Guyana: Crime of the Century

Guyana: Crime of the Century
The current DVD cover features the two alternate English titles of the film
Directed byRené Cardona Jr.
Written byRené Cardona Jr.
StarringStuart Whitman
Gene Barry
John Ireland
Jennifer Ashley
Bradford Dillman
Joseph Cotten
CinematographyLeopoldo Villaseñor
Edited byEarl Watson
Music byJimmie Haskell
Alfredo Díaz Ordaz
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release dates
  • 20 September 1979 (1979-09-20) (Mexico)
  • 25 January 1980 (1980-01-25) (U.S.)
Running time
115 minutes (Mexico)
90 minutes (U.S.)
108 minutes (UK)
CountryMexico
LanguageEnglish
Box office$3,798,102[1]

Guyana: Crime of the Century (also known as Guyana: Cult of the Damned) is a 1979 English-language Mexican exploitation drama film written and directed by René Cardona Jr. The film, which was shot in Mexico, is based on the Jonestown Massacre. It stars a number of American actors such as Stuart Whitman, Gene Barry and Joseph Cotten. The names of central characters are slightly tweaked from the historical ones: the film is set in "Johnsontown" rather than Jonestown, the cult is led by "Reverend James Johnson" (Whitman) rather than Rev. Jim Warren Jones, and the murdered Congressman is "Lee O'Brien" (Barry) rather than Leo Ryan.