honor and pleasure to be able to be part of this film, the director and casting director have both done a brilliant job, and I couldn't be more proud. My experience being on set and working with everyone will be forever memorable. Huge congratulations to all involved and the movie release as well as receiving the recent awards, well deserved!

It's ok, just. You can pretty much guarantee that a movie involving Paganism rituals will include nudity, and it does. Plenty of female full frontal nudity. The atmosphere was almost spot on, there is a fair bit of footage in the woods, which reminds me of the time I once received a text message from some random guy wanting to meet in the woods to compare dick sizes, the rude bugger never even showed up. Anyway, this movie isn't a blood fest and doesn't contain many jump scares, the music is loud and heavy, but there are some nice bits too. Overall, give it a crack if you have nothing else to do.