Guyana: Cult of the Damned (1979)
"Guyana: Crime of the Century" (original title)

Reverend James Johnson, the priest of an independent church in Guyana in South America, orders his followers to suicide. But not all follow him blindly and begin to think on their own...

Director:

René Cardona Jr.

Writers:

René Cardona Jr. (screenplay), René Cardona Jr. (story),

Stars:

Stuart Whitman, Gene Barry, John Ireland

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stuart Whitman	...	Rev. James Johnson
Gene Barry	...	Congressman Lee O'Brien
John Ireland	...	Dave Cole
Joseph Cotten	...	Richard Gable
Bradford Dillman	...	Dr. Gary Shaw
Jennifer Ashley	...	Anna Kazan
Yvonne De Carlo	...	Susan Ames
Nadiuska	...	Leslie Stevens
Tony Young	...	Ron Harvey
Robert DoQui	...	Oliver Ross
Erika Carlsson	...	Marilyn Johnson
Hugo Stiglitz	...	Cliff Robson
Carlos East	...	Mike Sheldon
Ricardo Carrión	...	Bert Powers
Jack Braddock Johnson	...	Alex Dresden

Storyline

Reverend James Johnson, the priest of an independent church in Guyana in South America, orders his followers to suicide. But not all follow him blindly and begin to think on their own...

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Plot Keywords:

guyana | suicide | religion | preacher | nudity | 

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Taglines:

The Movie That Dares To Tell The Truth Behind The Most Shocking Crime Of The Century!

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Spain Panama Mexico

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 January 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Guyana: Cult of the Damned

Filming Locations:

Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

Care, Corporación Nacional Cinematográfica (CONACINE), Re-al productions International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in The Cinema Snob: The Top 10 Cinema Snob Moments of 2012 (2012)

User Reviews

"White Night" of Terror.

#Slight Spoilers# Based on the true story of the late Reverand Jim Jones who's paranoid obsession of an impending nuclear holocaust as well as him and his followers, of the People's Temple in San Francisco, being rounded up and put in concentration camps lead to the biggest mass-suicide in recorded history in the hot steaming and snake-infested jungles of Guyana back on November 18-19 1978.

The entire event is told to us, off-camera, by a 24 year-old survivor of the Johnsontown massacre in the movie "Guyana Cult of the Damned". The movie goes back to a lawsuit against the People's Temple's founder Reverand James Johnson, Stuart Whitman, by the father of one of his followers who was "accidently" killed when he quit being a member of the Temple. California Congressman Lee O'Brian, Gene Barry, organizes a special task force that travels down to Guyana where Johnson has built a town for his some 3,000 followers to see if the accusations of torture humiliation and even murder of some of his followers against Reverand James Johnson are true.

James Johnson over the years has gone from preaching the words and teaching of Jesus Christ to becoming both a dye in the wool Marxist/Socialist even secretly joined the American Communist Party. Johnson has also become dependent on proscription drugs and the drugs were slowly killing him. That may well have been the reason for his state of mind in the two years that lead up to his grand exit, together with over 900 loyal and not so loyal followers,on that infamous "White Night" in November.

Life was hell in Johnsontwon with James Johnson ruling it with an iron fist and having anyone who disobeyed his orders or will tortured and humiliated in view of all the other Johnsontown members. In one case when a young couple were caught making love in the woods they were made to be forced to have sex, or other men of Johnsontown have sex with them, with male members of Johnsontown in full views of the entire Johnsontown community including the very young children!

When Congressman O'Brian came to Johnsontown to investigate the charges against Johnson all hell broke loose with scores of Johnsontown residents wanting to leave with him. Johnson himself already suffering from advanced brain and stomach cancer went berserk and ordered his men to ambush Congressman O'Brian before he, and the defectors of Jonsontown, the newsman and cameramen left Guyana brutally massacred most of them including Congressman O'Brian.

With the news of O'Brian and his fellow American citizens murdered Johnson got his followers ready for the big night that he's been planning and rehearsing for years the terrifying "White Night". With his faithful physician Doctor Gary Shaw, Bradford Dillman, mixing the deadly cyanide into a giant vat of fruit-punch Johnson had, and forced, his followers to drink it. Some 1,000 people in Johnsontown died before the US, and Guyanan, military could get there to save them from this murderous madman. When they finally got there, Johnsontown, the rescue squads found to their, and the worlds, shock and horror the biggest organized mass murder, by suicide, in human history had already happened. Even though Johnson's wife of 27 years Marilyn, Ericka Carlsson, and one of his young children took a drink of the death fruit-punch potion right in front of him thus going immediately into painful death-rattlings convolutions and dying the good Reverand Johnson, coward that he was, refrained from taking a drink and was shot,in the neck, instead by one of his loyal henchmen.

Shocking but true story about madness and murder with James Johnson using the most naive of people who thought that he was a kind noble and God-like man. Instead the crazed and drug addicted James Johnson sent them and their families, even their infant children, to a hell not heaven on earth like he had promised them. In the end Johnson destroyed everything good, if there was any, that he did in his life making him one of the most evil, and God-less, men that ever walked the face of the earth.

For some strange and ironic reason James Jonhson had a placard over his throne, or seat of power, at Johnsontown quoting the Spanish philosopher George Santanya stating " Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to relive it". Let's hope that we and the world learned from the evil deeds and actions of James Johnson aka Jim Jones and will always remember what he did and stood for and see to it, like Santayana's famous quote, that we never forget and never live to see or let it, or him, ever happen again.