CultNEWS101 Articles: 6/3/2025 (Transcendental Meditation, Andrew Tate, Grooming of Children, Children of God, Branch Davidians, Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints, Devadasi)

Transcendental Meditation, Andrew Tate, Grooming of Children, Children of God, Branch Davidians, Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints, Devadasi

Watauga Democrat: This week in the archives: Crops wiped out, Smoking costs locals, traffic solutions (May 20, 1994)

"Construction on the first phases of a resort east of Blowing Rock dedicated to Transcendental Meditation (TM) could begin this October," read an article from this week in the Watauga Democrat. The lead developer was David Kaplan.

"Since September 1993, Kaplan and other followers of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, an Indian-born mystic who developed TM, had bought almost 1,500 acres of land for the retreat and have worked on its development plans," the article said.

According to the article, the group of followers was led by Kaplan and they spent more than $2 million on land in the Blue Ridge and Elk townships in Watauga County. At the time, Kaplan said the development would take up to 10 years to complete. The development was expected to include four or five villages, homesites, hotels and a health spa. There were also two non-profit sites to be developed.

The non-profit site was to consist of 100 villas, which was to become the home of 100 full-time meditators, which the TM organization called "world peace professionals."

Kaplan named that site "The Spiritual Center of America."

The first for-profit phase was to include a village of villas, condominiums, a hotel, and a health spa.

"That part, which has been named Heavenly Mountain Resort, will be developed by Kaplan, who is the sole owner of Heavenly Mountain Inc., the site's development company," the article said.

Telegraph: Andrew Tate charged with rape in UK

The Tate brothers have been charged with more than 20 offences against four women in the UK, including rape and prostitution, The Telegraph can reveal.

Andrew Tate, 38, is accused of 10 charges including rape, actual bodily harm, human trafficking and controlling prostitution for gain against three women.

His brother, Tristan, 36, has been charged with 11 offences including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking; charges connected to one alleged victim.

A CPS spokesman said: "We can confirm that we have authorised charges against Andrew and Tristan Tate for offences including rape, human trafficking, controlling prostitution and actual bodily harm against three women.

 "These charging decisions followed receipt of a file of evidence from Bedfordshire Police.

"A European Arrest Warrant was issued in England in 2024, and as a result the Romanian courts ordered the extradition to the UK of Andrew and Tristan Tate.

"However, the domestic criminal matters in Romania must be settled first.

"The Crown Prosecution Service reminds everyone that criminal proceedings are active, and the defendants have the right to a fair trial.

"It is extremely important that there be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings."

International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation (IJCAM):  The Grooming of Children for Sexual Abuse in Religious Settings: Unique Characteristics and Select Case Studies ( Susan Raine and Stephen A. Kent)

Abstract

"This article examines the sexual grooming of children and their caregivers in a wide variety of religious settings. We argue that unique aspects of religion facilitate institutional and interpersonal grooming in ways that often differ from forms of manipulation in secular settings. Drawing from Christianity (Catholicism, Protestantism, and Seventh Day Adventism) and various sects (the Children of God, the Branch Davidians, the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints, a Hindu ashram, and the Devadasis), we show how some religious institutions and leadership figures in them can slowly cultivate children and their caregivers into harmful and illegal sexual activity. A number of uniquely religious characteristics facilitate this cultivation: theodicies of legitimation; power, patriarchy, obedience, protection, and reverence toward authority figures; victims' fears about spiritual punishments; and scriptural uses to justify adult-child sex."

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Netflix Revisits America’s Ghastliest Cult Catastrophe

Nick Schager

Daily Beast

March 20, 2023

David Koresh was the leader of a doomsday cult whose members believed he was the messiah and that they were destined to perish in a conflict with the U.S. government. And on April 19, 1993, following a 51-day standoff with the FBI, that prophecy came true. Setting his Mount Carmel ranch compound on fire, thereby killing dozens of his own disciples (including children), Koresh committed the unthinkable. Thus, when someone refers to this incident in Waco: American Apocalypse as a “tragedy,” it’s difficult not to view it as one explicitly brought about by the madman, who for good, ugly measure was also a pedophile, polygamist, domestic abuser, and armed insurrectionist.

