Having grown up in mexico in the 80's i remember most of my weekly cinema sessions with dissapointment, the movies of that decade were extremely formulaic and very low budget straight to video fare. Secta Satanica (or el enviado de el senor) broke that mold in my opinion. THe strugle between the good i.e. traditional religion versus the percieved evil of a new religion was more of a critique of mexican society in that era than a warning of the horrors of satanism in my opinion . the movie succesfully succesfully relies on suspense and intrigue instead of rampant gore as other movies of the era. German Robles as the "Enviado" is excellent , he looks evil , you dont trust him ,but nevertheless his arguments are very convincing on the town's population teh personification of the devil. The priest played by Joaquin cordero is lossing grip of the people, perfect example of the problems of the catholic church in mexico at that time losing ground to alternative religions which shook mexican society. if you are interested in a realistic view of mexican rural society in the late 80's with an intrigung suspense story . i recommend this movie
2 Reviews
Pure awesomeness
BandSAboutMovies11 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
This Arturo Martinez-directed film - he also made Macabre Legends of the Colony and The Mummies of San Angel - is quite literally an all-star team-up of two of Mexico's most well-known horror actors.
Joaquin Cordero, who played Dr. Satan in two films, as well as appearing in los peliculas de terror like The Book of Stone, The Hell of Frankenstein, La Loba and Vacaciones del Terror 2, is Father Esteban, a Catholic priest who is losing his congregation.
He must deal with German Robles character, who is the dark leader of a Satanic church. Robles is perhaps best known for playing Count Karol de Lavud in El Vampiro and Nostradamus in the serial that gave birth to four different vampire films. He also played Satan in 1970's El Pistolera Fantasma.
It doesn't help that Robles' character can help the blind see and the lame walk. How can the church keep up with that? Well, this being Mexican film, the Satanic priest also starts making his way through the wives and daughters of the village of San Andres, who are left mumbling, "The word of the envoy has penetrated my mind."
After a Black Mass where Robles eats a girl's heart and then nearly kills the older priest, there's only one way to fix everything. Cordero must put on a crown of thrones and carrying a cross through the streets of his city.
My favorite part of this movie that was even after reducing the evil priest to a quivering mass of guts and bones, he keeps laughing. If you ever wanted to see the Mexican version of Needful Things mixed with the right parts of The Devil's Rain!, this movie is the spicy recipe you're after.
Joaquin Cordero, who played Dr. Satan in two films, as well as appearing in los peliculas de terror like The Book of Stone, The Hell of Frankenstein, La Loba and Vacaciones del Terror 2, is Father Esteban, a Catholic priest who is losing his congregation.
He must deal with German Robles character, who is the dark leader of a Satanic church. Robles is perhaps best known for playing Count Karol de Lavud in El Vampiro and Nostradamus in the serial that gave birth to four different vampire films. He also played Satan in 1970's El Pistolera Fantasma.
It doesn't help that Robles' character can help the blind see and the lame walk. How can the church keep up with that? Well, this being Mexican film, the Satanic priest also starts making his way through the wives and daughters of the village of San Andres, who are left mumbling, "The word of the envoy has penetrated my mind."
After a Black Mass where Robles eats a girl's heart and then nearly kills the older priest, there's only one way to fix everything. Cordero must put on a crown of thrones and carrying a cross through the streets of his city.
My favorite part of this movie that was even after reducing the evil priest to a quivering mass of guts and bones, he keeps laughing. If you ever wanted to see the Mexican version of Needful Things mixed with the right parts of The Devil's Rain!, this movie is the spicy recipe you're after.
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