The Power (1984)

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Fresh and Exciting

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Yep, you guessed it, another deservedly obscure no-budget cheesy American horror movie which is almost totally worthless as a film. I usually don't mind watching these kind of films but I found myself unusually intolerant of this one, maybe because it's so tiresome. I don't really know how someone can make a film about a man being possessed by an evil Aztec doll uninteresting but the makers of this movie manage to. It's not that the film is lacking in action or that it's totally worthless, it's just so similar to a hundred others and the merit to be gained from watching is hardly worth the ninety minutes.The film does have a good beginning, I'll grant it that. It starts off with the usual stuffy college professor being heckled by his brain-dead class, but the twist here is that HE is possessed by the doll and causes one of them to have a major nosebleed. Soon afterwards he is levitated into the air by the presence and is gorily impaled on a flag pole jutting from a nearby wall. After lots more messing around in the dark and confusing plot points we are introduced to what look like the main characters, a trilogy of nerdy teenagers who decide to hold a séance in a deserted warehouse at night. This of course ends in death, with a security guard being crushed by a huge crate. It's all very unimpressive.The film's main characters (as if there weren't enough all ready - damn) are now ready to be introduced. First of all we have an irritating female reporter who is sceptical of the whole thing and also happens to be a really bad actress to boot. Her geeky boyfriend, however, takes an interest in the idol. Cue a possession which takes an age to actually get anywhere, lots of dialogue, and people wandering around in the dark so you can't see what's happening. It goes without saying that the amateur-style acting is bad, pretty much from the whole cast. There isn't a single character to care about either. The plot is clichéd and trivial and the film as a whole forgettable and worthless. The only thing good about it is the music, which at least manages to be spooky. The only reason horror fans would bother watching this is, I guess, the special effects and I'm sorry to say that they disappoint also.Most of the gore is saved for the finale in which a girl has her hand chewed by a waste disposal unit (ouch!) and a man turns into an ugly demon and pulses and disintegrates in what looks like a scene ripped off from the end of AMITYVILLE II: THE POSSESSION. Probably my favourite special effect in the whole film is when a boy sees all manner of objects on his desk being attracted to his Aztec doll as if by a magnetic force. A simple effect yes, but the simpleness and unexpected nature of it is what impressed me most and it's much more interesting than the tiresome yucky blood scenes. In any case give this no-hoper a miss or risk wasting ninety minutes of your life.

Three high school students obtain an ancient and dangerous Aztec idol. Pretty soon an evil spirit gets unleashed and possesses the body of a young man who steals it for his own nefarious purposes. Writers/directors Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter relate the compelling story at a steady pace, do an able job of crafting a strong gloom-doom atmosphere, maintain a grimly serious tone throughout, deliver a few nice bits of gore, firmly ground the fantastic premise in a credible everyday reality, make nice use of funky practical effects, and pull out all the exciting stops at the lively climax. Moreover, Obrow and Carpenter warrant extra points not only for presenting believable characters who actually look like real people, but also for covering some inspired and interesting largely uncharted territory with the novel Aztec religion hook. The decent acting from a competent non-star cast rates as another major asset, with especially praiseworthy contributions from Susan Stokey as spunky newspaper writer Sandy, Warren Lincoln as the amiable Jerry, Lisa Erikson as the perky Julie, and J. Dinan Myrtetus as the obsessed Francis Lott. Carpenter's proficient cinematography provides a fairly polished look. Christopher Young's spirited shivery score hits the stirring spine-tingling spot. A cool little fright flick.

Through a confusing series of events, a trio of high school teens end up with a figurine of Destacatyl, an Aztec god of something bad. They turn it over to tabloid reporter Sandy (Susan Stokey). Soon her friend Jerry (Warren Lincoln) is seduced by its power, turning into a misshapen monster of rage that, naturally, is angry she won't go out with him. This was the second feature from directors Stephen Carpenter and Jeffrey Obrow, after the slasher THE DORM THAT DRIPPED BLOOD (1982). Props to them for not delivering another slasher, but this is pretty so-so stuff. The set up is unfocused (four writers are credited) and you don't really get too emotionally involved in the characters. There are some nice FX by Matthew Mungle, also a DORM alumni, towards the end though. And Christopher Young contributes a score that is way too classy sounding for the material. After this they would go on to co-direct THE KINDRED (1987) and the Koontz adaptation SERVANTS OF TWILIGHT (1991) before breaking up as a team.

The Power started off looking promising but soon became boring and tedious to watch. The plot is about an ancient Aztec doll that takes possession of those who own it. The idea is "decent enough" and this film would have been fairly entertaining had it been done better. However after the first ten minutes or so it soon becomes boring; we don't get any good death scenes and have to listen to loads of talking. At the end one of the possessed men meets his death by melting away in front of two girls, but it's not very interesting and definitely not gory.I wouldn't recommend The Power to any horror or slasher fan as there's little to be gained from it.