THE ASTROLOGER (1977) Blu-ray Review

The Astrologer (1977) d. James Glickenhaus (USA) (79 min)

The deep Deep DEEP undercover U.S. government organization Interzod, run by Dr. Alexei Abernal (Bob Byrd), specializes in tracking individuals’ life and career paths based upon their astrological birth coordinates. (Aren’t you glad you know where your tax dollars are going?) On the other side of the globe in India, the mystical leader Kajerste (Mark Buntzman) has been captured by the government and placed under arrest, but his captors are unprepared for his overwhelming hypnotic powers and he quickly escapes back to his cadre of devout followers. What do these two have in common? Both are searching for the exact time and location of the Virgin Mary’s birth, hoping that if another person’s zodiacal potential were to coincide, the outcome would be the Second Coming of Christ. Judging by the way Abernal is keeping a close eye on Kate (Monica Tidwell), to the point of wedding her but refusing to consummate the marriage, it’s pretty clear who he’s putting his money on.

There aren’t many horror movies that don’t show up in either Phil Hardy’s Overlook Encyclopedia of Horror or John Stanley’s Creature Features Movie Guide, but Glickenhaus’ debut feature somehow managed to dodge both of these genre experts’ pervasive gaze. As such, I had never heard much about it prior to Severin Films announcing they were releasing it to Blu-ray direct from the director’s personal answer print. However, upon viewing, the film’s extreme obscurity makes a little more sense.

Inspired by John Cameron’s novel of the same name, there are certainly some intriguing elements at play, but Glickenhaus’ script is a meandering and muddled affair that fails to distill Cameron’s notions into a cohesive drama. There are too many scenes of characters babbling to each other about moral issues and political goings-on without the necessary sign-posting for the audience to be able to follow any of it. Judging by the amount of screen time allotted, we’re clearly supposed to realize that Kajerste is a bad dude, but we aren’t told how he connects to Alexei and Kate until nearly an hour into the movie! Instead, we’re simply supposed to be content with watching him conduct bizarre rituals and occasionally hypnotize people into doing his bidding. I mean, cool… I guess.

In the meantime, we’re unclear as to Alexei’s motives until the final reel, in that don’t know what his plans are for Kate. It’s intriguing in theory, but in execution it’s kind of a drag. As played by Byrd, he comes off as a weird, overcontrolling chauvinist, not someone who we identify as our hero with altruistic motives. Meanwhile, former Playboy Playmate Tidwell lacks the screen presence to make her doormat of a character in any way empathetic; we only follow her because Glickenhaus obliges us to.

Speaking of obligatory, having his starlet doff her duds every 20 minutes or so seems gratuitous even by exploitation standards – there’s even a scene where Kate visits a fortune teller who tells her to go behind a changing screen and remove her clothing. Immediately afterwards, the camera angle switches to behind the screen, like a savvy Times Square peepshow customer who wants to get the best seat.

Glickenhaus would hit pay dirt a few years later with The Exterminator (1980), followed by The Protector (with Jackie Chan) (1985) and Shakedown (1988) with Peter Weller and Sam Elliott. In addition to writing the aforementioned’s scripts, he served as executive producer for such independent efforts as William Lustig’s Maniac Cop, and Frank Henenlotter’s two Basket Case sequels and Frankenhooker. As we learn in a newly recorded interview, even he feels that the script is a bit too talky and convoluted, that it’s “a first film” and as such, he sees it as the learning experience that it clearly was.

To be fair, The Astrologer (later renamed on VHS as the more tawdry Suicide Cult) is not a terrible film by a long shot; it’s more disappointing than anything because we sense the originality glinting through the rough patches, knowing that this could have been something special with a stronger guiding hand on JG’s shoulder.

BONUS FEATURES:

“Sign of the Times” James Glickenhaus on The Astrologer (9 min)

“Monica Tidwell Remembers The Astrologer” (6 min)

“Tales from the Set” with filmmakers Brendan Faulkner and Frank M. Farel (14 min)

“Zodiacal Locations” The filming sites of The Astrologer with Michael Gingold (8 min)

Alternate title “Suicide Cult” Reversible Cover

The Astrologer is available now on Blu-ray from Severin Films and can be ordered HERE:

https://severin-films.com/shop/astrologer-blu/


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