Wise Blood

SYNOPSIS

It was greatly admired and critically acclaimed in many quarters, but this blood-and-salvation southern gothic fantasy seems to cry out for a more outré approach than that of John Huston. Yet the director clearly relished making (and appearing in) this virtually blasphemous and undeniably strange version of Flannery O'Connor's obsessive fable about the disillusioned former soldier who starts a godless chuch, and there's no denying its powerful appeal and extremely subversive humour. Brad Dourif, the memorable Billy Bibbit in the multi-Oscared One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, is mightily effective as the leader of "The Church of Truth without Jesus Christ". But the character is, frankly, unsympathetic, despite his good intentions, and ultimately the movie's taste becomes highly questionable.