Lucifer Rising (film)

Lucifer Rising (film)
Name	Lucifer Rising
Director	Kenneth Anger
Producer	Kenneth Anger
Writer	Kenneth Anger
Starring	Marianne Faithfull, Bobby Beausoleil, Michael Moynihan
Music	Bobby Beausoleil
Released	1972 (completed), 1980 (wider)
Runtime	28 minutes
Country	United States, United Kingdom
Language	English

Lucifer Rising (film) Lucifer Rising is a short experimental film directed by Kenneth Anger that blends occult iconography, psychedelic imagery, and mythic symbolism. Developed across the late 1960s and 1970s, the film features contributions from figures associated with The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Marianne Faithfull, and members of the Manson Family, and it became a touchstone for underground cinema, avant-garde film, and contemporary occult aesthetics. The work's production history intersects with Anton LaVey, Aleister Crowley, Magick (Crowley), and the countercultural networks of Los Angeles, London, and Marfa, Texas.

Plot

The film presents a non-linear, symbolic narrative that depicts the rise of a solar deity figure from primordial darkness to illuminated sovereignty. Imagery includes ritual processions, crowned figures, burning effigies, and a procession of devotees converging on a desert shrine; these scenes evoke parallels with Egyptian mythology, Lucifer (mythology), Apollo iconography, and ceremonial tableaux found in Hermeticism and Thelema. Sequences show a male protagonist emerging from water, a female consort adorned as an empress, and ritual objects that recall Golden Dawn symbolism, while montage editing links disparate cultural referents from Mesopotamia to contemporary Hollywood pageantry.

Production

Anger began the project after earlier short films such as Fireworks (film) and Scorpio Rising (film), intending Lucifer Rising as a cinematic evocation of solar rebirth. Early funding and collaboration offers involved Marianne Faithfull and musicians tied to The Rolling Stones and Jimmy Page, and Anger negotiated with occult figures including Anton LaVey and followers of Aleister Crowley for iconographic advice. The film’s score has its own fraught history: initial compositions were commissioned from members of the Rolling Stones circle and later from Jimmy Page, before Anger contracted Bobby Beausoleil, an associate of the Manson Family, to compose the final soundtrack while Beausoleil was incarcerated at Folsom State Prison. Principal photography took place in locations including Los Angeles County, the Mojave Desert, and London, and Anger utilized non-professional actors, ritual paraphernalia, and hand-processed color techniques associated with experimental film practice.

Cast

The cast comprises a mixture of cultural figures, models, and associates of Anger: - Marianne Faithfull as the principal female figure, drawing links to her work with Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones. - Bobby Beausoleil appears and contributes musically; his background includes connections to Charles Manson and the Manson Family. - Supporting appearances and collaborators include figures from the London and Los Angeles underground, echoing networks around Andy Warhol, Aleister Crowley, and members of the 1960s counterculture such as attendees of The Fillmore and participants in Summer of Love-era scenes.

Release and reception

Lucifer Rising circulated initially in underground film festivals, private screenings, and art-house venues tied to Galleries in New York City and SoHo programming. A definitive completed version premiered publicly in the late 1970s and saw wider distribution in 1980 through specialty exhibitors and midnight screenings associated with cult film circuits. Critical reception divided reviewers from mainstream outlets like The New York Times and Time (magazine) from avant-garde critics tied to Cahiers du cinéma and Sight & Sound; praise centered on the film’s visual composition and ritual staging, while detractors cited obscurity and the problematic real-world associations with Charles Manson. Academic responses emerged in journals focused on film studies, religious studies, and cultural studies, situating the work within discourses about occult revival and counterculture aesthetics.

Themes and interpretation

Scholars and critics interpret the film through frameworks of mythic archetype, ritual performance, and occult symbology. Readings connect the solar motif to Helios and Apollo, and the figure of Lucifer is examined through sources such as Milton’s depiction in Paradise Lost and the reinterpretations in Gnosticism and Thelema. Interpretations also foreground gendered dynamics in the film’s portrayal of consort figures, invoking scholarship on feminist film theory and discussions in Laura Mulvey-influenced critique. The film’s staging of spectacle and contagion of image networks has been analyzed alongside theories from Walter Benjamin, Guy Debord, and studies of mass culture and media theory.

Legacy and influence

Lucifer Rising influenced generations of filmmakers, musicians, and visual artists engaged with occulture and industrial music, with cited impact on figures associated with Throbbing Gristle, Current 93, and Coil. The film’s aesthetic permeated music videos, stage design for rock concerts, and contemporary performance art where occult imagery and ritualized choreography recur. Retrospectives at institutions such as Tate Modern, Museum of Modern Art, and specialized festivals in Berlin and Los Angeles have reassessed Anger’s oeuvre, while academic conferences on religion and film and exhibitions exploring counterculture have revisited the film’s contentious production history and symbolic economy. Lucifer Rising remains a provocative artifact at the intersection of underground cinema, occult revivalism, and late-20th-century popular culture.

Category:1972 films Category:Experimental films Category:Short films