Documentary: The Occult Experience

The Occult Experience is an Australian documentary from 1985.  There is also a companion book with the same title by Nevill Drury, who is also the co-author of the film's narration.  The film covers various modern-day religious groups from Wiccan groups to shamanism to Satanic groups to fringe Christian groups.

Front cover of the VHS edition

Front cover of the book

Back in the days of video rental stores, The Occult Experience was a fairly common title to find.  I seem to remember finding it in the horror section, of all places, but that was likely just a misinformed video store employee's decision.  The cover is quite striking and not surprisingly so, as it features a piece by the late H.R. Giger.  Giger himself is also featured in the film, close to the end.  It was released on VHS and Laserdisc, although I do not know if it was ever released on other formats.  From what I can tell, it does not seem to have been released on DVD or Blu-ray, at least not in the U.S.  

Back cover of VHS edition.  Pictured at bottom right is Alex Sanders in ritual headdress

The footage is predominantly composed of new material, but there is also some use of existing footage, such as some scenes of tribal rituals as well as scenes featuring Anton LaVey.  Regardless, it is an international look at what may be termed alternative religion.  The film features Michael Acquino and the Temple of Set in San Francisco, The Fellowship of Isis in Ireland, Alex Sanders in England, the aforementioned H.R. Giger from Switzerland, and so on. 

The VHS cassette itself

There have been various documentary films about the occult and neopagan religions over the years.  Some lean more toward the sensationalistic than others.  The Occult Experience avoids sensationalism for the most part.  The narration is done in a somewhat foreboding style as if what we are watching is about to go down a seriously disturbing path, but maybe that is just how the guy talks.  I doubt it, but maybe.  There is also nudity in the film, not surprisingly, but the film doesn't really seem to linger on it or make a big deal out it, such as when Janet Farrar's got her knockers out for all to see (this section of the film even has a brief mention about ritual nudity and some of the purpose it serves).  Essentially, it is just there-- it is never the focus.

Simply put, if you have any interest in the subject matter and are looking for a film that isn't just trying to demonize various groups because they have a different view, this is a pretty good one to check out.  However, as with anything, don't let this one roughly 90 minute film form your entire opinion about anything, view it more as a brief introduction to some different ideas and expand your search from whatever strikes you as personally interesting.

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