70's American Horror Part Twenty-Five

THE POSSESSION OF JOEL DELANEY

(1972)

Dir - Waris Hussein

Overall: MEH

Directed by British/Indian filmmaker Waris Hussein who is noteworthy to Doctor Who fans for being behind the lens on the very first every story An Unearthly Child, The Possession of Joel Delaney is an adaptation of Ramona Stewart's novel of the same name.  The film is most infamous for its final scene in which a thirteen year old boy is forced to dance naked and his young sister likewise forced to eat dog food.  The unwholesome conclusion appears rather jarringly, having come from a rather plodding ninety minutes where very little of interest happens, least of all something so disturbing.  A-lister Shirley MacLaine does admirable work even with the rather weak material, but the movie does not offer up any unique possession concepts within the annals of horror films.  As a story about a sadistic Puerto Rican serial killer who was abandoned as a child and brought up in poverty who then takes over the body of an upper class, causation woman's brother, there are some borderline themes of race and classicism.  The movie does not explore such things too compellingly though and the predominant lack of scares or tension plus the meandering pacing leaves it nowhere really to go.

THE PREMONITION

(1976)

Dir - Robert Schnitzer

Overall: MEH

A low-budget and quite unusual psychological horror film from Robert Schnitzer, The Premonition has a number of unconventional problems.  The editing is often sloppy, actors fumble their lines, and the plot becomes incomprehensible in its final act.  Schnitzer utilizes guerilla-style, hand-held camera work and flat cinematography, yet juxtaposes these with hallucination sequences that are more oddly ambitious.  At least on paper, there are some effectively startling scenes, but they may become less or more disturbing due to the overall strangeness of the presentation.  The lead characters are quite unhinged, with Richard Lynch making for a menacing villain and both Danielle Brisebois and Sharon Farrell coming apart at the seams as two emotionally traumatized women.  Things take awhile to truly get underway, but the movie's last thirty minutes play off as if the production had run out of money and they were forced to put together an ending based on whatever footage they had already shot.  Stylistically, the amatuerish, technical mistakes and eerie, deliberate tone make for a curious watch, which is more successful in certain moments than in others.

STRANGER IN OUR HOUSE

(1978)

Dir - Wes Craven

Overall: MEH

Wes Craven's third feature-length film and first directorial gig since relocating from New York to Los Angeles was the relatively average Stranger In Our House.  An adaptation of Lois Duncan's novel Summer of Fear, (the title of which it was releases as theatrically in Europe), it debuted on NBC on Halloween in 1978.  Hot off the trainwreck that was Exorcist II: The Heretic, Linda Blair is not blowing any minds with her pretty weak lead performance here, though it is not quite as bad as some of her future, Razzie nominated ones.  For his part behind the lens, Craven does not get to shine much within such sterilized, made-for-TV confines.  The story has some potential, but it mostly just ends up revolving around Blair and Lee Purcell not getting along while it is bright and sunny outside.  By the director's own admittance, it was more of a technical learning experience than an ideal, creative outlet.  A job is a job after all.  Things finally get a little atmospheric and freaky in the last ten minutes, yet not only is this far too little too late, but the ending hardly packs much of a wallop anyway.  Of interest to the curious Craven fan perhaps, though that is about it.