John Schlesinger was best known for movies like "Darling", "Midnight Cowboy", "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "The Day of the Locust" and "Marathon Man". But now he directs something totally different.
To understand what happens in "The Believers", it helps to have foreknowledge of Santería, a syncretic religion practiced widely in the Caribbean. It is based in the Yoruba culture (in present-day Nigeria), but includes influences from Roman Catholicism and the indigenous American cultures. The movie depicts a satanic offshoot of Santería mixed with brujería (Spanish for "witchcraft"), that is sacrificing children in New York, and is now targeting the son of Martin Sheen's character.
If you expect a slasher movie, this is nothing of the sort. There is some violence, but no guts getting torn out or anything -- only one scene can truly get called shocking (you'll know it when you see it) -- and there's limited sex/nudity. I'd say that the movie's strength is its depiction of how Sheen's character slowly but surely learns about a culture with which he was previously unfamiliar. The movie does make clear that the religious cult is not Santería, but a different group. After all, every religion is bound to have its wackos.
Does the movie have any downsides? Well, Robert Loggia's cop came across as a little silly, but I'd call that the only true downside. Otherwise, this is a good one. Also starring Helen Shaver, Richard Masur, Jimmy Smits and Harris Yulin (who I at first mistook for Richard Jenkins, aka Nate Sr. on "Six Feet Under").
