User reviews

CAULDRON: BAPTISM OF BLOOD is a new low in the career of Ted V. Mikels, a man with seemingly no discernible talent behind the camera whatsoever (or in front of it either, come to that, given his cameo appearance here). This film was made under the working title of BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE-DEVILS II and it does have some similarity to that '70s cult film, i.e. it's similarly bad.

Don't go in expecting any plot or normal film-making style here. There's some nonsense about a woman attending a talent show which involves a bunch of old guys sitting around in a room while younger women struggle to act. But 90% of the production consists of the 'witch's coven' sequence, taking place on a single cheap set as a room full of women dance around in their underwear. They're hardly models and they're not actors either, so watching them gyrating for endless screen time is not exactly entertainment. It goes without saying that there's no nudity, just lots of cleavage, and tattoos if that's your thing. There's no gore or violence either aside from a rubber severed head at one point.

Mikels attempts to raise interest by including random inserted footage of fire-eating (!) and a clumsily superimposed 'devil face' which is quite laughable. There isn't much dialogue but that we do hear is delivered in the most stilted way imaginable. The budget for this movie was apparently $50,000 but where that went I have no idea because this looks like it cost nothing to make. It really is one of the worst I've ever seen.

Ted Mikels is one of the worst living directors. Among the supremely awful films Mr. Mikels has made are "Astro Zombies", "Girl in Gold Boots" (in the IMDb Bottom 100 but perhaps his best film!), "Corpse Grinders" and "Blood Orgy of the She-Devils". It's odd, though, that his horrible films of the 1960s and 70s are actually MUCH better than his recent productions. You would think that he would have been bound to improve with practice, but this is not the case. In recent years, Mikels has made some direct to DVD films that feature even worse production values than his older films--films that don't even seem to attempt to be watchable or professional. I've recently watched two of them, "Cauldron: Baptism of Blood" (2004) and "Apartheid Slave-Women's Justice" (1997). They don't appear to have much in the way of scripts, the dialog seems unrehearsed and random and the production values are WORSE than most YouTube videos--and to save costs, Mikels himself appears in the films.

"Cauldron: Baptism of Blood" doesn't have a clear plot. Instead, it seems like a lot of related vignettes shoved together about some sort of devil cult and a woman who wins a talent contest. A witch leads not only a group of scantily clad women in human sacrifices but uses black magic to kill and predict the future. Some of these black magic ceremonies are absolutely hilarious and look more like interviews for "Solid Gold" dancers than devil shenanigans! And, in the middle of all this, a women fire eater randomly performs! This goes on and on and on--as if it will never end and as if Mikels never heard the term 'editing'. This silly dance routine is repeated several times throughout the film and probably accounts for about 50% of the film!! During many of these scenes the most ludicrous computerized devil appears--one you just have to see to believe!

As for the talent show plot, it's supposed to be something like "American Idol"--this is, if all the guests were as talented as William Hung. When a particularly talentless woman wins, she is aided by Satan--who then wants her soul in exchange. So, it's up for the cult of "Solid Gold" dancing witches to capture her and initiate her into their weird little dance troop. Can she be saved? And, more importantly, does anyone care?!

Obviously by my description I think this is a terrible film. But is it worth seeing? After all, many bad films are so stupid that they are fun to watch in order to laugh at the ineptitude. Unfortunately, while "Cauldron: Baptism of Blood" is stupid and laughable, it's also not very watchable because of its glacial pace. While the film is over 100 minutes long, it could have easily been trimmed to 55 or 60 minutes. Incessant shots of relatively unattractive ladies in skimpy clothes writhing about isn't my idea of entertainment! Plus, you'd THINK that a film about a devil cult would be entertaining yet Mikels managed to keep this one from having any excitement about it whatsoever....none. Dull and stupid--that's a bad combination.

By the way, IMDb indicates this one is rated R and has nudity. Nope...no nudity in this one, as this could have only improved the film and Mikels appears to have done everything he could to prevent this one from being entertaining!

I guess when one is making a low budget movie one must make the tough choices of what to do with the limited money available. After watching this movie I am unable to determine where the director spent the money. The acting is poor, the script has little continuity, the special effects are far from special and the pace is pedestrian at best. The endless dance scenes with the coven of witches made me want to scream. Awful dancing by women that did not look all that interested in what they were doing. The scenes went on far too long and did not seem to add anything to the movie other than time. Maybe this movie would have been better had the director cut some of the filler and told more of the story. If you're a fan of this director then go for it. Otherwise find something better to watch for the 100 minutes.

Cauldron: Baptism of Blood (2004)

BOMB (out of 4)

Here's another Ted V. Mikels films. I really enjoy listening to interviews with Mikels as he seems like a fun and great guy but sadly his movies are another thing. His career has been a rather amazing one and the fact that he has been able to continue making movies through all these decades is reason enough for him to be an exploitation level.

With that said, his film and especially his later days ones are pretty awful with very few of them being worth watching. This one here is certainly among the worst I've seen from the director. The story line basically seals with a coven of witches who worship a rather bizarre demon creature. Throughout a series of vignettes we see various people whose lives are destroyed because of their connection to this group.

