I'm not exactly a fan of Fellini-esque surrealism, and this was indeed more accessible (and less self-absorbed) than Alejandro Jodorowsky's earlier El Topo (1970). But this really was a bit of a slog. The question that remains in my mind is that, what with these extreme giallo-like fetish symbols (transgender women, a tequila-swigging drunkards, dwarves, Lucha Libre wrestlers, deformed children, the magical impresario, the circus clowns with absurd 'Mexican' accents, the teenagers with Down's Syndrome, etc. etc.), is Jodorowsky actually attempting to make a sincere point about childhood trauma, trying to domesticate them or merely deploying them as a pretence for shock value? I've got to say, if there was an attempt at genuine critique in this film, then I'm afraid I was somewhat incapable of discerning quite what was being said.
Synopsis: A former circus artist escapes from a mental hospital to rejoin his mother - the leader of a strange religious cult - and is forced to enact brutal murders in her name.