Holy Ghost People is a new psychological thriller written and directed by Mitchell Altieri, who is one of the siblings who make up the filmmaking alter-ego known as The Butcher Brothers. Based on a 1967 documentary of the same name, Holy Ghost People features a writing team of Kevin Artigue, Joe Egender (who also stars), and Phil Flores as well. Starring Emma Greenwell (Shameless TV series), Joe Egender (Hunger 2009), and Cameron Richardson (Open water 2: Adrift), the film was originally released at The SXSW festival in Austin Texas on March 10th, 2013.
- Still from Holy Ghost People
Holy Ghost People follows Charlotte (Greenwell) as she searches for her missing sister Liz. She finds an ex-marine named Wayne who is down on his luck, and after a bar fight she talks him into helping her find her sister. They finally locate the sister at a Pentecostal church called the Church of the One, run by the charismatic Brother Billy (Egender). The church uses snakes in their rituals to prove their faith in the Holy Ghost against the fear of being bitten, poisoned, and possibly dying. Wayne becomes interested in the church and as time goes on they think that her sister is being held there against her will.
- Still from Holy Ghost People
Many will compare Holy Ghost People to the recently released film The Sacrament, and rightfully so since they are very similar in a lot of aspects. The thing that makes Holy Ghost People special is its solid performances, especially from Joe Egender who steals every scene that he is in. His charisma is really quite engaging and the viewer can believe someone with a weaker mind could be easily persuaded by this smooth talking madman. Holy Ghost People tackles a very important issue, that being the fragile minds of lost souls looking for acceptance and understanding and finding it in a cult-type religion with an insidious agenda. However, the film does not always stay in the bounds of reality, much like the followers of this cult. Holy Ghost People was originally intended to be a realistic portrayal of the Pentecostal Christians, portraying both the positive and negative sides of the religion. For whatever reason, that concept was obviously scrapped somewhere along the way and it was turned into a fictional, gritty Horror film. It is one of the better cult Horror films and should absolutely be viewed by fans of the sub-genre. CrypticRock gives Holy Ghost People 4 out of 5 stars.
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I really enjoyed your review, nice to see someone being positive on Holy Ghost People.