Abby (1974)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

William Girdler

Writers:

William Girdler (story)
Gordon Cornell Layne (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 December 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

The Devil took her for his lover! Her body is possessed, her soul is next!

Plot:

A possession film about a marriage counselor who becomes possessed by a Demon of Sexuality, when her father in law...

Plot Keywords:

Exorcism | Possession | Demon | Kicked In The Crotch | Grindhouse

Cast

William Marshall	...	Bishop Garnet Williams
Terry Carter	...	Rev. Emmett Williams
Austin Stoker	...	Det. Cass Potter
Carol Speed	...	Abby Williams
Juanita Moore	...	Miranda 'Momma' Potter
Charles Kissinger	...	Dr. Hennings
Elliott Moffitt	...	Russell Lang
Nathan Cook	...	Tafa Hassan
Nancy Lee Owens	...	Mrs. Wiggins
William P. Bradford	...	Dr. Rogers (as Billy Bradford)
Joann Holcomb	...	Lois
Claude Fulkerson	...	Benny
Bill Wilson	...	Dan
Charles Broaddus	...	Joe (as Chuck Broadus)
Don Henderson	...	Flip

Also Known As:

Possess My Soul

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

France:-12 | USA:R | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Louisville, Kentucky, USA

Company:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Trivia:

In addition to the devastating tornadoes that struck during filming, there were more instances of bad luck on the set. Actor Terry Carter broke his ribs filming one scene, and whenever Carol Speed would appear on the set dressed as the demon, the generators would fail.

Quotes:

The Demon's voice: I don't need you! I've got Abby!

Movie Connections:

Version of Seytan (1974)

Soundtrack:

My Soul Is A Witness

pretty good, *very* 1970s*, surprisingly foul language!

"The Blackorcist," as this was supposedly nearly called, is actually not as blatant a rip-off of Exorcist, The (1973) as Chi sei? (1975) AKA Beyond the Door, or Seytan (1974) AKA The Turkish Exorcist. The latter in particular steals many scenes shot-for-shot (though not actual footage), but does actually steal same recording of the music "Tubular Bells."

Abby is pretty enjoyable. I saw the Cinefear DVD of it, and hopefully some other company will be able to do a proper transfer of the film at some point. Credit to Cinefear for getting it out, though, and even including some extras.

Abby is sort of the equivalent of Linda Blair's character in The Exorcist, but Abby is not a young girl but a young married woman; her husband and father-in-law are both priests. I'm not certain what denomination they were. The father dresses like a Catholic priest with black shirt and white collar, but has a wife and son. The son wears a khaki shirt with a white collar.

The father unwittingly releases a demon in Africa, which for some reason possesses Abby in the US. The demon causes Abby to swear rather profusely - I was surprised.

If a new DVD is ever released, there was some Greek, Hindi, and an African language spoken by the demon and the priest, and it would be interesting to get some optional subtitles for those scenes. The text of the lawsuit against the movie would also be interesting.