Lucifer Rising

Another dose of Kenneth Anger's film-making, supremely silly of course but entertaining if one is in the mood for seeing minor celebrities prancing about pretending to be supernatural beings.

This is one of the more polished of his efforts, but (perhaps as a result) it falls far below less professional works such as Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome or Invocation of My Demon Brother. Far from being at the cutting edge of the avant garde, this is a much more derivative piece, reminding the viewer of films such as Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii, or even, in some of the sequences featuring Marianne Faithful, the old Fry's Turkish Delight advertisements.

Similarly, the music, recorded by convicted murderer Bobby Beausoleil in prison, might have been expected to add an edge or frisson, but it's pleasant, spacey and bland, like an outtake from the Alan Parsons Project.

Impossible to take seriously, it's enjoyable at its level, and is worth immortality for the priceless credit of Lucifer played by Leslie Huggins.

Entertaining, slow moving, insightful, and sometimes shocking fourth installment to the Kenneth Anger short film collection; it possesses all these attributes, as well as being influential to experimental directors of today. A lot of what Anger was doing in "Invocation of My Demon Brother" (film layers, fast edits, bizarre soundtracks) can be seen in most of the music videos on MTV; a characteristic that has driven parents, as well as teenagers, crazy. The primary source of these ideas came from the Acid Trip footage, extensively explicated in Tom Wolfe's lysergic-fused biographical novel, "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test." Nevertheless, the idea caught on and Anger utilized the technique to the fullest in "Demon Brother," counterweighted by an equivocal tape-loop supplied by Mick Jagger. In the second film "Lucifer Rising," Anger had already developed his experimentation with edits and layers, this time presenting a more formalized run to the film. Marianne Faithful makes an appearance in the film, as well as an assortment of 60's notables, which includes Manson family member Bobby Beausoleil who also wrote the film's score. Altho not Anger's best volume, (Scorpio Rising is the better) it still has many elements -- as I explained -- that will turn some people on; ergo, a cult following.

Far removed from the 'satanic panic' of 1969's Invocation of My Demon Brother, and closer to the imagery, motifs and ideas of his earlier short Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, Lucifer Rising finds the infant terrible of the hippie counterculture once again dabbling in the occult, the mystical and the mythological, only this time, with a clear, focused and assured approach. Gone are the frantic superimpositions and chaotic editing. Lucifer Rising is for the most part cleanly edited, more refined in the selection of images and more carefully constructed than its predecessors. It sees Anger harnessing his delirious side in the service of a certain film-making finesse, without losing any of his symbolic potency. What other proof is there that this is Anger at his most professional when he even uses tracking shots in some instances! What next, professional actors? A Crowley-esquire view of ancient Egypt then, with Lucifer as the bringer of Light, touching themes of death and rebirth, Lucifer Rising may lack the visceral, hypnotic madness of its predecessor but makes up for it with an air of spellbinding psychedelia.

I think the most interesting about this short is the back story, which I highly recommend reading up on. For good or for worse, the back story alone makes this movie notable.

When it comes to the movie itself, it's visually stunning and the music is brilliant. And that's about it. As an art flick, there's not meant to be an explicit storyline, so if you are not comfortable with that, this movie will probably not be very enjoyable as a "short" - but maybe as a music video of sorts. The previously mentioned music and visuals are good and match somewhat, so watching this is a good way to let your mind wander.

If you are interested in the occult/spiritual world Anger taps into in his shorts, then you might get a kick out of this just for that. To me, that's less interesting. While I made an effort to connect the images with ideas and concepts that might lie behind them - I eventually lost interest and started following my own trains of thought.

Egyptian gods summons the angel Lucifer - in order to usher in a new occult age.

This film has been on my to-see list for almost twenty years. In the 1990s, I was big into the counter-culture scene and was reading quite a bit on Charles Manson. The name "Kenneth Anger" came up again and again, and his work was something I just had to see. But the opportunity never presented itself.

Now (2015) I have seen it, and it did not disappoint. Some have called it an extended music video, which is not far off. Others say it is something "occult", but even there I think that is slightly off. I doubt very much the people involved were taking themselves seriously, blending images and symbols from the Druids, Egyptians and Crowley... what an experience.