Sandwiched in between their slasher "The Dorm That Dripped Blood" (a.k.a. "Pranks") and their monster movie "The Kindred" is the supernatural shocker "The Power" by the filmmaking team of Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter. The acting by the no-name cast is sincere and not as incompetent as would usually be the case for such a low budget genre piece. Obrow and Carpenter don't go about making sure that their little movie makes a whole lot of sense but do give it a respectable level of atmosphere and some decent horror scenes. Of course, the viewer does have to sit through less interesting parts to get to the good stuff.
The tale involves a miniature Aztec idol made to honour a god named Destacatyl. This idol often brings death and destruction to those in its vicinity, and makes its way into the possession of some high school students with an interest in the occult. A young man named Jerry (played by the big-haired Warren Lincoln) is *really* intrigued by their story and becomes determined to get his hands on this idol, which leaves him vulnerable to getting possessed by this Destacatyl. This leads to nightmares for Jerry's ex-girlfriend Sandy (Susan Stokey), a journalist, and various otherworldly occurrences.
Noteworthy components include the moody lighting by Carpenter, the excellent music by Christopher Young, enjoyable visuals (arms shooting out of a mattress), and pretty good makeup effects by Matthew W. Mungle. Standing out (relatively speaking) among the cast is the attractive and appealing Lisa Erickson as Julie. Overall, the movie is watchable if nothing special, but the last second twist ending comes off as just too predictable.
If you're a genre completist who would like to see just about everything from the 1980s, then by all means give "The Power" a try; just don't expect too much.
Six out of 10.
The tale involves a miniature Aztec idol made to honour a god named Destacatyl. This idol often brings death and destruction to those in its vicinity, and makes its way into the possession of some high school students with an interest in the occult. A young man named Jerry (played by the big-haired Warren Lincoln) is *really* intrigued by their story and becomes determined to get his hands on this idol, which leaves him vulnerable to getting possessed by this Destacatyl. This leads to nightmares for Jerry's ex-girlfriend Sandy (Susan Stokey), a journalist, and various otherworldly occurrences.
Noteworthy components include the moody lighting by Carpenter, the excellent music by Christopher Young, enjoyable visuals (arms shooting out of a mattress), and pretty good makeup effects by Matthew W. Mungle. Standing out (relatively speaking) among the cast is the attractive and appealing Lisa Erickson as Julie. Overall, the movie is watchable if nothing special, but the last second twist ending comes off as just too predictable.
If you're a genre completist who would like to see just about everything from the 1980s, then by all means give "The Power" a try; just don't expect too much.
Six out of 10.