Moment of Truth: Cult Rescue (TV Movie 1994) Poster

(1994 TV Movie)

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7/10
Highly dramatized but still has some useful information
SusieSalmonLikeTheFish31 January 2015
Warning: Spoilers
So, basically this film features Nora, a self-absorbed, needy housewife who ends up being influenced by a con artist psychiatrist, Dr. Allen. He gets her to join his cult of followers and while she's forking over her cash to him and risking her job, her family is doing everything they can to win her trust back.

Cult Rescue is really exaggerated; I'm not saying that this type of thing can't happen but usually it takes many more factors than just depression and trust to form a cult. The man in this movie might have been easy to fall for, but one man can't do all this. Usually to start a cult, one person gets a group of friends to help, it's never just one person. Sure, there can be a leader, but even the leader always has help, right-hand men or women to help make things go more according to plan.

Cult Rescue does offer some good information on cults, though. It also has a good cast of actors and good soundtrack. I also recommend watching Helter Skelter (1976) along with this movie if you're into cult-related films.
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7/10
An ego is a terrible thing to waste
helpless_dancer16 January 2002
Fairly good drama detailing a stressed out women's descent into a cult headed by a phony guru/psychiatric M.D. The doctor, through hypnosis, convinces the woman that her family life is a mess and that he alone is the answer to all life's questions. Of course, her family goes all out in an effort to have her returned to the fold by enlisting the aid of a man experienced in recognizing cult activity. The poor lady could probably have bypassed all this grief by consulting a good chiropractor. Too much went on in too little time leading to a sketchy program, but still it was a nice little production for anyone interested in how this type of sham is pulled off. A good novel dealing with a related subject was Dean Koontz' "False Memory".
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5/10
The evil psychiatrist; a little hard to believe...
MarieGabrielle23 September 2006
While this story was based on truth, certain liberties may have been taken to make this seem more mainstream. Firstly, if you had visited a doctor, worked in a bank, and he showed up the next week, running into you (and subsequently asking for help with a loan) wouldn't you be a bit suspicious? We live in age where you should not even give your date of birth over the phone; most people even if they were in horrible pain/stress, may have needed a lot more persuasion and incentive to get to the level of cult brainwashing that this film professes.

Yet, by the same token, there are many people susceptible to these groups. Feeling alienated, depressed, overwhelmed with family issues; the film does show how Joan Van Ark, as the victim, is persuaded by the doctor/guru (Daniel Hugh Kelley) to seek a new path, and joint "The Institute".

Tom Kurlander is very good as the cult programmer, who eventually is called into the case. Overall it is an interesting message, but could have been presented a bit more believably. 5/10.
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great movie
triceecar198015 May 2002
Warning: Spoilers
This movie tells you how people in cults can brainwash you into believing anything. **spoiler** A man Dr. Allan brainwashed a woman into believing her husband hit her, and that he and their daughter was trying to keep her from the "light". If this movie teaches me anything it teaches me that people can be persuasive, and i've got to have a mind of my own so those kind of people can't get to me.
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6/10
Television Film with Joan Van ARK and Stephen MACHT
ZeddaZogenau3 March 2024
The married Nora McGill (Joan Van ARK) falls under the ominous influence of a doctor who uses hypnosis to drive her into the clutches of a psycho cult. Her husband (Stephen MACHT) and their daughter fight for the threatened Nora...

This Movie Of The Week saw a reunion between Van ARK and MACHT. In 1982, the latter played the brother of Karen Fairgate (Michele LEE), Joe Cooper, in the very successful American family series KNOTS LANDING, who would soon become the editor of Valene Ewing's first bestselling novel "Capricorn Crude" in the series plot. This Valene "Val" Ewing was played by Joan Van ARK from 1979-1993 and was one of the most important characters in the worldwide popular primetime soap opera.
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