Tiller Russell’s three-part Netflix docuseries Waco: American Apocalypse (March 22) is an even-handed examination of Koresh, his Branch Davidian outfit, and the fight they instigated with law enforcement. It features interviews with figures on both sides of the story’s divide, from negotiators, tactical agents, snipers, and journalists, to surviving cultists, who even today profess their innocence and victimhood at the hands of a tyrannical government. Providing a 360-degree view of those fateful months in 1993, it addresses many of the arguments that have raged over the past 30 years regarding Koresh’s villainy and culpability, his adherents’ crucial roles in stoking the conflagration, and the law enforcement mistakes that may have thwarted a peaceful outcome.

What it ultimately presents, however, is a portrait of a catastrophe that its chief player always sought, and worked tirelessly—and successfully—to make a reality.

As recounted in Waco: American Apocalypse, Koresh grew up in a broken home and eventually made his way to Mount Carmel in the mid-1980s, where he seduced the cult’s elderly leader and got into a firefight with her son in order to seize control of the group. Once he had it, he set about changing its Christian doctrine to his liking—namely, by proclaiming himself the Lord’s divine prophet (if not God incarnate) and dissolving his followers’ marriages so that he could steal everyone’s wife for himself. The fact that anyone went along with such a demand is nuts, but then, Koresh had already gotten tacit permission from his supporters to marry a 14-year-old. He habitually practiced pedophilia and it was tolerated because, as adherent Kathy Schroeder states in a new interview, Branch Davidians believed that girls “come of age” when they’re 12.

The Branch Davidians were like many other cults in that participants accepted anything Koresh said because they were under the delusion that he was divine. In such a deranged environment, it made sense to take him at his word when he said that governmental enemies were fated to arrive on their doorstep, and that they should prepare by stockpiling weapons. So they did, amassing semi-automatic rifles that they illegally converted to automatic, producing homemade grenades, purchasing armor-piercing .50-caliber rifles, and accumulating 1.6 million rounds of ammunition. Such gestures were clearly a preface for war. Consequently, when the ATF (the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) showed up in force looking to inquire about this cache—which they’d learned about via a broken package in the mail that contained a grenade—the Branch Davidians attacked.

Whether the ATF or the Branch Davidians fired first remains a subject of much speculation, and if Waco: American Apocalypse doesn’t draw a definitive conclusion, its ATF interview subjects (like Jim Cavanaugh and Bill Buford, the latter of whom barely made it out alive) come across as far more credible than its Branch Davidian talking heads (such as David Thibodeau and Schroeder). Four ATF agents died in the shootout, and in the wake of the agency’s failure to secure the cult’s armaments, the FBI was called in to negotiate a surrender. Russell’s docuseries uses archival material (some of it never seen before) and firsthand testimonials to bring that prolonged process to vivid life, be it Hostage Rescue Team sharpshooter Chris Whitcomb discussing his unexpected chance to assassinate Koresh and not taking it (a decision he doesn’t regret), Heather Jones recalling leaving the compound and never again seeing her father (who chose to remain and die by Koresh’s side), or negotiator Gary Noesner detailing his efforts to convince Koresh over the phone to end things without additional casualties.

Waco: American Apocalypse benefits from audio recordings of those chats, as well as news broadcast footage and clips from the movies Koresh made inside the compound during the standoff. Better still, it captures the way in which frictions between the negotiation and tactical teams undermined their joint goal to conclude this powder-keg dispute without fireworks. The sheer length of the ordeal, and the news media’s voracious coverage, only made things tenser, as did Koresh’s delay tactics, peaking with his announcement—at the moment he was supposed to surrender—that he needed more time to write his new version of the Book of Revelation. Though he’d allow 21 children and two adult women to leave the compound, federal authorities determined that he was never going to go quietly.

They were ultimately right, to a shocking degree. The feds’ April 19, 1993, plan to fire tear gas into the compound (after announcing their intentions to Koresh beforehand) was meant to compel them to capitulate. Instead, Koresh and his minions set their home ablaze and, minus a few individuals, such as Thibodeau (who still denies Koresh’s responsibility for the inferno), chose to stay inside. It was mass suicide for a national television audience, and while Thibodeau contends that the Branch Davidians were innocent “martyrs” who “died for God”—and Koresh’s lawyer implies that this was all the byproduct of an unreasonable search and seizure order, which rings laughably false—the overriding impression left by Waco: American Apocalypse is of a calamity orchestrated and instigated from the start by an unhinged fanatic committed to his dreams of manipulation, exploitation, and bloodshed.

