Post by gavincallaghan on Feb 25, 2007 18:23:44 GMT -6
I just saw a movie entitled Spectre (1977), which absolutely surprised me. I'm not sure whether it is because, as a TV movie, I was not expecting anything special, but it seems to me to be one of the best films on occult themes which I have ever seen, and certainly the most enjoyable. True, I am not an expert on Satanism or the occult, but I do have an interest.
Certainly some of the credit for the film's intelligence lies in the fact that it was produced by Gene Roddenbery, and even features his other-half, Majel Barrett, in a significant role. Certainly the film's honest appraisal of human sexuality, and its variety of racial roles, are characteristic of Roddenbery's productions (it's the only show I can think of from the seventies which has a Jewish main character, for example; perhaps I am wrong.)
The film deals with a Holmes-Watson pair of occult detectives, with Robert Culp playing a former criminologist turned occult expert in the Prince Zeleski/John Silence/Dr. Taverner/Frost mould. Throughout the story, the detective is continually torn and wavering between the (so-called) right hand paths and the left hand paths, and seems to embody, as any balanced person must, a symbiosis and combination of the two. It's really a fascinating work, and I'm rather sad that it does not seem to have gone on as a regular series. In many ways, the 1970's truly represented a high point in Western civilization in terms of writing, music, film, and the arts. (The sweat you see on the skin of TV performers in the seventies isn't really grime or sweat--- they were coated with pure talent....) The significant boobage displayed by the dancing Bacchanalian Manson-women at the movie's climax, too, would never be shown in a network TV movie (outside of cable) today.
Certainly some of the credit for the film's intelligence lies in the fact that it was produced by Gene Roddenbery, and even features his other-half, Majel Barrett, in a significant role. Certainly the film's honest appraisal of human sexuality, and its variety of racial roles, are characteristic of Roddenbery's productions (it's the only show I can think of from the seventies which has a Jewish main character, for example; perhaps I am wrong.)
The film deals with a Holmes-Watson pair of occult detectives, with Robert Culp playing a former criminologist turned occult expert in the Prince Zeleski/John Silence/Dr. Taverner/Frost mould. Throughout the story, the detective is continually torn and wavering between the (so-called) right hand paths and the left hand paths, and seems to embody, as any balanced person must, a symbiosis and combination of the two. It's really a fascinating work, and I'm rather sad that it does not seem to have gone on as a regular series. In many ways, the 1970's truly represented a high point in Western civilization in terms of writing, music, film, and the arts. (The sweat you see on the skin of TV performers in the seventies isn't really grime or sweat--- they were coated with pure talent....) The significant boobage displayed by the dancing Bacchanalian Manson-women at the movie's climax, too, would never be shown in a network TV movie (outside of cable) today.