THE LASH OF THE PENITENTES (1936) **

The Lash of the Penitentes is an old roadshow attraction.  It’s an expose on the Penitente cult, a religious sect in New Mexico that believed in flagellation.  Most times, roadshow movies like this had healthy doses of sex and violence.  This one has real life scenes of being whipped, but that’s about the only trick it’s got up its sleeve. 

It starts off with not one but two prefaces.  The first lets us know all about strange religions of the world (“Our own country not excluded!”) and the other about the Penitentes themselves.  The film itself is a mix of documentary (captured by a “vagabond cameraman”) and a dramatized account of an investigative journalist writing a story on the cult.  It isn’t exactly a seamless fit, but the editing is better than most of these things.  There’s enough factual information here to satisfy someone looking for a “tell-all” insider scoop on the cult.  Too bad that outside the whipping scenes, it’s kind of weak and forgettable. 

As for the Penitentes themselves, we mostly just see the cult members hanging out in their adobes.  They also do some weird shit though like playing a variation on that Rambo 3 game (but with chickens instead of goats), have parades dressed like the Grim Reaper, and put on funny costumes and dance around in the town square.  They also crucify one of their members, but I think that was staged for the benefit of the vagabond cameraman. 

It’s only thirty-five minutes long but the original version was twice that length.  I’m not sure what was cut, but it might’ve been juicy.  The scenes of real whippings are kind of icky.  If that sort of thing makes you queasy, you should be okay because they don’t last too long.  They’re probably the only reason to watch it, honestly.

Overall, I think this might’ve made for a decent segment in a Mondo movie.  Even with the filler subplot with the journalist, it doesn’t quite cut it as a pasted-together standalone film.  I will say that the short running time takes some of the… um… sting out of it.  

AKA:  The Penitente Murder Case.