aka The Mind Assassins
Nazis, always willing to go to supernatural depths to gain power. As someone who was taught all his world history from the Indiana Jones movies, I know Ratzis are into some spooky shit and that, despite what anyone says, Cate Blanchett can indeed pull off a hair helmet. Come at me. An aggravated physics professor/former Nazi (is that Rip fucking Torn?) screams at a bug he has propped up in a ceremonial display on his table. Candles, tableau… the works. He continues to scream a chant into a microphone, growing more upset as nothing happens. When he drips some blood on the propped up insect, an explosion happens and an ancient Egyptian deity emerges. That’s some fucking science I can get behind! After some spooky theremin music and POV camera tracking, we join Rip Torn now preaching some cult-ish prophecy about saving mankind before mankind destroys itself… this will probably require the destruction of mankind. That’s some winless reasoning I can get behind! A politician fences with his daughter and kills himself after his servant places a scarab on him. This is reported on the news where some dink named Murphy, who looks like a less interesting William Sanderson, cracks an egg into his beer and then heads to a swanky party to drink some more and hook up with a classy hottie. This hottie is an ambassador’s wife and the dink gets arrested when his attempt to flee by motorbike leads to him thumping a police car. Murphy (Robert Ginty) is an American journalist in Spain who is clumsy, horny and drunk but seems to be pretty damn good at stumbling into stories, booze and eager beavers. Rip Torn continues to hand out scarabs to folks who place them on politicians, causing them to kill themselves. Murphy witnesses one such event. This is also witnessed by a psychic nun who is the daughter of the former Nazi-now-vessel for an Egyptian god. Possibly. This has all happened within twenty minutes of the film. It’s a whole lotta stuff. Also, how is Donald Pleasance not in this? Rip Torn dresses like a goof, scantily clad women dance around him (don’t worry, he does some lazy dancing too) and Murphy tracks the nun because he recognizes suspicious behavior even if it’s hidden under a habit. Rip Torn also gets ready to bang one of them bare-chested dancers but before he can get it going, her body turns into a cow and a ghostly old nana head appears laughing at him. He spits milk at the floating granny head. An old guy with a mustache follows Murphy and causes destruction with a point of his finger. He can also teleport. The threads (ambling “everyman” reporter investigation stupidity and whatever the fuck Pagan/occult/tribal mishmash is going on with Rip Torn) come together because Murphy smells a story and they eventually had to bring everything to a close that feels like the production ran out of time and money. Terrorism, blackmail, conspiracies, leotards, sweaters, flaming arrows, telekinesis… it’s… it’s insane and somehow isn’t Italian or featuring an extended cameo from a top-billed Donald Pleasance.
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