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 | Psychotronic | Smuggling

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:

The song that Abby sings in church, "Is Your Soul A Witness?", was written and performed by the actress herself, Carol Speed.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Rod Stewart (#7.1)" (1981)

Soundtrack:

Gone Woman

Great exploitation of THE EXORCIST

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.