The Possessed

source: The Possessed

Moviecut—The Possessed

The Possessed

The nail spitting! I'm now 56 and remember it vividly even though I saw it in about 1980 on late night (British) TV - scared the hell out of me! I can't remember much else about the movie but the fact the brilliant Joan Hackett is in it does it for me, it must be pretty good. I'd love to see it again.

Thank you IMDb. I remember seeing this as a kid back in the 1980s when my dad taped it after a late night BBC screening. For years that nail spewing scene has lived with me. Recently, I found myself thinking "Why have I never seen that film where a woman vomits nails again? Surely it's a horror classic." That bit scared the hell out of me when I was a kid, even though I remembered next to nothing else about it. Google searches along the lines of "puke" "nails" "school" came up with nothing. No one else seems to remember it. And then, thanks to IMDb, I find that I hadn't just imagined it! It exists. Glad that other people shared the experience of seeing this as a kid. I'd love to watch it again, although I understand it may not be as good as I remember it.

Made for TV movies are fun. "The Possessed" is like a small screen version of "The Exorcist". Only easier to see. A priest(James Farentino) who was involved in a car accident gets a second chance at life following his ordeal with alcohol and disbelief. He would go to this all-girls school which next year would be coed. Bad things happen in the school. Things were catching on fire, the graduating class get a little scare when the valedictorian gets mysteriously burned during practice. And most of all, the biology teacher(Harrison Ford) gets engulfed by the flames after he saved the student, earlier. The priest takes action against the evil that terrorized the school. Despite being a TV movie, it does have a great cast. Eventhough Ford's role was small. It was made by Warner Bros. Still good to enjoy. 2 out of 5 stars

Wow. I've been searching for this movie for decades, now. I tried searching all the keywords and possible titles, and was not able to find it until I asked for help on the IMDb community boards, and I'm so glad to have found it again! I will never forget the way she looked at the end... her skin, and eyes, and the way her lips were so severely chapped and raw... and then she spews nails at the guy, and he grabs her and falls or jumps into the pool and they are enveloped and consumed by the erupting fire! I was definitely freaked out. This movie made such a huge impact on me, I don't think I'll ever forget it... Not that scene anyway!!

While by no means on par with such a great made-for-tv horror films from the 70s, such as The Night Stalker and Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, not to mention the early 80s classic Dark Night of the Scarecrow, The Possessed is chock-full of fantastic acting. Those playing the high school girls, right on up through more experienced actors like James Farentino, a young Harrison Ford, and the wonderful character actor, Eugene Roche, all take their roles seriously, and turn what could have easily been a ho-hum affair into something far more entertaining. As silly as the plot is on the face of it, if one suspends disbelief, there is also some above-average dialogue.

Lost-his-faith priest Kevin Leahy (James Farentino) dies in a car accident. He is admonished by God for having lost his faith and returned to Earth on a mission to seek out evil. He quickly finds it at an all girls school run by siblings Ellen (Claudette Nevins) and Louise (Joan Hackett). Fires have been starting with seemingly no source and it appears to actually be targeting the girls. This TV movie plays like a pilot for THE EXORCIST: THE SERIES, but WB Television never went any further with it. Farentino is good in the lead role and you'll notice some familiar faces among the students including P.J. Soles, Dinah Manoff, and Ann Dusenberry. Perhaps the biggest draw for folks is a pre-STAR WARS Harrison Ford as the girls' biology teacher. The fire bits are pretty spooky, as is the performance of the possessed person (I won't spoil it) during the last ten minutes. The end gets down to the EXORCIST-lite moments, including the possessed person puking up nails (!) on the priest.

This late out of the blocks made-for-t.v. rip-off of "The Exorcist" is unlucky enough to 'star' James Farentino, busy nursing his two expressions until the next mini-series comes along. What redeems this film though are a strong performance by a young Harrison Ford and a simply terrific one by Joan Hackett.Her character oozes madness, repressed sexuality and fierce intelligence, displayed with a clarity reminiscent of Anthony Perkins work in "Psycho". Rarely has insanity been so chillingly portrayed as here, despite the limitations of the format.