Rating: - Chillingly accurate
I still get chills whenever I watch this. In 1976, I spent a week in Boonville on the Moonie farm that is portrayed in this movie. I can recognize every aspect of the experience in the movie, and can identify individuals, particularly the "boot camp" trainer portrayed by Kim Cattrall. The chanting on the bus. The singing of "Red, Red Robin" at the crack of dawn. The dodgeball games. The never being allowed to be alone. The "philosophical" lectures. Fortunately, I was not psychologically weak and had no need to belong to a group, plus I am a lifelong atheist. I got bored and left after a week (they did not try to hold me by force). It was only much later that I discovered that this was an indoctrination camp for Reverend Moon, as they do not reveal this fact early on. If you want to understand the reality of the process of becoming a mindless cultist, this is the film to watch!
Rating: - "Nananananananana leader, leader, leader!"
This is an excellent dramatization of how an ordinary man (an atheist Jew no less!) fell under the influence of a religious cult- modeled on the Moonies- and how he was eventually rescued and deprogrammed. It's a gripping movie, featuring several now-famous actors before they were well-known. I think it's an important movie for the light it shines on the workings of our weak, needy human psyche and the accusing finger it points at all groups which employ spiritually and mentally manipulative tactics to ensnare and retain members.
If this film's message were limited to cults, I wouldn't be that interested. After all, how many people are really going off to live on communes under the direct control of some semi-divine leader? I don't think cults, per se, are such a big problem. Where I think we see the most widespread use of cultish practices is in many of the charismatic megachurches and their denominational ... Read More
Rating: - Deserving a remastered DVD release
TICKET TO HEAVEN is a most effective film, one that flew through theaters far too quickly on its initial run (thanks for the tip, Siskel & Ebert), shedding light on any number of obsessions. The focus is on a religious cult, but could as easily center around any pursuit where, with all the attractive chaff winnowed away, the end aim is making money for the top dogs or ideals. Where membership comes with a strident urging to include friends and relations.
As Linc Strunc (R.H. Thomson's extraordinary performance in a Genie-winning role) says, "It's the smart ones" who prove the most difficult to deprogram.
Nick Mancuso's David is intelligent, but he lacks what many are missing: Close human contact, permission to touch someone without fear or evoking sexual connotations. For many, that's like the difference between hugging your parents as a child, and the wall that goes up when you must "be a man" ... Read More
Rating: - Great film, deserves to be better known....
This film is very difficult to find on VHS and/or DVD. I saw it in a DVD store for 10 bucks a few years ago, so I picked it up. The film is a terrifying, intense, very realistic one, depicting with great accuracy the truth about cults. Nick Manusco gives an excellent performance as David, the young man who gets caught up in the cult. He has just broken up with his girlfriend, and decides to visit a friend of his in southern California. David doesn't know that his friend is in a cult. They program David through various methods, including lack of sleep, moving around and around without reason, lack of protein in the food they eat, isolation, and fellow cult members following him around at all times. Saul Rubinek plays his friend who finds out where he is, and helps get him out with a deprogrammer. The film isn't perfect. There are noticable continuity flubs, awkward edits, misplaced comic relief (even though the sign ... Read More
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- Chillingly accurate
- "Nananananananana leader, leader, leader!"
