The Possessed (1977 film)
| The Possessed | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Screenplay by | John Sacret Young |
| Directed by | Jerry Thorpe |
| Starring |
James Farentino Joan Hackett Harrison Ford Claudette Nevins Diana Scarwid |
| Theme music composer | Leonard Rosenman |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) |
Philip Mandelker Jerry Thorpe |
| Editor(s) | Michael A. Hoey |
| Cinematography | Chuck Arnold |
| Running time | 76 minutes |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release |
|
The Possessed is a 1977 American television horror film directed by Jerry Thorpe, written by John Sacret Young, and starring James Farentino, Joan Hackett, Diana Scarwid, and Harrison Ford. It is about a priest who returns from the dead to battle satanic forces at an all-girls school. The film was shot on location at Reed College in Portland, Oregon in 1976.[2]
Plot
Kevin Leahy, an alcoholic Catholic priest who has strayed from his faith, crashes his car and is pronounced dead at the scene. As penance, he is sent back to Earth to fight evil as an exorcist, and returns to life. The Helen Page School, a Catholic all-girls college in Salem, Oregon is on the brink of graduation season, and are about to go coed the following semester. Ellen Sumner (Claudette Nevins), is a teacher at the school, where her daughter, Weezie, attends. One evening, the paper in Ellen's typewriter inexplicably bursts into flames.
In her dorm room, Lane (Diana Scarwid) with the help of Alex (Carol Jones), Celia (Dinah Manoff), and Marty (P.J. Soles), play a prank on Weezie by smearing ketchup and other liquids under her bedsheets. Louise Gelson (Joan Hackett), Ellen's sister and the headmistress of the college, enters the room, and instructs the girls to leave. Weezie returns to her dorm late, but Lane has left to search for her. Weezie witnesses the curtains in the room inexplicably burst into flames. Ms. Gelson does not believe Weezie's story, and insists the girls must have been smoking.
During the college's graduation practice, Lane's gown bursts into flames. Ellen and Paul Winjam (Harrison Ford), another teacher, put out the flames, but Lane is burned in the ordeal. Sergeant Taplinger (Eugene Roche) investigates the incident, and Ellen tells him of the other random fires at the school, insisting it is supernatural. Ellen seeks out Leahy to investigate the occurrences. Leahy and Ellen visit Lane in the hospital, where she is receiving treatment for extensive burns to her legs.
Weezie confesses to Leahy that the night of the fire in her dorm, she had visited Mr. Winjam late to study for a biology test; he suspects they may be romantically involved. That night in the biology room, Weezie and Mr. Winjam meet, and his jacket bursts into flames; Weezie is locked out of the room, and watches through the window as he burns to death.
The next day in Winjam's office, Leahy finds Ms. Gelson crying hysterically, and realizes she and Winjam had also been romantically involved. Ms. Gelson suspends classes, and several students leave the college. That night, Weezie encounters Ms. Gelson wandering the hallways of the school, appearing erratic; Ms. Gelson screams, and slaps her. Weezie tells Leahy of the incident, and then confesses to her mother about the affair with Winjam. Leahy searches the school for Ms. Gelson, and Ellen and Weezie begin to smell smoke.
The remaining girls on campus, who have all congregated in one of the dormitories, also begin to smell smoke, and find themselves locked in their rooms. Ms. Gelson unlocks their rooms one by one, and directs them to follow her. Leahy searches the dormitory, and finds all of them empty. He frees Ellen and Weezie from Ellen's locked office, and they attempt to leave the school.
They encounter the possessed Ms. Gelson at the college's swimming pool, surrounded by the girls. Ellen forces all of the girls to leave the room, and Ms. Gelson grabs Leahy, lighting his jacket on fire, but the fire extinguishes itself. Ms. Gelson, laughing wildly, spits nails at Leahy. He embraces her, and again catches fire; he jumps into the swimming pool, and disappears in a blaze.
The college is reopened for graduation, and Taplinger inquires to Ellen about Leahy's identity and whereabouts. She tells him she does not know who he really was or where he went. Lane is able to return to school for the graduation ceremony, led by a healthy Ms. Gelson.
Cast
- James Farentino as Kevin Leahy
- Joan Hackett as Louise Gelson
- Harrison Ford as Paul Winjam
- Claudette Nevins as Ellen Sumner
- P. J. Soles as Marty
- Diana Scarwid as Lane
- Eugene Roche as Sergeant Taplinger
- Ann Dusenberry as Louise "Weezie" Summer
- Dinah Manoff as Celia
- Carol Jones as Alex
Release
The Possessed was first broadcast on NBC on May 1, 1977.[1]
Reception
Steve Barton of Dread Central rated it 3.5/5 stars and called it a "token TV movie Exorcist knock-off" that is "actually ridiculously entertaining."[3] Paul Mavis of DVD Talk rated it 4/5 stars and called it an "extremely effective made-for-TV supernatural horror film."[4]
References
- 1 2 Terrace, Vincent (2013). Encyclopedia of Television Pilots, 1937-2012. McFarland Publishing. p. 235. ISBN 9780786474455.
- ↑ Baker, Jeff (2014-07-01). "5 movies filmed at Reed College; four are failures, one is great". Oregon Live. Retrieved 2015-09-12.
- ↑ Barton, Steve (2011-03-18). "Possessed, The (DVD)". Dread Central. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
- ↑ Mavis, Paul (2011-09-29). "The Possessed (1977)". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2014-04-30.