Review of The Astrologer

Right from the start, you know this is going to be something special. Suicide Cult begins with voice-over informing us that astronomy has been honed to a precise science by mastermind Alexei (Bob Byrd, sadly NOT the nonagenarian senator), who has dubbed his breakthrough 'zodiacal potential'. We then get solarized footage that cuts between India, Bethesda, Maryland, and Arlington, Virginia, as director James Glickenhaus attempts to weave a story of world-shaking import revolving around the second coming of Christ and a CIA spin off called Interzod. Parts of the film play like one of those old Sunn Classic 'documentaries' such as In Search of Historic Jesus or The Outer Space Connection. Alexei's gal pal Kate is played by Monica Tidwell, a Louisiana-born former Playboy centerfold, and many of the cast have vaguely southern accents, suggesting Suicide Cult was shot below the Mason-Dixon line. This was 25-year old Glickenhaus' first feature, and as a first feature shot on a shoestring budget, it's not entirely terrible, though it can't hold a candle to his next effort, the mind-melting 1980 grindhouse classic The Exterminator. Nevertheless, this is still nutty enough to recommend for hardcore fans of bad '70s cinema.