Monday, October 19, 2015

The Atticus Institute

(2015)

Catfreeek and JPX covered this well so I won't take up too much of your precious time. The Atticus Institute is a faux documentary about a parapsychology lab in the 1970's that conducted studies on ESP, clairvoyance and other forms of hogwash. When subject Judith Winstead exhibits an unusual prowess with telepathy and telekinesis, the institute realizes that it's dealing with an extremely powerful being. Judith may very well be possessed by the devil!

The US government catches wind and swiftly attempts to harness her power for evil, by means of torture. One of the interviewees is a thoroughly convincing Cheney/Rumsfeld type who discusses the possibilities of utilizing Judith to spy on and murder (if necessary) foreign government leaders who pose a threat. Inevitably, things do not go as planned. Sadly I would agree that this is the course of action our government/military would take if such a situation were to arise.

I enjoyed the recreation of a 70's science lab, particularly the 70's scientist haircuts. The actress who portrayed Judith was outstanding and the movie would not have worked without her convincing performance. Like Catfreeek, I would have preferred a simple demonic possession story. However, the government takeover of the operation serves as a plausible thought experiment of the consequences to what would happen if such a power existed.

5 comments:

Catfreeek said...

JSP what's your rating?

AC said...

Yes rating puhleeze!

Octopunk said...

Yes what they said!

Cracked had a great breakdown of how stupid bad guys in Jurassic World are for wanting to weaponize raptors, i.e. why would you want an asset you'd spend most of your time trying to keep from eating everybody, especially when you already have personnel who don't have that problem and can also use a computer, etc.

Johnny Sweatpants said...

Oops, sorry, 3 and a half gretchies for me! It may be a tad generous but yes, this is a movie I'd recommend.

Abduscias said...

It sounds like a great warning if someone were to develop telekinesis!

Malevolent

 2018  ***1/2 It's 1986 for some reason, and a team of paranormal investigators are making a big name for themselves all over Scotland. ...