The Astrologer (1976 film)

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The Astrologer is a 1976 American drama science-fiction film directed by and starring Craig Denney, and written by his mother, Dorothy June Pidgeon (a relation of Walter Pidgeon). [1]

Contents

Plot

Craig Alexander pretends to be a psychic as a hustle. When he realizes that he is actually psychic, he uses his abilities to gain money and power, to his eventual detriment.

Cast

Production

Often confused for a horror film released the same year with the same title, [1] the film heavily features the use of voiceover to further the plot.

The cinematographer was Alan Gormick, Jr., "a long-time underwater camera expert lensing what would be his only full feature." [2]

The production company was Republic Pictures.

Release

The Astrologer was set for release on January 14, a Wednesday, and "very deliberately so. 'The astrological aspects for the picture’s release were considered,' Denney confirmed for United Press International’s Vernon Scott.  'Even though it includes some heavy knowledge about astrology.”

There are conflicting reports of whether the movie was officially released, likely due to its liberal use of copyrighted music. [3] [4]

The film was lost until the American Genre Film Archive recovered it in "a batch of 1,000 pornographic prints." [5] A successful Indiegogo campaign resulted in the film being digitized. [6] As of 2021, the film was available on The Internet Archive. [7]

Reception

Don Shanahan of Every Movie Has a Lesson called the film, "a treat of a trainwreck" and "one filmmaker’s passion project is another man’s vanity film." [8]

Clint Worthington of The Spool wrote, "it can be easy to miss that feeling of discovering the diamond in the rough, that transcendently bad movie you only share with a few people you know through hushed whispers and traded bootleg tapes. Fear no more: thanks to delusional auteur Craig Denney, the diligent efforts of the American Genre Film Archive, and The AV Club and Daily Grindhouse's lineup of midnight showings at the Music Box, you can get that luster back with Denney's transcendently terrible fantasy-drama The Astrologer – a film that’s as good a case as any for the value of keeping a little bit of mystery in your moviegoing experience." [3]

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References

  1. 1 2 SMW, Author (2018-04-17). "Who is The Astrologer?". Matchbox Cine. Retrieved 2021-10-16.{{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  2. ↑ "The Astrologer Is Outsider Cinema at Its Rarest". 25YL. 2020-04-30. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  3. 1 2 "The Astrologer is the Forgotten Cult Hit Of Your Dreams | Alcohollywood". The Spool. 2018-01-31. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  4. ↑ "'The Astrologer' a would-be cult classic movie, resurfaces". www.moresbypress.com. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  5. ↑ "1975's The Astrologer Is the Greatest Cult Classic Film You Might Never Get to See". pastemagazine.com. 2018-06-23. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  6. ↑ "The Astrologer (found Craig Denney film; 1976) - The Lost Media Wiki". lostmediawiki.com. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  7. ↑ Craig Denney (1975), The Astrologer 1975 (Previously Lost Film) , retrieved 2021-10-16
  8. ↑ "VINTAGE REVIEW: The Astrologer". Every Movie Has a Lesson. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
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