The Entity (1982)

"The Entity” is one of those rare horror flicks that contain a certain trait, one that is oddly missing in the horror genre and is practically non-existent in today’s current crop of scare flicks. Can you guess what it is? Well, I’ll tell you…it’s actually scary. I’ve found that the types of horror films that tend to disturb the majority of viewers are films that deal with the paranormal, or better yet, the stuff modern science can’t explain or prove whether it exists or not. The events in films like “The Exorcist” and “The Entity” are scary because they just “may” be possible, and that’s what gets to people, myself included.

I read the novel of “The Entity” prior to viewing the film and one major plus for the film is the terrific screenplay drafted by the author of the book, Frank De Fellita. The novel and film tells the story of thirty-year-old Carla Moran, a fiercely independent woman and mother of three. While brushing her hair one evening Carla is suddenly and viciously beaten and raped by an unseen force. Over time the events continue to take place and Carla decides to visit a shrink. Her faith in psychiatry wavers as the attacks continue, and Carla seeks help from a team of parapsychologists who want to help Carla and study the “entity” that attacks her. A major plus to the movie is the performances, particularly by Barbara Hershey as Carla. Hershey portrays the tormented Carla to perfection and the viewer truly feels sorry for what she is going through. The first attack on Carla comes out of nowhere and is viscous as can be, punctuated by a pounding synthesizer chord that’s pretty damn intense. The attack scenes tend to suffer from repetition as the movie goes on, but watch out for the part where Carla’s body is fondled by “unseen” hands…creepy shit there. The film falters a bit at the mid-way point a bit once the parapsychologists are introduced, and by the end of the movie it’s nothing but bad effects and just a little too much hokum. It’s still a fairly creepy ride though, and you can bet your sweet ass I had the lights on afterwards. “The Entity” is a perfect film to watch in the dark alone and spook the shit out of yourself.