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Possessed by the Night

Possessed by the Night (1994) Movie Poster
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  •  USA  •    •  84m  •    •  Directed by: Fred Olen Ray.  •  Starring: Shannon Tweed, Ted Prior, Sandahl Bergman, Chad McQueen, Frank Sivero, Turhan Bey, Henry Silva, Sigal Diamant, Joe Kuroda, Byron Mann, Melissa Brasselle, Fred Olen Ray, Amy Rochelle.  •  Music by: Chuck Cirino.
       Several subplots revolve around the story of mutant embryo in jar that exercises control over the lives of those who come into contact with it.

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   Length:  Languages:  Subtitles:
 1:58
 
 

Review:

Image from: Possessed by the Night (1994)
Image from: Possessed by the Night (1994)
Image from: Possessed by the Night (1994)
Image from: Possessed by the Night (1994)
Possessed by the Night starts with Los Angeles Chinatown shop owner Mr. Wong (Joe Kuroda) returning from buying what looks like a load of junk but which contains a jar with what looks like some sort of deformed one-eyed creature inside. Author Howard Hansen (Ted Prior) is working on his latest book & things aren't going that well, he decides to get out for a while & comes across Mr. Wongs shop, inside Howard buys the mutant one-eyed thing. Back home & Howards missus Peggy (Sandahl Bergman) isn't happy about sharing a house with it but since she's only a woman & since Howard pays the bills she has to shut up & stop moaning, however her misgivings over it may be well founded as the one-eyed thing in the jar seems to be alive & has telepathic powers... Meanwhile Howards publisher Murray Dunlap (Frank Sivero) has run up a gambling debt of $25,000 which he owes to local loan shark Scott Lindsey (Henry Silva), one of Scott's debt collectors Gus (Chad McQueen) tries to 'persudae' Murray to pay his debts. Murray decides he needs to rip off Howard so sends Carol McKay (Shannon Tweed) in a as secretary but to also steal a manuscript for an unpublished book. Howards life quickly starts to fall apart as he falls further under the control of the one-eyed thing in the jar...

Directed by Fred Olen Ray, who also has a small role in the film as a waiter, I thought Possessed by the Night was total & utter crap of the highest order. The script by Mark Thomas McGee is all over the place, I tried my best with the plot synopsis but Possessed by the Night is an absolute mess of a 'film' & I use the term film loosely. The narrative is non-existent, this film has no story quite literally. Well none that makes any sense anyway. There are various loose plot threads like the one-eyed thing in the jar, the debt collector & his problems, the marriage problems between Howard & Peggy & the various impromptu & out-of-place sex scenes & they all sort of come together at the end but it'a all rather tenuous & flimsy. Most of Possessed by the Night is just padding & to make it worse it's padding of the most boring & uninspired kind that you can imagine. As a whole there is no entertainment value in Possessed by the Night whatsoever & who exactly is it meant to appeal to anyway? Is it a horror? I wouldn't have said so. A thriller? Not a chance. Maybe it's an erotic film? Well, in my opinion it's as erotic as a slap around the face with a wet fish. Perhaps it's a mixture of all three? Nope, it has no enjoyable aspect to it's overlong 90 odd minutes.

Director Ray does his usual point & shoot job, the film has no style or visual flair. This is bland, flat & forgettable stuff all the way. There's virtually no gore apart from a few gunshot wounds at the very end, the one-eyed thing looks rubbery (& it just sits in a jar throughout the entire film & does NOTHING else) & the sex scenes are very, very, very, very, very, very unerotic. The only nudity is of the topless variety, there is no genital nudity & the sex scenes are really tame as well. I just don't see who Possessed by the Night is supposed to please.

Technically Possessed by the Night is cheap, nasty & throughly routine. There is not one memorable aspect to it. The acting sucks, there's nothing else I can say & what on Earth is Henry Silva doing in this?

Possessed by the Night is total crap, it's as simple & straight forward as that. Definitely one to avoid.


Review by Paul Andrews from the Internet Movie Database.