Russell lets his Branch Davidian subjects make their sympathy-courting case but—even in light of the government’s imperfect handling of the situation—they come across as zealots still in thrall to a lunatic who fed them lies and cost them everything. Timothy McVeigh honored Koresh and struck back at the system he viewed as their joint enemy by bombing the Oklahoma City federal building on the Waco siege’s two-year anniversary. In doing so, he further underscored that, in the end, this catastrophe’s lasting legacy is highlighting the threat posed to us all by the virulent and violent right-wing, anti-establishment religious extremism that thrives within our own borders.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/waco-american-apocalypse-netflix-doc-revisits-david-koresh-cult-tragedy

CultNEWS101 Articles: 2/3/2023

Johane Marange, Mozambique, Waco, David Koresh, The Branch Davidians, Unification Church, Japan

The Washington Examiner: Mozambique Government Bans Doubtful Churches, Including Johane Marange Sect

"The Mozambican Ministry of Justice has banned, in the Central Province of Manica, a religious sect called "Johane Marange" for allegedly promoting child marriage and disrespecting health issues.

The church in question first emerged in neighboring Zimbabwe, where it has been operating since 2003.

According to the National Director of Justice, Constitutional and Religious Affairs Albachir Macassar, who was interviewed by Radio Mozambique, the Ministry has also banned some religious institutions with "obscure purposes" in the southern Province of Inhambane.

"To discipline some behavior and excesses of certain religious denominations, a draft Law on Religious Freedom and Worship is under discussion to regulate the exercise of this activity in Mozambique," the director said.

Macassar argues that the State should act, not to interfere in the exercise of the activities of religious groupings, but to direct and discipline them. 

"The new law will provide for the registration of a religious denomination with a minimum of 2,000 faithful, in contrast to the current law which recognizes any religious body with a minimum of 500 faithful," Macassar said."

NPR: 30 years after the siege, 'Waco' examines what led to the catastrophe

"In the winter and spring of 1993, more than 80 people, including four federal agents and at least 20 children, died in two violent confrontations between federal law enforcement and the Branch Davidian Christian sect near Waco, Texas. Extremist groups have since cited the assaults as evidence for anti-government conspiracy theories.

In his new book, Waco: David Koresh, The Branch Davidians and a Legacy of Rage, author Jeff Guinn describes the group's leader, David Koresh, as a religious demagogue who took multiple teenage brides and preached that he and his followers would bring about a conflict that would make the end of days happen in their lifetimes.

"David Koresh wanted to make sure that when the final battle occurred, his followers would be able to fight the way the Book of Revelation said they must," Guinn says. "It had to be an all-out battle. His people were going to die, but, obviously, they had to be ready to kill the the agents of Babylon."

Government agents began investigating the Branch Davidians over charges that children at the compound were being abused and that the group was stockpiling weapons. On the morning of Feb. 28, 1993, 76 agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) arrived at the compound, called Mount Carmel, expecting to surprise the group."

KYODO News: FOCUS: Ex-PM Abe shooter trial to face issue of sympathy for church "victim"

"Following his indictment, pretrial proceedings against the shooter of Shinzo Abe are expected to throw up difficult issues, with his defense likely to attempt to offset shock over the first murder of a postwar Japanese leader by presenting him as a "victim" of a religious group that ruined his family financially.

Tetsuya Yamagami was charged on Jan. 13 with murder and violating the firearms control law for killing Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, with a homemade gun during an election campaign rally in July last year.

He has told investigators he held a grudge against the Unification Church, a group originally founded in South Korea, and targeted Abe because he was a grandson of former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, who helped the group set up in Japan, according to investigative sources.

The church has since come under intense scrutiny for its links with a number of politicians in Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, with allegations that it supported their election campaigns.

Yamagami's defense team is expected to focus on extenuating circumstances, while prosecutors will likely seek capital punishment, arguing the attack threatened the democratic process, legal experts say. They also note that given the presence of members of the public at the rally, others could have been hurt."

