The Fury
(1978) 118 Min.
Rated: R (some gore)
Country: UK
Director: Brian De Palma
Starring: Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, Carrie Snodgress, Amy Irving
Links: IMDB | Wikipedia
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Two espers, one dad trying to find his son and a one-armed villain in The Fury!
Synopsis:
In the middle east a year before the story takes place a goverment official named Peter Sandza (Douglas) tries to protect his son, Robin, as an intelligence operative named Ben Childress (Cassavetes) sends men to kill Peter in order to steal his son. Peter survives the attack, but Robin is at the time convinced that his father has been killed and is whisked away before they can reunite.
In present day, Gillian Bellaver (Irving) is only slightly aware that she has psychic abilities. After a girl in school teases her and pulls on her arm, Gillian tries to pull away and discovers that she’s somehow caused the other girl to have a bloody nose.
Meanwhile, Peter Sandza is on the run, changing his appearance and disguising himself as an old man. Childress has spies everywhere looking for Sandza. As soon as he’s out in the streets Childress’ men recognize him and Peter forces two cops to drive him around at gunpoint. He’s able to lose Childress and his men through fog over a bridge. He is also able to cause the two cars chasing them to explode during a car chase.
Sandza contacts Hester (Snodgress) who he believes is the only person who can help him to get back his son. They spend the night in her van over night.
Gillian and her mother decide to allow Gillian to stay at a psychic research home called Paragon. Gillian enjoys her time there as they play games and test her abilities. She meets Hester there who happens to tell her a little bit about her boyfriend Sandza.
At Paragon, when Gillian slips on the stairs, Dr. Jim McKeever, the director, holds her hand to help her. As their hands touch Gillian has a vision of the past. McKeever is seen chasing a boy, Robin, down the hall. Other men appear to take Robin away. He backs up into a window and crashes through. As the vision ends Gillian pulls her hand away from Dr. McKeever. Their hands are bloody and she is disgusted asking him not to touch her.
Dr. McKeever meets up with the staff and they decide to really test Gillian’s abilities. Dr. McKeever explains that Gillian’s psychic ability manifests itself in making anyone around her power bleed. They drug Gillian and ask her what she saw on the stairs. She recounts that she saw the boy Robin. She responds that she also has seen him before. In fact, she had seen his dead face when she had been tested at school by Hester.
Dr. McKeever spends the night drunk in his office. In the morning, Childress visits him asking about Gillian. Hester happens to be in a nearby room and overhears the conversation. Childress wants to know if Gillian is another Robin and McKeever tries to convince him that Gillian is a fake. Childress also happens to mention that Robin is being treated well where he is kept. That no other country has another just like Robin, unless Gillian, too, has the same power.
Childress decides to have security at Paragon and nearby a van is set up to survey everyone and everything in or out of the Paragon building. One of the researchers, Dr. Ellen Lindstrom, talks to Gillian about the night before and how Dr. McKeever’s hand was bleeding. Gillian doesn’t remember who Robin is, as Ellen suggested she consciously forget who he is. Ellen then shows Gillian photos of Robin and asks her if she can tell Ellen who he is. Gillian is able to tell that Robin is at the P.S.I. research facility. He is drugged and made to watch a film where his father is being shot at. Gillian is experiencing this as it happens and holds onto Ellen’s hand. As Robin experiences shock, so does Gillian and she squeezes on Ellen’s hand causing Ellen to bleed from her hands, ears, and mouth.
After this event, Childress wants to take Gillian to his facility and Hester calls Sandza. Sandza tells Hester that he needs to get Gillian out of Paragon by tomorrow.
Gillian enters Robin’s old room at Paragon and witnesses a scene after Robin jumped through the window trying to escape. He’s unharmed but still wishes to escape. Dr. Susan Charles promises him that they’ll run away together to her place. Hester sees Gillian and talks to her. She tells Gillian that she needs to escape with her as soon as they can.
Meanwhile, at the research facility, Robin is allowed a day at a carnival under Dr. Charles supervision. He has a romantic relationship with Dr.Charles and while he is at the carnival he is jealous that she drinking and talking to other men. In his rage, Robin goes off and sees middle eastern men. A few of them are on a ride. Robin telepathically causes the ride to go very fast and the car to escape and plummet into the side of a building, right into more middle eastern men.
As Hester tries to move Gillian out, she runs outside suddenly. As she’s running slo-mo down the street, Standza is waiting with a gun and shoots a car in pursuit. Unfortunately the car swerves and hits Hester as she’s running after Gillian. Gillian stops, stares at the accident and starts to get upset. Standza shoots a man as he reaches for Gillian and carries Gillian off.
Standza and Gillian ride a bus and talk. Gillian asks about Robin and Peter tells her how Robin’s mother died after childbirth. Standza felt the only person he’d ever marry would be Hester and he cries. In the morning Gillian finds that Standza is gone. He was about to leave Gillian on the bus for Seattle. Gillian, however, is able to convince Standza to go to rescue Robin together.
They both manage to get outside of the building Robin’s staying at and Gillian makes a psychic connection with Robin. He’s aware that they are near. Robin, however, is angry about Gillian and feels like she is a replacement for him. He accuses Dr.Charles of going to use her as a replacement and poison him. So he levitates Dr.Charles and causes her to bleed and kills her. Gillian senses this and starts to scream. This alerts the security on the property.
Standza and Gillian try to run, but are quickly caught and brought before Childress. Robin causes two guards to be thrown through a window to their deaths and Childress tells Standza to go up and retrieve his son, since he is eager. Standza goes into the room to find Robin levitating and he moves to attack his father. They both tumble out of a window, but Standza is able to hold onto the roof. Robin reaches up and snarls at his father and scratches his face, causing Standza to drop his son. After seeing his son on the ground he throws himself down as well. Just before he dies, Gillian holds onto Robin and his eyes glow, transferring power to Gillian.
The next morning Gillian wakes up in a lavish bed greeted by Childress who tells her that everything she’s heard about him is wrong and that he wants to be the person she trusts. He reaches towards her to hold her and she leans into his arms, moves up and kisses his eyelids causing him to turn blind.
Childress stumbles around searching for her. She backs away into a corner and screams at him. Then using her powers she causes him to explode.
Review:
This movie is full of DePalma style. Complete with slo-mo and pans. The only thing I can say is that it’s certainly has a lot of good effects for its age. However, the movie felt a bit bloated and slow. It seemed more like a character driven film and less of a tightly held film. Of course, it could also be just my low patience for slow movies when I’m looking specifically for “thrillers” and horror.
This film has just enough gore to be a horror, but really should be a supernatural thriller. The plot moves along rather sluggishly as the characters happen to move about in 70’s Chicago. I found myself eager to know when the characters would meet and interact, but it was well into the last third of the movie by the time the action really was in motion.
This film, despite its pacing, is pretty decent as a thriller. The slight twist in plot and last scene are entertaining enough to be a pay off, but if you don’t have the patience for 70’s DePalma slo-mo pans, then this film may not be for you.