The greatest movie ever!

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Yep, you guessed it, another deservedly obscure no-budget cheesy American horror movie which is almost totally worthless as a film. I usually don't mind watching these kind of films but I found myself unusually intolerant of this one, maybe because it's so tiresome. I don't really know how someone can make a film about a man being possessed by an evil Aztec doll uninteresting but the makers of this movie manage to. It's not that the film is lacking in action or that it's totally worthless, it's just so similar to a hundred others and the merit to be gained from watching is hardly worth the ninety minutes.The film does have a good beginning, I'll grant it that. It starts off with the usual stuffy college professor being heckled by his brain-dead class, but the twist here is that HE is possessed by the doll and causes one of them to have a major nosebleed. Soon afterwards he is levitated into the air by the presence and is gorily impaled on a flag pole jutting from a nearby wall. After lots more messing around in the dark and confusing plot points we are introduced to what look like the main characters, a trilogy of nerdy teenagers who decide to hold a séance in a deserted warehouse at night. This of course ends in death, with a security guard being crushed by a huge crate. It's all very unimpressive.The film's main characters (as if there weren't enough all ready - damn) are now ready to be introduced. First of all we have an irritating female reporter who is sceptical of the whole thing and also happens to be a really bad actress to boot. Her geeky boyfriend, however, takes an interest in the idol. Cue a possession which takes an age to actually get anywhere, lots of dialogue, and people wandering around in the dark so you can't see what's happening. It goes without saying that the amateur-style acting is bad, pretty much from the whole cast. There isn't a single character to care about either. The plot is clichéd and trivial and the film as a whole forgettable and worthless. The only thing good about it is the music, which at least manages to be spooky. The only reason horror fans would bother watching this is, I guess, the special effects and I'm sorry to say that they disappoint also.Most of the gore is saved for the finale in which a girl has her hand chewed by a waste disposal unit (ouch!) and a man turns into an ugly demon and pulses and disintegrates in what looks like a scene ripped off from the end of AMITYVILLE II: THE POSSESSION. Probably my favourite special effect in the whole film is when a boy sees all manner of objects on his desk being attracted to his Aztec doll as if by a magnetic force. A simple effect yes, but the simpleness and unexpected nature of it is what impressed me most and it's much more interesting than the tiresome yucky blood scenes. In any case give this no-hoper a miss or risk wasting ninety minutes of your life.

The 80s low-cost independent horror "The Power" is an atmospherically inventive and dark with its fascinating concept involving an ancient Aztec idol that's harbouring a powerful force which infatuates those in possession of it, bringing out their dark side. It's starts off really steady and talkative but still remaining effectively compelling within its moody and fearful superstitious framework, but then it goes off the rocker becoming a ghastly, if typical little shocker with some very well executed, icky make-up FX for such a cheap budget. The deaths are few, but they bestow imagination and atmosphere --- however it's the underlining surreal creepiness that's held throughout, which makes up for it.Dual director's Steven Carpenter and Jeffrey Obrow's (who brought us the hokey slasher "The Dorm that Dripped blood" and monster carnage of "The Kindred") minimalist set-up is tidy, even with its gritty look but they do a decent enough job with their touches of brooding suspense and jarring visuals. Limited resources and amateurish acting (although Lisa Erickson was fair) don't distract too heavily as the creative and unusual story is well thought out in its context of forbidden power and the temptation of it that simply attracts evil. There's just a sense of doom that just won't waver, but while it might be a mystery to the characters it's not so for the viewer. Sometimes slightly muddled and random, as there much to gather but it comes together in an ending that's nothing more than a final cheap, but lasting shock. The eerie score accompanying only adds more to the mystical edge, demonstrating an intense, ripple-like grip. Susan Stokey's clueless character is somewhat grating in her self-absorbed attitude and Warren Lincoln gives the film much needed energy as his erratically idealistic character investigating the idol, to only fall under its corrupt spell.It would actually make a good, interesting double viewing with "The Returning (1983)". Trivia note; One thing I found somewhat unnerving is a scene in the film, which I don't know if it was purposely staged or not. In the sequence we catch a reflection (less than a second) in a mirror of a bearded man dressed in black just standing there watching Stokey. I never saw this character before, nor does he even reappear in the film. Nothing is mentioned. If it was one of the crew accidentally getting in the shot, it was a strange place to be standing and boy did he look scary. Just look at the face!

I wasn't expecting much from this film, but was eager to try something which I initially thought would primarily be an early 80s teen horror. Although three teens are somewhat critical plot, it is by no means a teen horror film.'The Power' is about a little Aztec idol that exchanges many hands as its possessor (who must be adult and thus, 'corrupted') becomes the vessel for unleashing all of the idol's evil, and often with deadly implications for not only the victims of the possessor, but of the possessor himself. After making several exchanges in vying over control of this thing, three teenagers wind up finding it and can't figure out what it is, except that since they found it, strange and dangerous things are afoot. They offer to explain the situation to a news reporter who doesn't buy into the spiritual bologna. Although, it is her producer who wants to investigate further, especially if it means he can get control of the idol (I presume the teens are even not yet corrupted enough to feel the dangerous desires encouraged by the idol). It is a story told a thousand times, particularly in 1950s and 60s horror and science fiction fare.This one was at least, for me, able to sustain some interest. Though low budget, it was not done so obviously cheaply or loaded with bad acting as many of the low-budget, come-and-go horror fare of the earlier decades had (nowadays, they have the same cheesy qualities, but bigger budgets). We are spare enough of it to at least allow ourselves an opportunity to become at least a little bit absorbed with the eerie atmosphere and so forth, despite a story of clichés. And, though not terribly gory, the special effects were done nicely.Again, it is routine horror tale, especially with the ending (which by modern standards has become a device that is annoyingly overused), but one that is not so embarrassingly bad. It might be worth checking out, even if just for laughs.

Low budget horror about an evil force. Hard to believe in this day and age, but way back when this stuff actually used to get theatrical release! These days this sort of thing would either go direct-to-video or straight to cable. Shouldn't be too hard to avoid this one; who's ever heard of it?