La setta (1991)

A spree of grisly murders is perpetrated in Frankfurt by a group of Satan worshippers. A school teacher almost runs over an old man with a box and takes him in. It's no accident that the ... See full summary »

Director:

Michele Soavi

Writers:

Dario Argento, Gianni Romoli,

Stars:

Kelly Curtis, Herbert Lom, Mariangela Giordano

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kelly Curtis	...	Miriam Kreisl
Herbert Lom	...	Moebius Kelly
Mariangela Giordano	...	Kathryn (as Maria Angela Giordano)
Michel Adatte	...	Frank
Carla Cassola	...	Dr. Pernath
Angelika Maria Boeck	...	Claire Henri
Giovanni Lombardo Radice	...	Martin Romero
Niels Gullov	...	Mr. Henri
Tomas Arana	...	Damon
Donald O'Brien	...	Justice Jonathan Ford
Yasmine Ussani	...	Samantha
Paolo Pranzo	...	Steven
Richard Sammel	...	Truck Driver
Ralph Bola Mustapha	...	Second Truck Driver
Erika Sinisi	...	Sara (as Erica Sinisi)

Storyline

A spree of grisly murders is perpetrated in Frankfurt by a group of Satan worshippers. A school teacher almost runs over an old man with a box and takes him in. It's no accident that the old man has come into her life, and it quickly becomes apparent that he has plans for her, plans that involve a permanent future with the Satanic cult.

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Plot Keywords:

reference to satan | supernatural horror | bunny | satanism

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Taglines:

Satan has chosen his victims. The battle with evil has begun.

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Genres:

Fantasy | Horror

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian English

Release Date:

1 March 1991 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Devil's Daughter

Filming Locations:

Frankfurt am Main, Hessen, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ADC Films, Penta Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The sect's first victim is named "Marion Crane", a reference to a character from Psycho.

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Goofs

When Moebius throws that burning paper bag down the well in Miriam's cellar, you can see a stick attached to the bag, "sliding" it down the way. This had to be done, because the well was built horizontally to make filming easier.

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Connections

References Martin (1976)

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Soundtracks

"A Horse With No Name"
Written by Dewey Bunnell (as Lee Bunnell)
Performed by America

User Reviews

Good enough surrealistic effort from Soavi, though I only wish I could like it more...

By chance, this was on TV tonight and I had been looking everywhere to find this one, so I was glad to finally see it. That being said, I feel as though my expectations were a bit too high on this one. It's not as if the film is bad, which it ain't, but I feel I was expecting another "Suspiria" or "Inferno" which, a few similarities aside, are quite different from this one. Still, there are some truly powerful images that sticked in my head after watching it and the first dream sequence was just brilliant. The acting was pretty good also, with Kelly Curtis coming off as a likable protagonist alongside the great Hebert Lom giving an eerie performance as one of the villains. There's also a fine script that, though owes a lot to "Rosemary's Baby", came out as fresh and quite unique really, and not the carbon copy one might expect. The cinematography is also spellbinding, and as in his previous (and in my opinion slightly superior) "The Church", Michele Soavi proves to be a visual artist on the same level as Dario Argento. The film's flaws come mostly from the strong made-for-TV feel and a rather cheesy score from Pinno Donagio, as well as some rather unintentionally funny moments here and there (easily overcomed by the claustrophobic, nightmarish atmosphere). Overall, a quite decent obscure chiller that deserves more attention than it gets. I only wish I could like it more myself, as it's one of the last great Italian horror movies of the past twenty years or so. Hopefully, repeated viewings will make me appreciate it more, because it surely got potential. 7/10