The Entity (1983)

A Major Disappointment

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The true story about a woman constantly raped and beaten by a ghost in the house. The visuals for the electricity ages, but the performance from Barbara Hershey and other forms of special effects are quite startling. It was very scary and intelligent. Intense and unexpected when the ghost would strike next. Exciting and powerful. Very well done.

This move makes claims to be based upon a real story. I have not done any research on the real Carla Moran, or her claims. I am not arguing the validity of her claims. That's not actually important to a critique of the movie, which seizes on this story as it seems a perfect amalgam of two horror trends that were very popular at this time. On one hand, this movie is just one of a flood of ghost stories that permeated horror in the late 70s and early 80s. Yes, there have always been ghost stories and always will be, as they have been a part of horror lore since the dawn of story telling, but we hit a peak of cinematic spooks at this time. Whether the influence of THE EXORCIST or, perhaps more, THE AMITYVILLE HORROR, Hollywood was ripe with ghost stories at the dawn of the 80s. Another popular trend was the rape/ revenge movie. While I am not going to argue that this movie is in the same genre as I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE, there are certain similarities, if none other than using the format of brutal rape to tempt interest from the average male horror fan. I know that many of you are right now thinking "how dare he" claim that people want to see rape, but let's be honest here. We all know that there are those who will be drawn towards this movie by its' basis.For me, this generic quality of the style of movie is where the problems really begin. I've seen BURNT OFFERINGS, AMITYVILLE, SENTINEL, CHANGELING, POLTERGEIST, etc etc etc. For a movie to stand out in this mini genre it has to really offer something and this movie just failed to do that for me. One of the problem, I believe, is that the raping begins early on in the movie. While not all horror wants to aim for the slow burn approach, in this case, I feel that it would have been better suited to allow the audience to get to know Carla, her background, her "story" earlier, so that we felt more empathy for her ordeal. We gradually start to hear about her background and how that may play into her claims. There are certainly those in the movie from a psychology point of view who would say that she was the perfect candidate to create a fantasy such as this.I feel that the movie went less, though, for a psychological or sympathetic horror and more for outright scares and, in this approach, it just fails. This is a ghost or demon and while I understand that it's not your typical "rattling chains" kind of spook, some attempt to create suspense, tension and atmosphere would have been much better served. Instead, our scares are completely telegraphed throughout the movie. Basically the formula is woman is alone in room, woman gets naked, horny ghost molests her, repeat ad naseum for the duration of the movie. It just starts to feel repetitive and more that a little exploitative (which I understand and accept it's supposed to be).You could be superficial and attack this movie for reeking of the 80s, as well, and I do think that it makes the movie less impactful for me, also. A movie can show it's age and the limits of its' effects and still have a timeless quality, rather than feeling so much like a product of its' era, but I do enjoy a lot of movies that I could say feel just as 80s, so I'm not holding that against this movie entirely.The movie just left me wishing for something more, but in the end it's just another generic movie from a wave of very similar movies in the early 80s and there is nothing to make it stand out from the pack.

Way back in the 70s and 80s, when I was just a young feller, I enthusiastically devoured horror novels by the ton. The large majority of them were called "The (Noun)", and Frank de Fellita wrote several of them including The Entity, duly filmed in 1982.This purports to be an adaptation of true events whereby a young mother is repeatedly raped by an unseen demonic entity of some sort. Her appeals for help bring her the attentions of a psychologist who thinks it is all in her head, and parapsychologists who believe her. They, like us, have seen that it is real.The film does not present us with the question of whether she is doing this herself, there is no question that this is all genuine. The double drama is a) whether she can be saved, and b) who will win the rationality vs parapsychology battle.In a dramatic, but not particularly horrific, movie, Barbara Hershey is excellent as the terrified but defiant young woman. Ron Silver is massively annoying as the bull-headed psychologist. The special effects, good in their day, are now a bit hokey, especially the prosthetic body used to show invisible fingers at work. And the climax is a bit, "Oh. And...?"

The Entity is a very effective little horror gem. I will start off with the stuff I did not enjoy. First is the ending which is very cheesy and goes against everything the first part of the film was building towards. And the Film does suffer a bit when they bring in the paranormal investigators come into the story. The acting is serviceable at the least and the musical score is as shocking and excellent. The first part of the film is truly terrifying and scary. The rape scenes are brutal and not for the faint of heart. See this flick if you want to see a good supernatural horror film. Skip it if you are easily disturbed by graphic paranormal violence.