Speak of the Devil (1989 film)

Speak Of The Devil

VHS Cover Art
Directed by Raphael Nussbaum
Produced by Richard F. Brophy
Raphael Nussbaum
Henning Schellerup
Ruben Veloso
Written by Wally K. Berns (story), Robert Earl Craft (screenplay), Raphael Nussbaum (screenplay)
Starring Thomas McGowan
Jean Carol
Bernice Tamara Goor
Walter Kay
Music by Gill Bottcher
Cinematography Chuck Colwell
Edited by Stephen Adrianson
John Santos
Distributed by Action International Pictures
Release date
  • 1989 (1989)
Running time
 99 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Speak of the Devil is a 1989 American horror comedy film produced and directed by Raphael Nussbaum from a story by Wally K. Berns.[1][2] It was also released under the name, "The Ungodly." [3]

Plot summary

Reverend Jonah Johnson (Thomas McGowan [4]) is a phony Louisiana Evangelist preacher whose wife, Isabelle (Jean Carol) uses his sermons to fleece their parishioners of their money. During his first satellite feed on TV, he pretends to "heal" a man in wheelchair as a man from the IRS (Mark Conner [5]) watches, but he is soon interrupted by the police with a warrant for his arrest and a redneck father declaring he is the father of his daughter's unborn baby. Johnson flees the scene, also chased by the actor who played the phony paraplegic, and is soon caught by a local police officer, who lets him go because it would upset his widowed mother, a loyal Johnson supporter.

Johnson and his wife flee to Los Angeles where they discover a derelict boarded-up house and start to rebuild their phony church. As they're buying the house from their realtor (Louise Sherill [6]), the realtor's son, Bobby (Shawn Patrick Greenfield [7]), tries to tell them about a cult who murdered a young girl in the house but is shushed up by his mother.

Their first night in the house, the Johnsons encounter a possessed toilet with smoke coming out of it and a gang of "punkers" hiding drugs in the house, who are scared away by Steve Seligman (Dennis de Boisblanc [8]), a police officer. Johnson also has dreams of the demonic little girl. The next day they hire Mexicans to clean up and restore the house, one of whom is abducted and killed by a demon living in the house, his screams covered up by a power saw.

The lady realtor soon returns to reveal to Jonah that his check bounced since the IRS froze his bank accounts. The IRS agent from Louisiana returns also having tracking down. Broke and needing money, the Johnson's encounter a mysterious woman named Lady Caligari (Hilary Scott [9]) who gives them a briefcase filled with cash. Rabbi Ben Tov (Richard Rifkin [10]) who lives next door warns them from accepting it, but Isabelle sends him away.

Isabelle also gets a book of evil and in time starts getting more beautiful. She decides to use the book to open a Church of Latter Day Sin with the motto, "Sin today without guilt," but Jonah prefers to stay loyal to God. They're rejoined by old cohort, Mort (Walter Kay [11]), and Jonah's innocent niece, Eve (Bernice Tamara Goor [12]). Meanwhile, the punkers resolve to get their house back and crash the Johnson's first church gathering which includes the realtor and her son. During the gathering, the demon in the basement appears, urinates on the pulpit and escapes through the window from Jonah. Before it departs, it grants the punkers wish that the police harassing them at the park get killed, Mort the ability to see the future and Isabelle continued money, fortune and power. Jonah meanwhile is getting increasingly disillusioned with Isabelle's direction with his church, unaware that the Devil has asked for his soul from Isabelle.

The next day, the punkers encounter the cops at the park that have been harassing them and watch as they die in a crash with a garbage truck that crushes them. After Maggot (Suzan Ellen [13]), their female member gets the larger bust size she had wished for, they realize they're getting what they want and join Isabelle's church. Eve meanwhile has visions of the demonic girl and the devil in the house. As Jonah keeps having doubts, Isabelle keeps stringing him along to keep him in control.

By now, the church has started having ritual sacrifices of chickens and goats, and Isabelle uses Mort's visions of the stock market to further her wealth. She also hears of a display of museum artifacts involving devil worship and Count Dracula and has the punkers steal them for her own collection. They're traced to the church by Officer Seligman, who becomes smitten with Eve. He tries to arrest them, but Mort reports a phony terrorist report and has to let them go. That night, the gathering at the church with the relics culminates with an orgy and the death of one of the punkers who impales himself on one of the artifacts.

After the young man's death, Jonah starts fearing the price for all the blasphemy and wants to quit and turn himself to the police. He tries getting guidance from the other local ministry, but none of them are of any help. He turns to Rabbi Ben Tov, who tells him only an act of self-sacrifice will cleanse his spirit. The Devil by now orders Isabelle to sacrifice Eve to break Jonah's spirit. Eve also runs into Officer Seligman, who spots her wearing one of the stolen relics. He turns to Rabbi Ben Tov, his old mentor, for guidance, knowing that without a search warrant, he can't investigate the church. When the Rabbi tries to exorcise the house with his shofar, he gets distracted by Maggot and gets killed by the demon. When it also threatens Eve, Mort doses her with chloroform for her sacrifice.

That night, Bobby, the realtor's son, discovers Eve and hides her in the closet to save her life. His mom gets confused before the sacrifice as the punkers look for Eve and take her from Billy. Maggot brings Officer Seligman to the house as Jonah refuses to sacrifice Eve, even with Mort ordering him. He conjures up the Devil himself to force Jonah's hand, but Jonah impales himself and the Devil standing behind him with a sword. A fire erupts as Seligman saves Eve using his mentor's lost shofar and the house burns down after demons drag Isabelle and Mort to Hell. The third of a string of plumbers show up to try fixing the cursed toilet.

The next morning, Jonah emerges alive from the house which still has the cursed toilet having survived unscathed. Having found God, Jonah resumes his ministry even as the Southern cop who let him escape Louisiana disputes him. Watching him on TV, the officer's elderly mother (Beverly Polcyn), however, punches her son after Jonah heals her arthritis.

Cast

Production

The film was made in locations in Los Angeles, California.[1] It "introduced" actor Shawn Patrick Greenfield and included the song "You Better Be Ready/The Ballad of Jonah Johnson." [14]

Home video

This movie was released on VHS videocassette in 1991 through Action International Pictures, but it is now out of production. In France, the film was released as "Aux Portes de L'enfer." [15]

Reception

The film has received mixed to mostly negative reviews based on nine reviews at the IMDB.[16] Horror guru and author of "Creature Features - The Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Movie Guide," John Stanley comments that the script "is all over the place in sub-plots.".[2] It has zero ratings at Rotten Tomatoes.[17]

See also

References

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