In this, the second installment of my "Horror Classics Series", I'll be taking a look at Sidney J. Furie's justifiably infamous shocker The Entity. A lot of post-Exorcist possession/haunting movies haven't held up particularly well, but time has been exceptionally kind to The Entity. It stands as a tightly-paced, well-made, and most importantly scary little flick. At the time of its initial release in the early 1980's, the American horror scene was really going full-steam into its Teen-Slasher mode, wherein damn-near every horror film was either a sequel to or rip-off of either Friday the 13th or Halloween. So, with that in mind, The Entity was a breakout success, both financially and thematically. While its themes of spectral rape can be seen as (highly) exploitative, this film has far more meat on its bones (and much more on its mind) than just phantom boob-groping and cheap pyrotechnic thrills. In fact, it's downright profound, in some ways. So, why has The Entity remained such a semi-guilty pleasure for this reviewer and for so many others?
The synopsis...
Carla Moran (a pre-Beaches Barbara Hershey) is a single mother of three (two pre-teen girls and a teenaged son) on the verge. She juggles motherhood and work and night-time typing classes, and struggles to keep food on the table. One evening, after tucking in her girls and kissing her son goodnight, she is brutally beaten and then raped by some unseen presence (the titular "entity"). Her son...too late...comes in to help, and even searches the house for the invader, but to no avail. Carla takes her children and flees the house to stay with her friend, and the next morning, at the suggestion of her friend, she goes to see a psychiatrist (Dr. Sneiderman, played by the oft-underrated Ron Silver). The good Doctor sees before him a deeply troubled woman, even without considering her shocking and unbelievable story, and he starts to see Carla as a sort of "pet patient". When Carla is attacked again...and again...her already shaky faith in traditional psychiatric medicine falters, and she seeks the assistance of a pair of parapsychologists. She invites the parapsychologists into her home, where they find that despite their initial cautious disbelief, they've bitten off more of the supernatural than they can chew. So, despite the violent protestations of Dr. Sneiderman, Carla is soon involved in a highly risky and inherently questionable series of experiements, whereby the parapsychological team plan to "trap" the entity in a huge block of "liquid helium" (!), thus serving the dual purpose of ridding Carla of her problem and, for the first time, isolating a spiritual entity in some tangible, physical form.
As most readers will know, The Entity is based on a "true story". The "real" Carla Moran was never subjected to the highly bizarre "liquid helium" experiment. In fact, shortly after parapsychologists became involved in the "real" case, Carla moved, taking her children with her, to an undisclosed location, thereby severing all contact with both her psychiatrist and the parapsychological researchers. Supposedly, while the attacks diminished in both severity and frequency, they settled to a more "reasonable" and "livable" level, and Moran simply moved on with her life. The novel "The Entity" by Frank De Felitta (who also penned the screenplay) plays loose and fast with the facts, though De Felitta supposedly became quite close to the "real" Carla. The movie and novel both add considerable content, as a kind of "what-if"...as in, "What if Moran had pursued a parapsychological 'solution' to her problem, instead of simply disappearing?" So, saying that this film is based on a true story isn't exactly accurate. It's better to say that it's loosely based on aspects of a true story, the facts behind which have never been verified. As such, it still plays remarkably like "reality", despite (or perhaps partially because of) the presence of lots of high-tech pseudoscientific technobabble. Nevertheless, it's damned frightening in places, and in many more, it's in turns shocking, eerie, and heartchurning, as one cannot help but to sympathize with Carla's plight.
Just as The Exorcist marked the height of America's fascination with TM (Transcendental Meditation), demonology, and the occult in general, The Entity provides the historical and social watermark whereby one can see those tumultuous waters begin to subside. The Entity blends both the reality-based expression of fear so deftly captured in The Exorcist with the inherent skepticism of psychology so prevelant at the time, then adds a dash of good ol' early-'80's innocence (and the figurative rape thereof) for good measure. Many complained that the film was exploitative because of its fairly graphic scenes of ghostly rape. In fact, star Barbara Hershey has since pretty much refused to answer questions about her involvement with The Entity. One wonders why. I mean, it's not as if there is anything outright gratuitous about those scenes...and no "real" nudity is ever shown. Hershey was given a rubber "body double" for scenes in which her breasts were shown to be fondled by invisible hands (complete with finger impressions and the works). Frankly, Hershey has nothing to be ashamed of, as she gives a fairly remarkable performance, given the delicateness of the subject matter. The only truly questionable (morally, at least) moment in the film comes when Carla is assaulted in front of her own children. I'm not sure if the two little girls who played Carla's daughters were actually present during the filming of these scenes, but I suspect they were, and I can only imagine that they would have gotten a bit emotionally scarred in the process. I digress...
