THE FURY (1978)
This film could have been called Carrie II. In fact, the role of Gillian nearly went to Sissy Spacek, but instead, it was offered to Amy Irving. Gillian is a "parapsychic" with telekinetic powers. So is Robin, a boy around the same age who believes his father was killed by terrorists on a beach. It's all very 70's. The father - a hardy, furrowed Kirk Douglas - was not assassinated, as it turns out. He spends the generality of The Fury trying to track his son down. All the while, he's being scoured after by the agency looking to employ these young oracles as weapons of war. Again, it's simply 70's, and it's simply engrossing.
Aside from the obvious touchstone, I've seen The Omen and The Exorcist mentioned as cinematic barometers. Fair enough, but I was reminded of Scanners. You've got your convex veins, your spontaneous bleeding and your climactic bodily explosion. I won't say who or what explodes, but it's a nice touch. Mainstream horror was just starting to experiment with the boundaries of bloodletting, but that brings me to my next point. If The Fury had chosen to embrace one genre, I think it would have been stronger for it. Alternatively, it wants to be a staid drama with a sprinkling of action scenes. Not every story can pull off the many-sided approach.
On the whole, this is filling stuff. Do I really need to append a note on the acting? It's good! Go badger some other horror addict.
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