A few people come into possession of an ancient Aztec doll. However, the doll is possessed by an evil spirit, which takes over their bodies.A few people come into possession of an ancient Aztec doll. However, the doll is possessed by an evil spirit, which takes over their bodies.A few people come into possession of an ancient Aztec doll. However, the doll is possessed by an evil spirit, which takes over their bodies.
- Awards
- 1 win
Suzy Stokey
- Sandy
- (as Susan Stokey)
Chad Cowgill
- Tommy
- (as Chad Christian)
Jacqueline Cowgill
- Mrs. Lawrence
- (as Jackie Cowgill)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaRiffed by Rifftrax (Michael J. Nelson, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy).
- GoofsWhen Sandy leaves her bedroom (after having a nightmare), a man with a beard can be seen in the mirror on the door.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Katarina's Nightmare Theater: The Power (2014)
Featured review
Ho-hum horror
My review was written in January 1984 after a Times Square screening.
"The Power" represents a return to horror film basics: the requisite scares and flashy makeup jobs but little else to sustain viewer interest over the length of a feature. Also known during production as "Evil Passage", film is unrelated to the late George Pal's 1968 sci-fi thriller "The Power".
Supernatural tale concerns a tiny (two inches tall) Aztec idol, Destacatyl, which pases from hand to hand wreaking mucho havoc. Stolen by Francis Lott (J. DInan Myrtetus) from a professor, it ends up in the possession of three Los Angeles high school students (Lisa Erickson, Chad Christian, Ben Gilbert) who use it during their amateur attempts to contact the spirit world.
The idol causes the death of a cemetery caretaker during one of the students' sessions, and the kids seek the aid of reporter Sandy McKennah (Susan Stokey) after she writes about the incident for her tabloid The Eyewitness. Sandy's boyfriend Jerry (Warren Lincoln) steals the idol, which possesses him, cuing familiar expanding-bladder makeup effects and general mayhem.
Filmmakers Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter reprise low-budget versions of the levitating and objects-flying-around-the-room special effects pioneered in "The Exorcist" at every opportunity, but fail to create interesting characters or situations. Makeup effects by Matthew Mungle vary in quality but deliver some effective grotesque faces as "evil" is mirrored on the visages of the least scrupulous players. Acting is unimpressive, as is a silly "three years later" epilog scene.
"The Power" departs from recent trends in the genre by being almost devoid of sexual content, except for a scary nightmare scene wherein Sandy imagines a dozen hands grabbing at her from beneath her bed.
Chris Young provides a suitably spooky musical score, which is overly derivative of Camille Saint-Saens' "The Aquarium", previously used on the soundtrack of "Days of Heaven".
"The Power" represents a return to horror film basics: the requisite scares and flashy makeup jobs but little else to sustain viewer interest over the length of a feature. Also known during production as "Evil Passage", film is unrelated to the late George Pal's 1968 sci-fi thriller "The Power".
Supernatural tale concerns a tiny (two inches tall) Aztec idol, Destacatyl, which pases from hand to hand wreaking mucho havoc. Stolen by Francis Lott (J. DInan Myrtetus) from a professor, it ends up in the possession of three Los Angeles high school students (Lisa Erickson, Chad Christian, Ben Gilbert) who use it during their amateur attempts to contact the spirit world.
The idol causes the death of a cemetery caretaker during one of the students' sessions, and the kids seek the aid of reporter Sandy McKennah (Susan Stokey) after she writes about the incident for her tabloid The Eyewitness. Sandy's boyfriend Jerry (Warren Lincoln) steals the idol, which possesses him, cuing familiar expanding-bladder makeup effects and general mayhem.
Filmmakers Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter reprise low-budget versions of the levitating and objects-flying-around-the-room special effects pioneered in "The Exorcist" at every opportunity, but fail to create interesting characters or situations. Makeup effects by Matthew Mungle vary in quality but deliver some effective grotesque faces as "evil" is mirrored on the visages of the least scrupulous players. Acting is unimpressive, as is a silly "three years later" epilog scene.
"The Power" departs from recent trends in the genre by being almost devoid of sexual content, except for a scary nightmare scene wherein Sandy imagines a dozen hands grabbing at her from beneath her bed.
Chris Young provides a suitably spooky musical score, which is overly derivative of Camille Saint-Saens' "The Aquarium", previously used on the soundtrack of "Days of Heaven".
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Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $929,162
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $929,162
- Jan 22, 1984
- Gross worldwide
- $929,162
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