shannongrantham20 This movie, I'd like to say, sucks, but I don't feel that is a fair comment. The acting is passable, but I really can't stand Karen blacks singing: she sounds like a strangled cat, strained and unsettling. But the story is convoluted and at times hard to follow, since a good bit of it is told in flashbacks that are thrown in in such a way that you might not realize you're watching a flashback. That's what happened to me the first time I saw this film, so it came across as quite confusing. It actually took me a couple of viewings to figure out what was wrong. I don't know what that says about me, but unfortunately that's what happened. The biggest problem with the film is I just don't buy the story: a secret society, like a Satanist cult, that has to sacrifice someone for some reason -- I never figured out what that reason was because there were too many things in the film that distracted me, like Karen Blacks singing.

preppy-3 Prostitute Elizabeth Lucy (Karen Black) is found dead at the beginning--she fell (or was pushed) from the top of a building. Police sergeant Jim Henderson (Christopher Plummer) investigates and finds himself involved in satanic rites, ritual killings and more. Also there are flashbacks to the last few days of Lucy's life to see what happened to her.Interesting but very confusing. It starts off pretty good with Black singing (and doing a credible job) over the opening credits and throughout the film. Then it gets very involved, the story gets muddled and murky and leads to an unsatisfying end. To be honest I'm STILL not sure what happened! Also there's bad overdubbing of voices, poor direction and a hysterically bad score at the end which sounds like a bunch of Munchkins signing! The acting is pretty good considering the material. Plummer (a great actor) looks miserable and gives a rare bad performance. Black however was just great. It's a very difficult role and she pulls it off. I kept watching solely for her. So--if you do want to see it see it for Black.Be warned: The St. Clair DVD is in terrible shape. It (obviously) inserts a new title (calling it "The Hooker Cult Murders"!), has faded color and jumps VERY badly at the beginning. Also the sound quality is poor and the movie ends a full nine minutes before it's 111 min running time. That may have some reason for me not understanding it.

manicgecko Actually a fairly decent movie, delving into the morality issue of Canadian prostitutes hooked on heroin. All kidding aside this is a fairly well acted movie, with a good plot for a movie with a cult reputation. However there are some fairly significant problems that may drive me away from watching it again. First it is SLOW. Benefit - it isn't hard to keep jumping between real time and flashbacks. Problem - you kept wanting something to happen to speed this thing up - you felt every second tick away.Second - my copy at least gave me a migraine trying to keep it in focus. Shots were swimming, blurry, and over all distracting from plot. I actually cleaned my glasses a couple of times really trying not to blame the movie.Finally this film is another gun in my arsenal with very few exceptions, singers should not act, actors should not sing. I am sure Karen is a mighty fine vocalist, and it did give a haunting feel to the movie singing bible verses, but my ears were bleeding halfway through the movie. I did enjoy the chipmunk version of the chanting monks towards the end of the movie though.The jury is still out whether the story is enough better than the technical qualities of the movie for me to watch this again. Probably will just buy the book.

bensonmum2 The Pyx (aka The Hooker Cult Murders) is billed as a horror movie. It should probably more correctly be called a drama with a bit of horror thrown in. It's during these bits of horror that The Pyx becomes interesting. Unfortunately, the majority of the movie is devoted to the drama and is rather tedious and boring.The movie opens with the death of a heroin-addicted prostitute from a fall from the top of a building. Other than sheer white lingerie, she's wearing an upside-down cross and holding a pyx (Not being Catholic, I didn't know what it was either. Apparently, a pyx is a small container used by priests to hold communion wafers.) The investigation soon points to something even more sinister than at first thought - a Satanic sacrifice.The Pyx is told in two separate story lines. One is a flashback from the prostitute's (Karen Black) point of view leading up to the time of her death. The other is from the detective's (Christopher Plummer) point of view of his investigation following the murder. The movie frequently cuts back and forth between the two story lines. And while the police investigation is at least somewhat interesting, Karen Black's flashback is an exercise in tediousness. Despite being a heroin addict and a prostitute, her life is incredibly dull. It's during these scenes that the movie really suffers. If her life could have been made to seem at all interesting, the movie might have been very good. But as it is, the scenes of Karen Black walking around, arguing over dinner, and driving are just plain boring.As I previously mentioned, the horror bits are very infrequent. Other than the final scene with bits of a Satanic ceremony, there's really very little horror. I suppose the scenes showing the aftermath of a couple of murders could be considered horror, but that's really stretching it. I'm sure that a few ardent horror fans have been disappointed in the mis-categorization of The Pyx.Finally, I've got to mention the music in The Pyx. It's terrible. I've heard dogs howling at the moon that had a better musical quality. Most of the songs were apparently written and sung by Karen Black. While I've always enjoyed her as an actress, this is my first encounter with her as a singer. Hopefully, it will be my last.