Director: William A. Graham

Screenwriter - Ernest Tidyman

Cast 

This made-for-TV flick solidified the myth of Jim Jones as a man who began with good intentions but was led astray by the sexual temptations of nefarious female followers. The fact that it’s pretty well-documented that Jones was manipulator with a messiah complex early on was of no great consideration to writer Ernest Tidyman, the man who gave us Shaft.  Jones goes from good, Bible-thumping preacher to strung-out egomaniac solely because of women who will do anything for him – and I mean anything. Their ranks are later joined by a couple of slavish male disciples, and then the fun really begins, including a scene that makes leads one to some really awful mental pictures as to just what Powers Booth is doing with little floppy-haired Brad Dourif. Hint – it drives his girlfriend INSANE (or a reasonable facsimile thereof).

Nevertheless, I have to say I like Guyana Tragedy. I always make it a point to watch it every time it comes on TV. There is a lot of cheesey fun to be had, although the ending is genuinely unsettling. For one thing, it’s a great movie to play, “Hey, isn’t that…?” Brad Dourif (the Ron Jeremy of horror films)! Darth Vader! Geordie La Forge! Laura Dern’s mom! SUPERFLY!!!

Another reason why Guyana Tragedy is more tolerable than most made-for-TV flicks rushed into production to take advantage of a real-life tragedy is that the makers bothered to get actual actors to play the roles instead of plastic surgery disasters and teenage flavors-of-the-month. True, Vaccaro and Scarwid are their usual selves (both of whom get ‘emotional’ scenes which allow them to sail happily over the top – Scarwid is the aforementioned witness to Jim & David’s night of love), but the rest of the cast is rather good, especially the criminally undervalued Powers Boothe (what a great name! With a name like that, I could – dare I say it? – rule the world), who won an Emmy.

James Earl Jones make a too-brief appearance as Father Divine, Jones’ mentor in Evil, Meg Foster uses those weird blue eyes to good effect (as she also gets to do in Ticket to Heaven – OOO-EEE-OOO, to quote Ed Sanders), and Veronica Cartwright is a class act, as usual. It’s always nice to see Rosalind Cash and Ron O’Neal, although this does inevitably lead to discussions of how great it would be to see Superfly righteously kick Jones’ pasty-white ass. And I am unable to witness the scene where LeVar Burton realizes his wife, Irene Cara, is being drugged by Jones and kept as his concubine without yelling “What a feeling!” But these are obviously personal problems. Guyana Tragedy is mandatory viewing for anyone interested in Evil Cult films.