The Believers
| The Believers | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | John Schlesinger |
| Produced by | John Schlesinger Beverly J. Camhe Michael Childers |
| Written by | Mark Frost |
| Starring | |
| Music by | J. Peter Robinson |
| Cinematography | Robby Müller |
| Edited by | Peter Honess |
| Distributed by | Orion |
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Release date
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Running time
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114 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $18,753,438 |
The Believers is a 1987 American neo-noir thriller film directed by John Schlesinger, released in 1987 and starring Martin Sheen, Robert Loggia and Helen Shaver. It is based on the 1982 novel The Religion by Nicholas Conde.
The film opens to the death scene of Lisa Jamison (Janet-Laine Green). She is electrocuted when she touches a malfunctioning coffeemaker while standing barefoot in a pool of spilled milk. Following the accidental death of his wife by electrocution in Minneapolis, psychologist Cal Jamison (Martin Sheen) moves to New York City with his son Chris (Harley Cross). He finds employment as a police psychologist for the New York City Police Department. One of his patients is officer Tom Lopez, who worked undercover in infiltrating a cult and now lives in fear of the cultists.
The City soon experiences a series of brutal, ritualistic child murders, supposedly committed by members of a Hispanic cult practicing a malevolent version of brujería. The paranoid ramblings of Lopez start seeming relevant to the case. The film soon starts hinting at a conspiracy involving affluent New Yorkers, such as businessman Robert Calder. Things take a turn for the worse when the cult targets Chris Jamison.
Barna William Donovan notes that there were several Satanic-themed Hollywood films in the 1970s. Citing as examples The Exorcist (1973) and The Omen film series (1976-1991). But he also noted that Hollywood seemed to have lost interest in the subject by the 1980s. He cites The Believers as one of only two noteworthy films about Devil worship created in the 1980s, the other one being Angel Heart (1987). Though he notes that Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) also touched on the similar subject of a demon-worshiping cult, which abducts children and offers human sacrifices.
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