There's about twenty-minutes worth of story here but what kills this movie and so many other Mikels films is the fact that it clocks in at 100-minutes. Why the director feels the need to drag these movies out for so long is something that I've never understood but who wants to watch an exploitation movie that drags on for no reason? Every single scene in this movie just drags on for no purpose. The scenes certainly aren't expanding on a plot. There's no exploitation being added. More times than not it's just really bland and boring dialogue that drags for no purpose.

If there was graphic violence or a ton of nudity being thrown around then I might understand the long running time but we get none of that. You've basically got a PG-rated horror film and it's quite awful. I'm sure Mikels casts his friends and other people he knows and I'm sure he makes these movies for fun. Sadly, they're not very fun to watch for the viewer and CAULDRON: BAPTISM OF BLOOD is one of the worst.

What can I say about this fun movie? He is and has been a true king in his genre. Kellie Karl plays the innocent Stacy who is captured by the coven of witches who ceremoniously prepare for their next sacrifice. Her aspiring ventriloquist boyfriend, played by Tom Lynch is a real cute choice and the perfect hero! If scary movies are your thing, rent this one! You will not be disappointed and might even find yourself getting lost in the moment. Young love, evil intentions, and....well I won't ruin the surprise ending!! What a great movie to rent for a rainy day movie marathon!! This is true Ted V. Mikels form. Thanks Ted...keep 'em coming!

CAULDRON: BAPTISM OF BLOOD is another thudding, sub-sludge offering from the god of such "films", Director Ted V. Mikels. It "stars" several non-actors, not acting in any way like actual actors. Or, living beings for that matter.

There are what appear to be women, wearing the latest in occult fashions. Many tattoos, and basic black "witch" clothes are worn. This fits in nicely with all of the other pseudo-macabre malarkey on display. Bongo drums play, because bongo drums are quite scary.

While these women get their Watusi on, preparing the obligatory human sacrifice, a wobbly, rubber demon looks on as if to say, "What the hell am I doing here?". Soon, Satan himself arrives, sporting his new hillbilly beard.

Red corn syrup flows, as the witchy women boogie on down with themselves. The devil's bongos play on.

Nothing in the history of filmmaking comes close to the "Styrofoam head being lowered into a fish tank" scene! Nothing!

More blocks of wood attempt to resemble humans, as putrid singing, stand-up comedy, and ventriloquism (!!) break out. All followed by further quasi-mumbo jumbo.

An autopsy on the owner of the Styrofoam head is performed in someone's bathroom. Police are perplexed. Mikels himself does a cameo as some sort of "expert". He's far more lifelike than anyone else involved in this cluster-fudge.

WARNING: This "movie" is only for the true lover of cinematic misery! All others may suffer irreversible brain shrinkage! Some reports indicate that a single viewing could cause CCC (Catastrophic Cranial Collapse)!...

I am young, but it is a dream of mine and I really want to make horror movies one day.I went to the movie rental place and when I saw the title, I thought I would rent this one because the title sounded really good. I personally thought this movie was good because I really learned a lot about this director's own style. It is interesting and made me want to watch all the way through to the end. I will probably rent many more movies by Ted Mikels... he has been doing this a very long time, so I think he must be doing something right. If my own movie making career is half as long as his movie making career, I think that would be good for me. Also, all of the girls in the witches coven were totally cool. I did not think they could dance too well, but it sort of worked for the movie. That is just my opinion. I also wouldn't mind trying to be in one of Ted Mikels movies. I think that would be cool, too. Maybe I will one day. I could learn a lot from him and hope to meet him someday.

The Cauldron: Baptism of Blood is one of the greatest movies I have ever seen, and easily one of the greatest ones ever made. The movie, in a nutshell, is about young girls trading their souls to Satan for fame and fortune, and we all know what happens when we do that....we get punished for it! This film has it all folks. Sorcery, Witchcraft, Satanic Rituals, Black Magic, Paranormal and Psychic Phenomenon, and to top it off...beheadings! The Cauldron is written, directed, produced, photographed and edited(!!) by the great Ted V. Mikels who just keeps pushing out one great film after the other. I would also like to note that there is a demon by the name of "Vessago" in the film who is beyond creepy and very scary. Something that's hard to find in today's horror films, let alone independent ones. Also, the ritual music that appears in this movie is very accurate to those of satanic rituals and things of that nature. And it's also very catchy too.Another thing is the computer effects. The computer effects in this film is top notch! I've seen multi-million dollar movies that can't pull off CGI that The Cauldron has! Very well directed and scripted The Cauldron will have you at the edge of your seat just waiting to see what happens next! Stay for the ending, whatever you do, it's very very awesome. The dancers in the film aren't too bad to look at either...yet, ANOTHER plus to the film. I would also like to recommend you watch MARK OF THE ASTRO-ZOMBIES along with this for a night of fun and excitement. ENJOY!

I cannot begin to extol the virtues of this film!! Why wasn't this released in more theaters?? I had to go to the back room of the local video store just to find it. I won't give away anything here: this film is something you must see to believe. But the supporting cast was the most compelling I've seen in film in recent years. This movie made me proud to be a feminist. I cannot wait for the next one. The acting, the set design, every little nuance just screamed with authenticity. I almost felt I was living this movie. No plans for the weekend? Just rent this baby and pop it in your VCR, curl up with your sweetie. I promise you won't be disappointed!