Nomads (1986 film)

Summary

"The tribe of the dead... stalking the living!" A French anthropologist specializing in nomadic groups moves to Los Angeles with his wife, and starts following a group of sinister street punks who seem to live and move around in a black van. But they aren't what they seem.

Details

Promotional image for Nomads (1986 film)...

• Release Date: 1986
• Country/Language: USA, English & French
• Genres/Technical: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
• Setting: Modern
• Runtime: 1 hr 31 min
• Starring: Lesley-Anne Down, Pierce Brosnan, Anna Maria Monticelli
• Director: John McTiernan
• Writer: John McTiernan
• Producer/Production Co: Cinema VII, Producers Sales Organization (PSO)
• View Trailer: (link)
• Wikipedia: (link)
• IMDB Page: (link)

Ratings

MPAA Ratings

• Rated: R (Violence, Nudity, Adult Content, Profanity)

Tentacle Ratings

A rough measure of how "Lovecraftian" the work is:

• S____ (One Tentacle: Debateably Lovecraftian; has almost no direct connection to Lovecraft's work)

An early surreal, hallucinatory horror film about trickster spirit cults. Not exactly a "Lovecraftian" film in the sense of being based on any of Lovecraft's work or containing references to his creations, though some viewers may find the location and atmosphere suggestive of Lovecraft's work (an "Eldritch Location" film).

Note: This rating is not intended as a measure of quality, merely of how closely related to Lovecraftian "Weird" fiction the work is.

Reviews

Review Links:

• Review by Gladis Angulo at Agents of Geek (Link) -
• Review by Ryne Barber at HorrorNewsdotnet (Link) -
• Review by Nicholas Bell at IonCinema (Link) (3/5) -
• Review by Rick L. Blalock at Terror Hook Review (Link) (7.5/10) -
• Review by Roger Ebert (Link) -
• Review by Matthew Foster at Foster On Film (Link)(2/5) -
• Review by Aaron Gillott at GorePress (Link) (3/10) -
• Review by Mitch Lovell at The Video Vacuum (Link) (2 stars) -
• Review by George Pacheco at Rock! Shock! Pop! (Link) -
• Review by Jason Rugaard at Movie Mavericks (Link) (3/4 Stars) -
• Review by Richard Scheib at The Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review (Link) - (4/5) "The suggestion the film leaves one with is the extraordinarily eerie sense of a rubber reality where haunted things sit unnoticed alongside the everyday."
• Review by ZigZag at Horror Talk (Link) (3/5 Stars)

Synopsis (SPOILERS)

 Spoiler Section (Highlight to Read)

A French anthropologist specializing in nomadic groups moves to Los Angeles with his wife, and starts following a group of sinister street punks who seem to live and move around in a black van. But they aren't what they seem: they are actually Inuit trickster spirits drawn to scenes of violence, and they have set up a shrine to grisly murders that were committed in the anthropologist's house before he moved in. Now the spirits have set their sights on the anthropologist and his wife, using violence to silence witnesses to their existence.

Notes

Comments, Trivia, Dedication

• Famous British new wave musician and occasional actor Adam Ant appears as the leader of the gang, but has no dialogue. The heavy metal part of the film's highly atmospheric soundtrack was composed by famous rock musician Ted Nugent.

Associated Mythos Elements

• race: Elementals or Demons
• cult: Men in Black in the form of leather-clad street punks

Keeper Notes

• The investigators are recruited to help victims being tormented by a Men in Black cult of strange and alien spirits disguised as violent street thugs drawn to the site of a violent supernatural event.