Year of Release: 1978
Director: Brian De Palma
Starring: Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, Carrie Snodgress, Amy Irving, Charles Durning, Fiona Lewis, Andrew Stevens, Carol Eve Rossen, Rutanya Alda, William Finley, Jane Lambert, J. Patrick McNamara, Alice Nunn, Pat Billingsley, Dennis Franz, Jack Callahan
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
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Synopsis and Review:
Director Brian De Palma followed his successful double releases of 1976, "Carrie" and "Obsession", with another book adaptation, this time around, from author John Farris, who also wrote the screenplay. "The Fury" follows the story of Peter Sandza, an ex-CIA agent who we initially find on vacation with his son Robin, in Israel. Peter is planning on leaving his agent life, however a colleague of his visiting him and Robin, by the name of Childress, has his own plans. He knows Robin has psychic and telekinetic abilities, and therefore stages an attack, in order to kill Peter and escape with Robin. While the attack does occur, Peter manages to escape, and makes his way back to the US trailing Childress and the heartbroken Robin, who believes his father is indeed dead. Back in the US another teenager starts demonstrating the same abilities as Robin, a young woman by the name of Gillian. While Robin is being kept in an institute, he and Gillian somehow form a telepathic bond. Peter, thanks to the help of Hester, a woman he has been dating, meets Gillian, and they both set out to save Robin.
This supernatural thriller, while not as effective as "Carrie" or some of his subsequent films, is still filled with plenty of typical Brian De Palma imagery and themes. For starters, the duplicitous aspect of the characters, and the progressive disclosure of their true natures, alongside the central anti-hero, who has to somehow rise to the occasion when in presence of considerable challenges. While all these themes shine through, the plot itself is somewhat murky and while going in quite a few tangents, it doesn't solve them quite as effectively. Ultimately the narrative opens a variety of subplots, and never truly gives them much dimension, the same going for most of the characters. Peter, or for that matter, Childress, are never given much dimension or background itself in order to fully understand what their motivations are. There are quite a few elements to this plot that are never truly explored, causing the film to feel somewhat inconsistent (some of these themes would appear with some additional exposition in Stephen King's "Firestarter" for instance or even David Cronenberg's "Scanners"). The cast is populated with great talent, including Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, Carrie Snodgress, Charles Durning and Amy Irving, while the production team includes a great score from John Williams and solid cinematography from Richard H. Kline. While not one of his best features, it's nonetheless an entertaining film from a great director.
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