Review: Abby

Carol Speed stars as the title young woman, who has just moved into a new house with her husband Terry Carter, an apprentice priest. All of a sudden Abby starts to undergo severe and frightening changes, becoming uncharacteristically foul-mouthed and sexually aggressive, and even having the capacity to move objects mentally. Carter thinks he better call in an expert, namely his father William Marshall, a priest who also happens to be a college professor of ancient religions and cults. Juanita Moore plays Abby’s mother, with Austin Stoker turning up as Abby’s brother.

 

The notorious 1974 William Girdler (“Sheba, Baby”, “The Manitou”) blaxploitation rip-off of “The Exorcist” that resulted in Warner Brothers suing AIP and getting the film taken out of circulation in the US for years. It made money, but due to the lawsuit Girdler himself sadly saw none of it, and he died in 1978 at age 30. Apparently a later court ruling realised Warners didn’t have a monopoly on exorcism films and tropes, but by then it was too late. There were other problems with distribution companies and so forth by that point. Is the film any good? Yes as a matter of fact it is, but it has a wildly different effect than “The Exorcist” and you need to be prepared for that. This is campy B-movie fun to be viewed purely on that level. It may have been inspired by “The Exorcist”, but no one here surely thought they were making anything more than a blaxploitation horror film cashing in on the success of an A-grade horror film. I wouldn’t call this a case of plagiarism at all, just shameless opportunism. Yes, there are moments and attributes that blatantly steal from Friedkin’s film, but only a few and to rather different effect. A blaxploitation film running less than 90 minutes isn’t going to be an exact replica of the serious-minded, 2+ hour William Friedkin film and early on it plays more like a Hammer film if you ask me. The film is certainly rough at times – it’s nowhere near as polished as “The Exorcist” and there’s a bit too much padding even in an under 90 minute film. Still, there’s things to enjoy here and it deserved a better fate. Why wasn’t the awful “Exorcist II: The Heretic” taken to court instead? That’s a shameless cash-in on the first film and did much more damage to “The Exorcist” than “Abby”.

 

William Marshall and his booming voice is a terrific substitute for Max von Sydow (possibly even more impressive actually) but the kids playing his students struggle to spit their lines out, and the editing is incredibly crude throughout. However, once it gets going there are some really interesting, creepy, and just plain weird moments. Director Girdler is pretty decent at drumming up atmosphere and scary tricks on an ultra low-budget, even if they seem more haunted house movie than “The Exorcist”. This isn’t anywhere near as serious-minded, it’s more weird, goofy, and entertaining. Even when the film does blatantly steal from “The Exorcist” such as the demonic voice and flash inserts of the demon, it’s so silly and crudely done that it all works on an entirely different level to that film: Fun. We also get rock-solid turns by Austin Stoker, Juanita Moore, Carol Speed, and especially Terry Carter who gives the best performance in the film as the apprentice priest/boyfriend to the title character. While Marshall is gone for long stretches, it’s Carter taking the reins in his absence. If the film has any real flaws it’s that Marshall is underused and there’s a bit too much time spent at the nightclub. Those aren’t fatal flaws, just ones that stop the film being even more enjoyable.

 

As much as there are genuinely effective moments of horror, this is so campy overall that I find it cruel that this film was taken to court at all. Yes, it’s inspired by “The Exorcist” as even Girdler admitted, and yes the voice and demon insert shots are obvious, but so what? Look at all the “Star Wars” rip-offs from the late 70s and early 80s or the Italian-made “Mad Max II” rip-offs, were they taken to court? This is hardly the most blatant rip-off out there. I found it interesting, and it’s sad that it’s been so rarely viewed over the years. Whether this was a shameless cash-in attempt on “The Exorcist” or not, it’s an enjoyable enough schlocky B-movie to have deserved a better fate. Warner Brothers should’ve been ashamed of themselves for targeting this smaller film (from AIP). If you can track this one down, give it a look and judge for yourself. The screenplay is by G. Cornell Layne (who was briefly a staff writer on “Days of Our Lives”, a show that many years later infamously and hilariously dealt with demonic possession – but wasn’t sued by Warner Brothers), from a story by Layne and Girdler after they both watched “The Exorcist” I guess.

 

Rating: B-