The Fury

The Fury; Fantasy thriller, USA, 1978; D: Brian De Palma, S: Kirk Douglas, Amy Irving, John Cassavetes, Andrew Stevens, Carrie Snodgress, Charles Durning, Fiona Lewis, Daryl Hannah

Somewhere on Israels' beach. Peter and his son Robin, who has special telekinetic powers, are swimming in the sea. Suddenly some terrorists attack and kidnap Robin. A year later, Peter has realized that Dr. Childress actually staged the event and kidnapped Robin in order to use his powers for murders for the secret service. At the same time, Gillian discovers she has special telekinetic powers herself and thus leaves to a special school. But she soon finds out she was tricked and captured. Peter, who is hunted by Childress' agents, frees Gillian who tells him where Robin is kept. Peter finds Robin brainwashed and evil, who attempts to kill him. They both die. Gillian uses her powers to massacre Childress.

Psychological drama "The Fury" contains an intriguing concept about telekinetic powers, but it would have been better if it wasn't so stiff, filled with mannerisms and shiftlessly made, thus in the end it contains at the same time ontological scenes (Gillian falls into trans and sees everything with Robin's eyes) and trashy ones, which was never a good sign. Especially well made is the exposition at Israel's beach, actors Kirk Douglas and Amy Irving are marvelous while an occasional philosophical note is very interesting. Still, for director Brain De Palma it's extremely tasteless to finish the film with the disgusting scene where Gillian uses her powers to bloodily blow up the body of the evil scientist: just another proof how only 10 seconds of misguided ideas can ruin the impression of the whole film. Some have thus rightfully concluded that the story should have concentrated itself more on drama, and less on thriller and horror elements.

Grade:++