Unarius means Universal Articulate Interdimensional Understanding of Science. Since 1954, from their headquarters in El Cajon, California, they’ve worked to advanced a new “interdimensional science of life” based upon “fourth-dimensional” physics principles. This is not just the story of their church. It’s the story of the love between Ernest Norman and his wife Ruth across the galaxies and eons of time.

My question is, if the church doesn’t harm anyone, if they live as good people, what’s wrong with their love for space brothers? What’s the harm in the movies that they make? They seem much more well adjusted than many churches I’ve attended.

The other teaching of the church is the belief loop, where they can see a movie, see it as a past life experience and then create their own film documenting that fact. That means Star Wars is real. Any movie that you love can be as real as The Bible to you.

Then, there’s Charles Spiegel, Ruth’s longtime assistant and eventual successor. One day, while traveling cross-country, she confided in him that he was Lucifer. Seeing as she called herself Archangel Uriel, one wonders what their relationship was really like.

Some members also see themselves as the Roman soldiers who crucified Jesus and they are making up for that in this life by following Ernest Norman. Hey — is that any stranger than what others believe?

Ruth Norman predicted — many times — that 33 alien ships would land here on Earth, starting in 1974.  Charles Spiegel predicted 1980 and was wrong as well. After numerous dates came and went, they began to focus more on improving humanity here on Earth.

I’ve been interested in the Unarius Church since seeing them on Letterman in the 1980’s and compilations of their videos at the long-lost Mondo Video in Los Angeles. This film only confirmed my suspicions of how magical they really are.

Want to learn more? The Unarius Church website is a great place to start. And if you want to watch the film, it’s available on Amazon Prime. Or you can visit the film’s official site.

People always wonder, why would someone join a cult? How could someone give away so much of their freedom to get nothing back into return? A few minutes into watching this film and your answer will not be so clear.

The Source Family was an attempt at creating a utopia. Between a famous health food restaurant on the Sunset Strip to an outlandish rock band and constantly being surrounded by gorgeous women, you can see how their leader, Father Yod, started to believe he was some sort of prophet.

This isn’t one of those documentaries made by people ready to laugh and not understand the mindset of the group. It was inspired by the book The Source: The Story of Father Yod, Ya Ho Wa 13, and The Source Family, which was written by Isis Aquarian and Electricity Aquarian and edited by Jodi Wille (who co-directed this film with Maria Demopoulos).

Once the group flees to Hawaii, things get out of control, leading to their demise, as well as the death of Father Yod. All of this is captured on film, as the Source Family recorded everything.

Even more amazing is that so many members of the group have gone on to lead amazing, fulfilling lives. Between the music, a large amount of actual footage and the way that it’s all sewn into an engaging storyline, this documentary does more than unfold. It inspires.

If I were alive in the early 70’s, I wonder if my spiritual journey would take me to a group like the Process or the Source Family. When we were young, a journey to the Krishna Temple of Gold in West Virginia was enlightening and frightening at the same time. So were the many visits to churches and shrines across the country. At times, I wish that I could find that childlike wonder and worship that adulthood seems to take away. That’s why I don’t laugh or wonder why anyone joins a group like this.

You can watch it on Amazon Prime or head to the official site to learn more.

I have no idea how to even start discussing this movie, other than to tell you that it’s all over the place narrative and insane concepts make it a film that seems created for a target audience of one — me.

Written and directed by Phantasm creator Don Coscarelli and based on the book by David Wong, this film feels nearly impenetrable and like the kind of movie that you need to be on soy sauce, the drug from the film, to comprehend.

Coscarelli found the story by accident. He says, “True story: I received an email from a robot on Amazon.com, and it told me if I liked the zombie book I just read, that I would like John Dies at the End. I read the little logline, and it was just amazingly strange. I thought, ‘Well this might even make a good movie.’ Plus, it had arguably the greatest title in motion picture history.”

The film begins with David Wong pondering whether an axe he has used to kill a skinhead who keeps coming back from the dead is the same axe because it has a new head every time. Immediately, you know that this film has no interest in slowing down or worrying if you’re not getting it.

David goes to meet Arnie Blondestone (Paul Giamatti, Private Parts), a reporter who wants to know about the strange events that make up David and his friend John’s lives. It turns out that awhile back, David saved his friend Amy’s dog, Bark Lee, after he bit a Jamaican drug dealer.

Later, John is given the soy sauce drug by that very same drug dealer. Soy sauce opens the mind to things no one else can see, as well putting whoever uses it into alternate realities. That’s proved right away when a past version of John begins calling Dave and guiding him. Then the syringe full of the drug bites Dave and sends him through a whole bunch of other timelines.

Soon, Detective Lawrence Appleton questions John and Dave, because everyone that was at the drug dealer’s house has either disappeared or died violently. The reporter says that everything is a lie at this point, but Dave shows him a monster that convinces him to stay.

What follows is an adventure that includes celebrity exorcist Albert Marconi who gives the boys an LSD bomb to stop Korrok, an ancient biological superintelligence that has become a god inside another reality that prefers to communicate via cartoons, as well as a side journey to a future where John and Dave are the messiahs that will free Earth from a deadly plague. However, our heroes want nothing to do with any of this, preferring to play basketball.

And what happens with that newspaper interview? Does John die at the end? Can a dog save reality? I really don’t want to spoil any of this for you.

I was completely entertained by this movie, but it’s one of those ones that I have trouble telling others about. There are long stretches of talky dialogue that demand that you pay attention to the film. This isn’t background noise, but something that demands to be experienced. For those looking for something original and willing to make the commitment, I can offer no higher recommendation.

Check it out streaming now on Shudder!