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CultNEWS101 Articles: 8/6/2021 (Branch Davidians, Australia, Evolution Supplements, NXIVM)

Branch Davidians, Australia, Evolution Supplements, NXIVM

Waco Tribune-Herald: 10 bodies of Branch Davidians reburied, family seeks DNA testing

"The remains of 10 Branch Davidians who died during the deadly raid and siege at Mount Carmel 28 years ago have been relocated to Rosemound Cemetery after relatives arranged to have them disinterred from pauper's graves at a county-owned cemetery three blocks away.

The deceased include some of those closest to self-styled prophet David Koresh, including his wife, father-in-law, brother-in-law and at least two sons.

The remains were reinterred two weeks ago at the city of Waco's Rosemound Cemetery in a private ceremony. The exhumations were requested by Samuel N. Jones, the son of Perry Jones, a top Koresh lieutenant who was believed to have been among the first killed during the federal raid on the compound Feb. 28, 1993."

Australian Government: Evolution Supplements Australia and its Director penalised total of $12 million for advertising illegal sports supplements

"The Federal Court of Australia has ordered Evolution Supplements Australia Pty Ltd to pay $11 million for unlawfully advertising a range of unapproved sports supplement products, including references to steroids, Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMs) and pre-workout products containing DMAA and other amphetamine derivatives, in breach of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989.

The Court also ordered Mr Cumhur Keskin, the Director of Evolution Supplements, to pay $1 million in penalties for failing to comply with an advertising direction issued by the TGA and failing to prevent Evolution Supplements' breaches of the Act.

These penalties are the largest ever imposed by the Federal Court in relation to contraventions of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 (Cth).

This decision follows the Court's finding earlier this year that Evolution Supplements and Mr Keskin unlawfully advertised prescription-only substances, products containing prohibited (Schedule 10) substances and medicines that had not been listed or registered by the TGA.

Mr Keskin also failed to comply with a TGA direction to stop advertising. Evolution Supplements tried to conceal its unlawful advertising by telling the TGA that it had taken the advertising down, but then continued to advertise some of its most dangerous products outside ordinary business hours.

"The substantial penalties imposed by the Court reflect the very real dangers to public safety from Evolution Supplements' conduct," TGA head Adjunct Professor John Skerritt said.

'The penalties imposed against Evolution Supplements and Mr Keskin send a strong message to businesses and their senior officers that there are significant consequences for unlawfully advertising dangerous sports supplements'."

CultRECOVERY101: Cult Deception, Dependency, and Dread, Michael D. Langone, Ph.D.

"Farber, Harlow, & West (1957) coined the term "DDD syndrome" to describe the essence of Korean war thought reform with prisoners of war: debility, dependency, and dread. Lifton (1961), who also studied thought reform employed in Chinese universities, demonstrated that the process did not require physical debilitation. Contemporary cultic groups, which do not have the power of the state at their disposal, have more in common with this brand of thought reform than with the POW variety, in that they rarely employ physical coercion. In order to control targets, they must rely on subterfuge and natural areas of overlap between themselves and prospects. As with all Korean era thought reform programs (those directed at civilians and at prisoners), however, contemporary cultic groups induce dependent states to gain control over recruits and employ psychological (sometimes physical) punishment ("dread") to maintain control. The process, in my view, can be briefly described by a modified "DDD syndrome": deception, dependency, and dread."

CBS6: Former NXIVM insider Lauren Salzman avoids jail time

" ... In a sentencing memo, Salzman's attorneys wrote that her mother, Nancy, introduced her to Raniere and NXIVM, something Nancy Salzman now says is one of the most regrettable things she has done. Nancy Salzman is scheduled to be sentenced in September, after pleading guilty to charges including racketeering conspiracy.

In addition to the probation and community service, Lauren Salzman must forfeit more than $500,000 seized from a home in Waterford, along with one property in Clifton Park, and three others on New Karner Road in Colonie, where NXIVM's headquarters were housed.

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CultNEWS101 Articles: 6/6-7/2020

Twelve Tribes, Branch Davidians,  Covid-19, Domestic Abuse, Mennonites, Orthodox Jews, Legal, Religious Freedom, Canada, Scientology

Colorado Springs Gazette: From Manitou Springs to the world: Mate Factor Café part of global 12 Tribes community

"Much of the Twelve Tribes theology is similar to other Christian groups, but they emphasize living in strict accordance with God's will as revealed in the New Testament and the Old. They follow Jewish levitical laws on lifestyle and diet, and celebrate the major Jewish festivals, including Pentecost, or Shavuot, and Passover.

