The Fury Within (1998)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

+Major Spoilers+ A much better then you would expect horror movie from down under that tells it all in it's title "The Fury Within". With Jill Hanlons, Ally Sheedy, husband Mike, Costas Mandylor, having a secret affair with Sandy, Jodie Dry, a pretty blond who works in the same office who Mike met, in of all places, in the elevator things begin to happen to the Hanlons that defy explanation. Wild and mysterious dogs and demons seem to appearer out of nowhere terrifying everyone in the Harlon home and then disappearing into thin air leaving nothing but bad memories behind. One scary night at the Harlon house the celling seemed to open up with hundreds of rocks and boulders falling out of it smashing everything in the place but the next morning nothing was found broken not even a matchstick. Everything that happened seemed to point to the Horlans young ten-year old son Jimmy,Vincent Berry, as the culprit and even in school Jimmy is accused of tearing up the school library and painting graffiti on his teachers garage door. Having Jimmy expelled from school and having him sent to psychiatrists for help nothing seemed to work and poor Jimmy had nothing to look forward to but spending the rest of his life in a mental institution. With no rational or scientific explanation for Jimmys suspected actions his parents, in sheer desperation, have him see and be examined by Dr. Stephen Johnson, Steve Bastoni, who specializes in the unknown and supernatural. The Doctor finds out that what's happening to the Hanlons has nothing at all to do with Jimmy. Those actions that he's accused of originate from deep inside the Limbic Reigon of the brain and the brain in question is that not of Jimmy but of his mom Jill Hanlon. It's that discovery that in the end will cost Dr. Johnson his life as well as the life of Mike's lover Sandy who jumps, or falls, into an air-condition fan. Jill who was holding everything in with her husband cheating on her and about to leave her for another woman had somehow, unconsciously, activated the Limbic Reigon deep inside her brain that released the uncontrollable fury that she was trying to suppress all that time. As Jill's home and marriage began to fall apart the fury from deep inside began to get more and more ferocious and deadly with her having no way of stopping it. At the conclusion of the film Jill in order to prevent the fury within her from destroying everyone and everything that it came in contact with, including her husband and children, focused it directly on herself to bring it back from where it came from. As "The Fury Within" ends we see just how high a price Jill paid for making that fateful decision.

Ally Sheedy and her family are tormented by the supernatural in this hopelessly silly combination of Poltergeist and Carrie cliches. Airborne cutlery, a hungry rottweiler, a concerned parapsychologist, and a lot of condensation appear in the proceedings. The acting is good (especially Sheedy), but bland writing and presentation--not to mention a ridiculous computer-generated "monster"--keep it from excelling. The ending might make you scream, but only with laughter. Watch Trilogy of Terror instead.

If you like horror films this one delivers the goods well enough, with plenty of special effects and at least an attempt to rationalise the thing with a psychological basis. Ally Sheedy's low-key performance tends to increase the effect, making her the fulcrum around which everything moves, but is this really the sort of role she wants to play? The other performances are more than acceptable, but I won't be rushing to see it again.

Centered around a couples divorce is the possibility that their son is a portal for a poltergeist. Focusing on this issue, is the plot for this made for TV movie. The acting is average and the writing is decent. The movie is interesting enough to hold your attention. It builds the suspense as each supernatural event climaxes at a more disturbing level.