Review of The Mad Masters

It details the bizarre religious practices of the Hauka, a sect of sub-Saharan Africans living and working in Accra, the largest city in Ghana. The Hauka gather at a nearby cocoa plantation to take part in their rituals, which consist of "spirit possession". They flail about as if in an epileptic fit, foaming at the mouth, sometimes bleeding from the mouth, shouting in gibberish, and attacking themselves and others. There's also some grisly animal sacrifices (a goat and a dog) but they're kept mostly off-screen. While I find the rituals ridiculous and depressing, I can respect the filmmaking involved. This has the feel of an early National Geographic piece, and an early version of the type of sensationalist stuff that would come out of Italy in the 1960's, with titles like Mondo Cane. Director Rouch's implication is that these bizarre rites are a result of a society set into turmoil by the evils of European colonialism, and he has a valid point. It's only about 30 minutes long, and not for the squeamish. Another short from one of the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.