They believe they are gathering together the 12 biblical tribes described in the book of Revelation in preparation for Christ's return

Twelve Tribes members believe that living communally is a requirement for true followers of Christ, who they call by his Hebrew name, Yahshua.

A disciple's life is "a tribal life," says an article in the Freepaper, "families, clans, and tribes, in stark contrast to the suburban loneliness of the world."

When asked about the spiritual status of the vast majority of Christians who don't live communally, Hushai, one of the local group's shepherds, quoted 1 John 5:19: "We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one."

"We believe very sincere people" are part of the flawed mainstream "religious system," Hushai said. "We hope we can learn to love one another, obey his commandments, and recognize the leaven of unrighteousness that comes in to separate us."

They follow a strict morality that some see as family values on steroids. They favor male leadership, practice corporal punishment on disobedient children, and do not condone homosexuality.

Some practices have brought criticisms about legalism and cultlike practices. A Vice story about the group bore this headline: "The Idyllic Restaurant Chain Owned by a Homophobic, Racist, Child-Beating Cult."

The Southern Poverty Center issued a similar warning, calling the group "a Christian fundamentalist cult" whose "hippie-vibed restaurants and cafes" conceal "a tangle of doctrine" that, among other things, supports slavery and homophobia.

Twelve Tribes communities have frequently been accused of — and occasionally found guilty of — child abuse and labor violations, and have faced penalties for requiring children to perform adult work on Twelve Tribes farms and crafts.

Local members are quick to dismiss these and other allegations, and say such controversies are part of the persecution members face for faithfully following Christ."

Pacific Life: Why are we obsessed with cults right now?

"Sometime in late April, a new docuseries popped up in my Netflix suggested list.

Called "Waco," it's about the 1993 siege on the compound of a religious group called the Branch Davidians by various federal and local government agencies. On day 51 of the siege, which included tanks, firearms and a lot of incendiary tear gas, a fire broke out in the compound that killed 76 Branch Davidians, including 25 children. Ever since, it's been hotly debated whether the government or the Branch Davidians' charismatic and controversial leader, David Koresh, is to blame. I was seven-years-old in 1993 and I remember my parents — people who normally might be quick to write off groups like the Branch Davidians as too extreme — being horrified by what happened. The Branch Davidians' religious views may have been extreme by mainstream standards, but did they really deserve to die the way they did? I didn't think so, and that stuck with me (I ended up majoring in religion in college, focusing on cults)."

Independent: Women suffering 'domestic and spiritual abuse' in lock-down, religious leaders warn

'We cannot ignore that there are perpetrators within all our faith communities,' says joint statement

"Religious leaders have warned that domestic abuse victims in their communities face the greatest obstacles to getting help, and raised fears that the coronavirus lockdown was causing such violence to soar.

Figures from Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Hindu and Sikh communities said they had heard reports of abuse in the home ranging from psychological and physical violence to spiritual abuse during the Covid-19 emergency.

AP: Some Old Order Mennonites feel called to return to church

"For the first time in weeks, kids played in the church cemetery. Nearby, a group of men in their 20s reflected on what it meant to gather again during the pandemic.
"Human health is important," one of them said. "But ultimately, spiritual health is more important."

Their conservative order — one that shuns technology, cars and electricity — never missed Sunday services in more than 100 years, when the deadly 1918 flu pandemic interrupted worship.

Then, a different virus intruded in this world apart.

For nearly two months, the Old Order Stauffer Mennonite Church followed Pennsylvania's stay-at-home order and guidelines that discouraged gatherings in houses of worship. COVID-19 forced the postponement of weddings, funerals and their bi-annual communion, a high point. While some more modern Mennonite orders in Lancaster County held services by video, the Stauffers did not.

But now, it was "time to get back to work," their bishop said. "And more so … in the spiritual sense." It was time to resume worship, he said — though he wondered how many worshippers would come, and he still felt concerns about "offending the public and the government."
News spread fast: first service together in weeks; not mandatory, only for those who felt safe."

