Movie Review - The Fury

The Fury (1978)

Starring Kirk Douglas, Amy Irving, John Cassavetes, Carrie Snodgrass, Charles Durning, and Andrew Stevens

Directed by Brian De Palma

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

I recognize that Brian De Palma's The Fury is a flawed film -- the biggest problem being that it isn't quite sure whether it's a sci fi, action, or horror flick which causes several scenes to appear oddly juxtaposed with or peculiarly placed next to others.  Still, despite its identity crisis and the wealth of overacting on display, I kinda dug this 1978 flick for those very same reasons I feel I should have despised it.

The film opens on a lovely beachfront resort in the "Mid East" (which elicited a chuckle from me right from the get-go in that the filmmakers simply used that overarching moniker rather than pinpointing a particular Arabian location).  Peter Sandza (Kirk Douglas) is vacationing there with both his teenage son Robin (Andrew Stevens) and his good friend and colleague Ben Childress (John Cassavetes).  Out of nowhere, the beach is attacked at gunpoint and, in the melee, Robin is rushed to safety...or so it appears.  As it is soon discovered, Robin was actually kidnapped by Childress in order to harness Robin's  paranormal powers and utilize them to help (or perhaps harm) the US government.  Peter becomes aware of this plan and vows to get back his son.

Meanwhile back in the States, teenage Gillian (Amy Irving) is coming to the realization that she has some type of paranormal powers as well.  After an event at school leaves her fearful of her powers, she checks herself into the Paragon Clinic.  While there, she begins to find herself psychically connecting with Robin despite the fact that the two never met each other and she soon realizes that the Paragon Clinic may not be as innocent as it appears.

At this point in time, I've probably seen about five Brian De Palma films and they all have an over-the-top vibe to them.  However, The Fury is perhaps the most low key of them that I've seen and maybe that's why I like it the most at this point.  The flick works the best when it delves into the realm of sci fi and horror, but when De Palma tries his hand at the action sequences (which mostly involve Kirk Douglas), it doesn't quite fare as well.  In fact, it's the Kirk Douglas scenes that falter the most mainly because the character of Peter is just too bland to carry a film.  Sure, he's a man on a mission looking for his son, but there's simply not a well-rounded, well-crafted character for the audience to connect with.  Gillian's story proves to be much more intriguing as we in the audience watch her slowly coming to grips with her incredible powers.  When the film was following her, I was thoroughly intrigued.

This certainly isn't a classic, but The Fury is a solid piece of supernatural suspense.

The RyMickey Rating:  B