The Entity remains as one of the most effective, thrilling haunting/possession movies ever made. It's kind of the "flip side" of The Exorcist, and like that film, it relies on effective performances as much as pyrotechnics and makeup effects to "sell the story". As previously mentioned, Hershey did a bang-up job of instilling Moran with just the right combination of vulnerability and strength to make her a truly interesting character. Likewise, Ron Silver is excellent as Dr. Sneiderman...who slowly, we feel, becomes more than a bit attracted to and enamored with Carla, thus adding depth and solidity to his growing concern for her well-being. Sidney J. Furie's direction is taut, and shows quite a bit of economy, though many have incorrectly claimed that the film is too long. Personally, I think The Entity is one of those films that works because it takes its time, letting us get to know the characters, and making us nice and clear as to their motivations. The cinematography is smooth and sweeping, and the scenes are lit to full effect. This is a highly-polished, Hollywood horror picture, to be certain, but it doesn't play dumb for the audience. It allows us to come to our own conclusions about what's really going on. The pseudoscientific parapsychological stuff is never really presented in such a way so that we have anything more than a bare minimum of faith in its effectiveness. In fact, some of the more nerve-jangling scares that Furie is able to generate come from the completely indefinite and amateurish nature of those who ostensibly come to Carla's aid. We get the feeling that, at the hands of the "scientists", Carla just might be in more danger than her unseen attacker presents in the first place.
Anchor Bay's spankin' new edition of The Entity isn't quite a "special edition", but it's nevertheless the best presentation of this film I've ever seen. The film itself is presented in 2.35:1 Widescreen, in a sparkly transfer that might be a bit heavy on the shadows, but is clean and attractive anyway. Sound is presented in straightforward 2.0 Stereo, which is a bit disappointing, as the sound effects in this film beg for surround remastering. It's still a serviceable soundtrack, but it could have been better. Next up, the extras, while not plentiful, are intriguing nonetheless. Chief amongst them is a documentary entitled The Entity Files, which intersperses scenes from the movie with an in-depth interview with Dr. Barry Taff (a parapsychologist upon whom one of the film's characters was based). Dr. Taff was involved, it seems, in the "real" case behind The Entity, and in this piece, he sheds some light on his involvement, as well as some of the intrinsic differences between the true story, the book, and the film which they spawned. It's interesting stuff, and it helps add a bit of credence to the story, which only makes it that much more frightening...even if (like me) you think most of parapsychology is hogwash. We also have a theatrical trailer, a poster and stills gallery, and the original screenplay as added DVD-ROM content. There are two things missing from the special feature...any word from the director or the star...and honestly, I can't help wonder why. The Entity is a fine flick, and it generates more scares per foot of celluloid than most Hollywood horror flicks these days. As such, the film itself gets the Atrocities Cinema Essential Award, though the DVD release could use some more depth. Still, it's highly recommended, and it's the best version of this film you're likely to see.
In this, the second installment of my "Horror Classics Series", I'll be taking a look at Sidney J. Furie's justifiably infamous shocker The Entity. A lot of post-Exorcist possession/haunting movies haven't held up particularly well, but time has been exceptionally kind to The Entity. It stands as a tightly-paced, well-made, and most importantly scary little flick. At the time of its initial release in the early 1980's, the American horror scene was really going full-steam into its Teen-Slasher mode, wherein damn-near every horror film was either a sequel to or rip-off of either Friday the 13th or Halloween. So, with that in mind, The Entity was a breakout success, both financially and thematically. While its themes of spectral rape can be seen as (highly) exploitative, this film has far more meat on its bones (and much more on its mind) than just phantom boob-groping and cheap pyrotechnic thrills. In fact, it's downright profound, in some ways. So, why has The Entity remained such a semi-guilty pleasure for this reviewer and for so many others?
