{"id":5009,"date":"2016-12-12T15:42:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-12T20:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=5009"},"modified":"2026-05-20T09:59:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T13:59:46","slug":"the-believers-1987","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=5009","title":{"rendered":"The Believers-1987"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>The Believers-1987<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Director John Schlesinger<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Starring Martin Sheen, Helen Shaver<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Scott&#8217;s Review #547<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/60023679.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-5010\" src=\"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/60023679-210x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/60023679-210x300.jpg 210w, https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/60023679.jpg 284w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 210px) 100vw, 210px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Reviewed December 12, 2016<\/p>\n<p><strong>Grade: B<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Believers is a very obscure film that I had never heard of before viewing it. Given that it was made in 1987 (not a great time for movies), I was skeptical about this one but was pleasantly surprised.<\/p>\n<p>It has some edge to it, is mysterious, and is set in New York City- always a plus for me.<\/p>\n<p>Martin Sheen- merely a youngster when this was made-plays a police psychologist, Cal Jamison, involved in a voodoo serial killer cult.<\/p>\n<p>He moves from Minnesota to New York City following the death of his wife by electrocution when her coffeemaker malfunctions.<\/p>\n<p>Is this key to the case or a red herring?<\/p>\n<p>The plot is a bit convoluted as the serial killer targets Cal&#8217;s son, and when a frazzled police officer, Tom Lopez (Jimmy Smits), \u00a0takes center stage.<\/p>\n<p>I did not find Smits all that believable in this role, and the film has a striking 1980s feel.<\/p>\n<p>The locales, since it was shot in New York, are fantastic, and the plot contains some scares, surprises, and spooky effects along the way.<\/p>\n<p>I was also very impressed by the satisfying ending.<\/p>\n<p>The Believers (1987) is a very good thriller\/horror film.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Believers-1987 Director John Schlesinger Starring Martin Sheen, Helen Shaver Scott&#8217;s Review #547 Reviewed December 12, 2016 Grade: B The Believers is a very obscure film that I had never heard of before viewing it. Given that it was made in 1987 (not a great time for movies), I was skeptical about this one but &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=5009\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The Believers-1987<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,5473,11166,11165,13,1514,799,893,11167,10724,204],"tags":[70,5475,11169,11168,248,1515,802,895,11170,10728,258],"class_list":["post-5009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1987-films","category-elizabeth-wilson","category-harley-cross","category-helen-shaver","category-horror-films","category-jimmy-smits","category-john-schlesinger","category-martin-sheen","category-richard-masur","category-robert-loggia","category-thrillers","tag-1987-movie-reviews","tag-elizabeth-wilson","tag-harley-cross","tag-helen-shaver","tag-horror-films","tag-jimmy-smits","tag-john-schlesinger","tag-martin-sheen","tag-richard-masur","tag-robert-loggia","tag-thrillers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5009"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23169,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5009\/revisions\/23169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}