Review of The Fury (1978) by Karl A — 28 Jan 2014

I think its time for a look at another Brian DePalma film from the vaults,although Im a little torn between whether I like it or not...It seems to have all the nescessary componants for a great thriller....Taken from a good pulp novel by John Farris, music by John Williams, decent acting by Kirk Douglas and Amy Irving, a great turn as a villain by Nick Cassavettes , enough action to keep the plot moving at a fairly rapid pace, and one of the best death scenes to end a film that you may ever see...

AS a follow up to his film Carrie, his direction seems to be a little more assured but I think the problem I have is that it all seems a little , been there, done that.

The story revolves around a telekinetic teen boy that is kidnapped and is being manipulated by a government agency, while his father, with the aid of a telekinetic teen girl ,is trying to locate and rescue him. All the while , the pairs ever growing powers are manifesting themselves in ever increasing Carrie-esque fashions. Everything from nosebleeds,fires, and runaway amusement park rides, continually ramp up the action until the explosive final scene.

But the whole story starts to feel like a mash up of his own film Carrie, Stephen King' Firestarter and a little bit of Cronenberg's Scanners thrown in for effect.

Dont get me wrong, I would still recommend The Fury, especially to those interested in seeing his film transition from Carrie into Blow Out and Scarface, but I would consider this one a bit of a minor misstep as DePalma tried to find his directorial voice.