Abby (1974)

Just perfect...

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Bishop and Archaeologist Garnett Williams (BLACULA's William Marshall) unleashed a demon in Africa and it travels all the way to the US to possess his daughter-in-law Abby (Carol Speed). Things move quickly as Abby starts cursing, vomiting, abusing her husband Emmett (Terry Carter) and attacking an old lady. Garnett returns to the US to exorcise this demon but he, Emmett and Abby's detective brother Cass (Austin Stoker) must find her first as she has disappeared into the city.This is pretty cheaply made but entertaining as hell. Speed is quite over-the-top at points but it all works. Hearing the deep base voice throwing obscenities is both hilarious and shocking. The rest of the cast handles it all well, keeping a serious face during the absurd proceedings. Director William Girdler wastes little time (the film runs 85 minutes) and delivers a few atmospheric bits, like when the entity is first released in a cave and when it enters the Williams' house. Warner Bros. apparently successfully sued AIP and got this pulled from theaters. A shame really because, outside of a foul mouthed demon, there is very little similarity and I doubt WB owns the copyright on films about demonic possession.

I just had the pleasure of watching the Cinefear DVD that's been released of this forgotten treasure. What a treat!!! It's really a very good film, and considering the source for the transfer was a 16mm print, overall the picture is very good. It's full-frame, but they even have a disclaimer on the back of the DVD box that explains it was filmed in Scope, so therefore it has never been, or will be, available in widescreen. With that being said, I don't understand why Warner Bros. sued, and won, for this being a rip-off of "The Exorcist"----two, completely different horror films---in story and style. This actually reminded me more of "The Evil Dead", than "The Exorcist". I won't belabor the readers with a synopsis of the story, as it's been told here on the boards many, many times. I'll just end by saying this was highly entertaining, had some good jumps, an overall creepy atmosphere, and I'd take watching this film over any of the Hollywood crapfesthorror wannabees like "The Grudge" any day. Great popcorn fodder----turn down the lights, and enjoy!!

Although it's a kind of movie that's more interesting to talk about than actually see, ABBY isn't too bad at all. A blaxploitation knockoff of THE EXORCIST, it rings some interesting changes on the subtext, becoming more a kind of muddled musing on the sexual revolution than anything else. The acting is reasonably good -- Marshall, always fine, is very commanding in the Von Sydow role, and Carol Speed runs a thin edge of hysteria here and there. The best thing in the movie are the scenes of the men shaking their heads, trying to figure out what happened to the sweet wife they thought they knew.Movie suffers from a low budget, and shows every cheap cent of it. Plus it doesn't even attempt to be scary, which doesn't help. But it's worth seeing for the performances, for the Girdler connection, and for it's status as one of the more thoughtful blaxploitation ripoffs.

I recently bought "Abby," more out of nostalgia than the actual film. I was 7 years old when I saw this at a drive-in. The film gave me the creeps and gave me nightmares for over a month.A lot can change over the years, you know. Things that creep you out at 7 may just simply make you howl with laughter at 37.Such is the case with "Abby." Carol Speed plays Abby Williams, the caring and loving wife of Emmett, a minister(Terry Carter), who have just moved into a new home and life seems to be o.k. Until Abby starts foaming at the mouth, and talking about the size of her husband's...parts. Was she the victim of toxic mold in her house, or has she become a druggie? Of course not! She has simply became the new host of a sexual demon, who was accidentally released by her father-in law, Bishop Williams (William Marshall)while he was on an archaeological dig.By today's standards, the film is laughably bad. The storyline has enough holes to resemble a fishing net and a lot of questions remained unanswered (Like, who paid for all the damage during the exorcism at the club?).The people behind the film was sued by Warner Bros. because of the similarities between this film and "The Exorcist," and you can see why they would take action (Levitations, spewing mouth, foul language), but what film HASN"T ripped off "The Exorcist?" ("Beyond The Door" was a rip-off, but they weren't sued. Possible racism issue here? You decided).The DVD quality is not up to snuff (It's a bad copy),but for the die-hard fans of this film and of the genre (Blaxpoitation,horror,or bad cinema), this would have to do.