National Post: Legal group threatens court challenge over right of Ontario Orthodox Jews to worship during pandemic

"An Alberta-based legal group is threatening a court challenge to fight for the religious rights of Orthodox Jews in Ontario who, because of gathering-size restrictions, have been unable to properly worship during the pandemic.

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, a conservative legal group, has been extremely active during the COVID-19 crisis, saying it's pushing to maintain Charter rights even during a pandemic. The group has written to the Alberta government expressing concerns over pieces of legislation, has gone to court to fight restrictions on drive-in religious services in Ontario, and is now preparing legal documents concerning the remaining Ontario restrictions on religious gatherings.

"The Ford government has been slow to make reasonable accommodations for faith groups, even where they present little or no public health risk, and even as the province is beginning to open up," said lawyer Lisa Bildy in a statement to the Post.

In Ontario, hundreds of pastors and other religious leaders signed a letter to Premier Doug Ford sent on May 11 asking for changes to the rules for religious groups, pointing out that, "never in 1,500 years of Western history has the Church of Jesus Christ not met for Easter or missed months of worship and ministry — even in times of war or plague far more devastating than COVID-19."

"The inhumanity of abandoning people in their deepest hour of grief or need is gut-wrenching for followers of Christ," the letter says.

Since that letter, there have been some changes: drive-in services are now allowed, for example. But, On May 22, four Toronto rabbis followed up with another letter, addressing the specific ways in which Orthodox Jews are affected by the rules. They say they haven't been helped by the government allowing drive-in services, while in-person gatherings remain capped at five people. (The National Post was unable to reach the four signatories on Friday).

"When violating any Charter freedom, a government must prove that such violations are demonstrably justified. The more we learn about this virus, and the longer these infringements on Canadians' civil liberties go on, the less likely governments will be able to meet that test," wrote Bildy."

Business Insider: Power Line: Not enough bank for bankruptcy — A $400 billion hole in energy investment — More fuel for fusion

" ... We love a short week, and I spent most of it working on a feature about my hometown — "America's most unusual town," according to Oprah. So that must be true.
It might be. Fairfield, Iowa is home to thousands of disciples of the late Indian guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. People here meditate together daily in large golden domes, eschew wifi and smart meters, and live in unique structures that are said to nourish their occupants."

Jon Atack, Family & Friends: Technical training corps, hard sell, and moths - a conversation with Edwin Stratton

"In this meander down memory lane, Ed reminisces about his time in the TTC (Technical Training Corps) at Saint Hill, and Jon waxes poetic about the practice of "hard sell."

Where does the moth come in? you'll see.

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10 Horror Movies Based On Real-Life Cults

The films on this list are all inspired by real, contemporary cults and hierarchical religious or spiritual movements controlled by fiery figureheads.

MEGAN SUMMERS
Screen Rant
February 16, 2020

Charles Manson. Jim Jones. David Koresh. Cults and their egomaniacal leaders are subjects of interest for many horror directors. One person's ability to sway hordes of followers who are hungry for acceptance is full of infinite creative potential. While some horror movies about cults rely on their own unique reimaginings of fanatics organized around a unified cause, other movies make their real-life source material obvious.

The films on this list are all inspired by real, contemporary cults and hierarchical religious or spiritual movements controlled by fiery figureheads. While some investigate what happens when people try to leave cults, others show just how far some followers will go to prove their devotion.

10: The Sacrament (2013)

Ti West is responsible for this found-footage horror film based on the Jonestown Massacre. In 1978, over 900 people who followed Peoples Temple leader Jim Jones to Guyana observed his order to drink cyanide poison en masse. Jones coined this revolutionary suicide, and he joined his believers with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

The scope of the violence at Jonestown, the name Jones gave his settlement, shocked the world and inspired numerous films and television series. The Sacrament tells the story of a group of VICE journalists who venture to Central America to probe into a cult that recently resettled there. After crossing paths with the leader, Father, events take a vicious turn.

9: Helter Skelter (2004)

This made-for-TV biographical drama delves into the horror perpetrated by Charles Manson and his family in the 1960s, culminating in the brutal murders of five people, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate, at her home on Cielo Drive in 1969. Helter Skelter is a straight-forward adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry.

Manson, portrayed by Jeremy Davies, infiltrated the hippie movement surging in California at the time, using his charm and rhetoric to develop a movement. His "family" consisted of mostly women, and as it grew in numbers, Manson decided to kickstart an impending race war by orchestrating the heinous murders that would end the lives of Tate and four of her friends.


