Evil Cult (2003)

As is often the way at Plopcorn towers, we end up watching a sequel to a film before we actually see the original film.  This is often because the budgets of the original films are so small they get less exposure and often are unheard of.  It then can be a struggle to find the original film in a format that is watchable because no one is showing it or you can’t buy it.  Indeed, such was the case for Evil Cult, the original Neil Stryker film made on a shoe string budget.

Thankfully in this modern age of digital mice running backwards and forwards through electronic mazes carrying special little messages to the intended recipients, communicating with directors and production companies is much more straight forward than it ever used to be.  How did we ever did we cope in the past?  Anyway, one such clever little mouse delivered a digital message to the production company and low and behold a fresh copy of the film Evil Cult (2003) turned up for us to watch along with a note from Nic Costa, star and co-producer of the Tyrant of Time – Thank you Nick.

Nic kindly pointed out in his note that although Evil Cult was made first, it’s actually a sequel to Tyrant of Time (check out our review of NS & TOT here), which was made as a prequel and does make us wonder when we ever get another Neil Stryker film, where it will fit into the timeline.  Actually come to think of it we don’t care… another Neil Stryker film can only be a good thing no matter where or when it comes.

Evil Cult starts with our hero chasing The Mad Scientist into what looks like a storage unit or garage and in true Neil Stryker style he turns the tables on the bad guy and rescues the girl.  Not an unfamiliar story but a great way to show that even when we’re not watching, Neil is out there saving the world without us knowing.  It’s not unlike the car/boat/bike chase you get at the start of a Bond movie setting you up for the rest of the movie.

With his mission complete, Neil sets off wandering; probably because he needed a break from constantly saving everyone’s ass and when he’s eventually picked up by Walter , Neil is offered a bed, shower and food.

 

Instantly when they arrive at the farm Neil can tell something is up.  The people there all seem subdued or brainwashed with only Walter seeming normal.  As with all these types of places there’s a door that no-one is allowed to go through that catches Neil’s eye along with one of the ladies, Sister Bethany.

Walter is obviously wants to recruit new people into his cult and when Sister Bethany is sent to ‘welcome’ their new guest, it’s not difficult to think about what happens next with such a handsome and ruggedly good looking hero.

With Sister Bethany recovering from her exploits our hero distracts her by asking for his cape (a genuine wtf and laugh moment) and darts out of the room.

Now we’re not going to spoil what happens when he goes exploring as it’s quite integral to the plot of the film but certain things have to have a mention.  The demonic Teddy Ruxpin toy having a conversation with Neil is quite wonderful as is the locked up nutter Winston that Neil lets out only to lock himself back up again is great – and there’s a great pay off because of this.  The conversation Winston and Neil have when they are outside is brilliant!

The story then moves on at pace with the central theme of the prophecy of ‘The Saviour” and “The Destroyer” and Walter trying to convince Neil to stay.

When Neil makes his move to escape he is ably helped by one of the newer members of the cult, Nigel who sees the Meltoids in the basement and realises that perhaps he’s not interested in joining the cult.

Their great escape obviously goes wrong though and once again, Neil defuses the situation with a comedy quip that made us chuckle:  “I’ll take two tacos to go.”

This is barely half way into the film and I could go on with some of the crazy shenanigans but we think it definitely deserves a watch so you can enjoy it fully.  The end sequence is particularly fun to watch with some crazy time travelling and excellent split screening – not to mention the whole zombie fight scene!

All together Evil Cult is a good little film if you like B movies.  It’s a first foray into movie making for the Taylor twins and you can see they had a real plan in place with the film.

It’s classically mad-cap as a movie and there is excessive gore – Christ, Rob Taylor must have been in the shower every 10 minutes with the amount of fake blood he gets covered in.  There’s also some classic one liners… I particularly love the way Neil loves to tie his shoe laces at the most inappropriate times.

 

The one thing the film suffers from though is that we saw The Tyrant of Time first and it’s not its fault.

If we’d seen Evil Cult when it first came out it would have been fresher than it appears and that’s nothing it can do to prevent that.  The production value went up dramatically with the newer film and that just makes this one seem a little dated.

Overall we gave it   – a great film that you will enjoy but just not as good as it’s younger brother.  Having said that if you loved NS&ToT then this is a must watch.

Let us know below what you think.

Oh and by the way…  release the droids!!!

Reviewed 16/08/2017 by Martin Zealey

Evil Cult on IMDB
Neil Stryker and the Tyrant of Time Review