By Erin Free
In this regular column, we drag forgotten made-for-TV movies out of the vault and into the light. This week: the chilling, downbeat 1977 horror film The Possessed, starring James Farantino, Joan Hackett, Claudette Nevins, Ann Dusenberry and Diana Scarwid.
After the mammoth success of William Friedken’s 1973 horror masterpiece The Exorcist, there were demons, devils and the unholy possessed scattered liberally throughout the entertainment industry. While the notoriously knock-off prone Italians went absolutely Biblical with their sloppy “tributes” to Friedkin’s blockbusting tale of demonic takeover, US studios followed the hotter-than-hot director’s lead and came up with fairly strong rip-jobs like The Omen and Audrey Rose.
Brian De Palma’s 1976 horror hit Carrie was almost as popular as The Exorcist, and it prompted a near-army of telekinetic people, with the likes of Abby (1974), The Reincarnation Of Peter Proud (1975) and Jennifer (1978) leading the way. Despite the network rules and regulations that prevented them from trading in the kind of blood and gore so inventively peddled by The Exorcist and Carrie, the telemovie format also waded into territory demonic and telekinetic with titles like Satan’s School For Girls (1973), The Spell (1977), and The Initiation Of Sarah (1978). 1977’s lesser known The Possessed achieved something special, however, by not only lifting liberally from both The Exorcist and Carrie, but also by being a solid little flick in the process.
Written and directed by two prolific TV vets in John Sacret Young and Jerry Thorpe, respectively, The Possessed was first broadcast on major network NBC on May 1, 1977, and was crafted as a pilot for an intended series based around demonic possession and the supernatural. Though the hoped-for series never eventuated, The Possessed stoked up enormous interest for another reason: broadcast only three weeks before the release of the epoch-shifting Star Wars, the low-key telemovie features just-around-the-corner superstar Harrison Ford in a small but eye-catching supporting role, guaranteeing The Possessed eternal cache.
Beginning with an enjoyably trippy sequence that almost plays out like the weekly “origin story” intro of a regular TV series, we see deeply troubled alcoholic priest Kevin Leahy (James Farantino) die in a car accident. As paramedics pound away and try to bring him back to life, Leahy receives a verbal visit from God, who portentously informs the prone padre that he is now responsible for hunting out demonic evil and eradicating it. And so it would have presumably gone each week…
In this first intended outing, Kevin Leahy finds himself at The Helen Page School, an exclusive Catholic institution for girls run by sisters Louise Gelson (Joan Hackett) and Ellen Sumner (Claudette Nevins). Things at the school have been inexplicably catching fire, and Leahy arrives just as proceedings are escalating toward seriously dangerous heights. While police detective Sergeant Taplinger (Eugene Roche) takes a more clues-and-motivation type approach to his investigation, Leahy is certain that The Devil – or his minions – have a hand in the incendiary goings-on at The Helen Page School.
Driven by a strong, haunting score from top-tier composer Leonard Rosenman (East Of Eden, Rebel Without A Cause, Barry Lyndon, Race With The Devil) and a well-controlled air of quiet dread courtesy of director Jerry Thorpe, The Possessed is an enjoyably creepy number which moves along at a crisp pace despite its lack of any major plot reveals or surprises. Like The Exorcist, The Possessed has a downbeat mood and real sense of place that locates it pointedly within the “real” world. This is no Gothic horror, but rather one that cruelly unfolds next door or down the street.
The performances are also highly effective. With his turtlenecks, sports coats and unforced, softly spoken manner, James Farantino (best known to viewers-of-a-certain-age as the helicopter pilot sub for Roy Scheider in the short-lived TV series of the hit film Blue Thunder) makes for a winningly meditative hero. Joan Hackett and Claudette Nevins are excellent as the gradually unravelling sisters, while their schoolgirl charges are energetically played by the cultish likes of Diana Scarwid (Rumble Fish), PJ Soles (Halloween, Rock’n’Roll High School) and the delightful Ann Dusenberry (Cutter’s Way, Heart Beat), who really should have been a much, much bigger star. Prolific character actor Eugene Roche, meanwhile, is excellent as the very Lt. Kinderman-like cop-on-the-case.
The big future star here is, of course, a bespectacled Harrison Ford, who plays The Helen Page School’s smarmy biology teacher with a muted version of the cocky swagger that would eventually propel him to superstardom via a galaxy far, far away. Handsome, charming and very cheeky, this is very much the Harrison Ford we know and love, and The Possessed is a must-see for Han Solo completists desperate to see everything the actor has done. It’s a strong turn, and far from a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it deal.
Moody and memorable, and with an atmospheric sense of dread permeating every frame, The Possessed is far from original, but is wholly compelling regardless, and could have made for quite a fascinating weekly TV series.
Availability: The Possessed is very easy to find online, and when you do source it, it’s in very good-looking and strong-sounding form.
If you enjoyed this review, check out our other vintage telemovies Memorial Day, That Certain Summer, Elvis And The Beauty Queen, Scandal In A Small Town, Victims For Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story, The Seduction Of Gina, Blue Murder, The Brotherhood Of Justice, The Wave, The California Kid, The Cracker Factory, Night Terror, Inmates: A Love Story, The Shadow Riders, CHiPs: Roller Disco, Dawn: Portrait Of A Teenage Runaway, Young Love, First Love, Escape From Bogen County, The Death Squad, Hit Lady, Brian’s Song, The Defiant Ones, A Cry For Help, Trilogy Of Terror, Policewoman Centerfold, Smash-Up On Interstate 5, Something Evil, Savage, A Step Out Of Line, The Boy In The Plastic Bubble, The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission, A Very Brady Christmas, The Gladiator, Elvis, The Rat Pack, Silent Victory: The Kitty O’Neil Story, Terror Among Us, The Hanged Man, Hardcase, Charlie’s Angels: Angels In Vegas, Vanishing Point, To Heal A Nation, Fugitive Among Us, To Kill A Cop, Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Police Story: A Chance To Live, Murder On Flight 502, Moon Of The Wolf, The Secret Night Caller, Cotton Candy, And The Band Played On, Gargoyles, Death Car On The Freeway, Short Walk To Daylight, Trapped, Hotline, Killdozer, The Jericho Mile, Mongo’s Back In Town and Tribes.