8: Red State (2011)

Red State was a labor of love for Kevin Smith, known for his off-kilter indie comedies. Smith took his inspiration from the Westboro Baptist Church, a religious organization known for its reliance on hate speech and inflammatory protesting.

Michael Parks plays an even more exaggerated version of Westboro's leader, Fred Phelps, known for employing brainwashing techniques and severe punishments to keep his congregation committed. Red State takes the threats and violence implied by Westboro to their logical conclusion, and it shows what happens when groups sustained by messages of hate decide to take up arms.

7: The Wave (2008)

In this German film, director Dennis Gansel attempts to reconcile with his country's fascist past. As the Nazi Party under Adolf Hitler enacted their racialized campaign against anyone of Jewish ancestry, they coerced citizens to fall in line through messages of ethnic superiority. These heinous tactics exemplify cult-think.

In The Wave, a high school teacher must educate his students about autocracy and the evils of fascism. In order to create an impactful learning experience, he conducts an experiment about totalitarianism that opens doors he isn't prepared for, showing just how easy it is for tyranny to spread.


6: Lords Of Chaos (2018)

Lords of Chaos is a hardcore movie based on the true story of the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem. Not only are they known for their brutal sound, but they are also known for erecting a violent cult of personality based on pre-Christian rituals and beliefs.

Rory Culkin plays the band's central figure, Hieronymous, who compels his bandmates and their friends to start burning Christian churches around Norway in order to stir up controversy. As the flames spread, the cruelty intensifies until Mayhem becomes implicated in suicide and murder.

5: Holy Ghost People (2013)

This creepy feature about Pentecostal snake handlers in Georgia is based on a 1967 documentary about a West Virginia congregation. Pentecostalism is an evangelical form of Protestant Christianity, and snake handling evolved from a literal interpretation of the Bible.

In the movie, a young woman travels to a church up in the Appalachian Mountains in hopes of tracking down her sister. The charming, yet ominous, leader of the congregation executes a plan of manipulation and, eventually, torture, in order to break the woman down in hopes of appeasing his own desires.


4: Sound Of My Voice (2011)

The trippy, elusive cult at the center of Sound of My Voice is influenced by the innumerable fringe groups and secret societies that exist under the radar in the greater Los Angeles area. In the movie, a pair of documentary filmmakers undergo the harsh initial rituals of a particular group in order to get to its leader, a woman named Maggie.

Maggie's cult is based on space-travel theories, and she claims to be from the future, making her way to the past in order to act out an important mission.

3:The Devils (1971)

A controversial film by British innovator Ken Russel, The Devil is both a cautionary tale about religious witchhunts and an arthouse horror feature that examines cult mentalities. 17th Century French priest Urbain Grandier is targeted by a hunchbacked nun as the instigator of a Satanic uprising within the Catholic Church.

Claiming numerous nuns have fallen victim to his evil ways, Grandier is officially charged by church officials, at which point he is subjected to horrendous tortures until he's burned at the stake. Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave both star.


2: The Endless (2018)

Indebted to doomsday cults like Heavens Gate, made infamous after 39 of its members committed mass suicide in 1997, The Endless follows two adult brothers who decide to return to the death cult they grew up in. Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead both star in and direct this understated, slow-burn horror feature.

While exposing the effects group-think has on the two men and the people they grew up around, the film also, cleverly, veers from other cult movies on this list by providing an alternate narrative that asks an interesting question: what if the prophesies are true?

1: Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)

A gripping psychological film, Martha Marcy May Marlene tells the story of a young woman trying to reclaim her life after escaping a cult in the Catskill Mountains. The unnamed cult's leader is played by John Hawkes, a sinister sexual predator who takes advantage of vulnerable people.

Director Sean Durkin studied the personalities and choices of toxic male cult leaders like Jim Jones and David Koresh. Instead of making a movie about the politics that emboldened these men, though, Durkin focused on the relationships within a cult like the one in the film.


About The Author
Megan is a public librarian by trade obsessed with the intersections between art, culture, and society. She's a nerd for horror, obscure memes, weird history, graphic novels, and binge-worthy science fiction series.

https://screenrant.com/horror-movies-based-real-life-cults/