It is Flame on and Lights out at a Catholic School

 THE POSSESSED (1977)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

In the opening frames of the mildly-accented riffs of spooky goings-on of this TV horror film, James Farentino is a priest who seems indifferent to the pulpit. That is because he is an alcoholic, nursing that bottle closer to his heart than his own religious faith. Some of these shots of him leading the congregation mirror the exact composition of shots from "The Exorcist" (not excluding his pale face and bloodshot eyes). A tragic car accident ensues leaving Farentino dead. Then his spirit arises as he outstretches his arms. Good God in heaven, what are we in for? If this sounds like a third-rate, bottom-of-the-barrel "Exorcist" clone, you'd almost be right except the rest of the film is actually a low-key and quietly absorbing horror film with uniformly unsettling atmosphere and theatrics that do terrify.

Something's rotten to the core or should I say there is a burnt smell emanating from the Helen Page School, a Catholic private girls' college in Salem, Oregon, and it isn't bad piping or a grill being used by the janitor in the basement causing it. No, objects like paper mysteriously burn into flames. Sometimes an entire room goes up in flames. Sometimes a student's graduation gown not only goes up in flames but burns her legs (Diana Scarwid plays that one student, suffering worse pain than she did as Joan Crawford's daughter in the semi-camp classic "Mommie Dearest). A biology schoolteacher (Harrison Ford, in one of his most gentlest performances pre-"Star Wars" fame) secretly meets one of his students at night and, you know, flame on is around the corner. What on earth is causing all this? 

What sets this TV movie of the week above the rest are the sincere, layered performances. Ford, as aforementioned, shows a smitten side that was rarely seen in a Ford performance even in those days. Farentino is effectively subdued in his pursuit of whatever is causing the ignition of flames in and around the campus and giving everyone the third degree. Claudette Nevins playing a teacher, Ellen, shows a remarkable sensitivity as a mother of one student, Weezie (Ann Dusenberry), and her worries about the odd occurrences. Also worth noting is Ellen's stepsister, Helen Page school's headmistress (Joan Hackett), who may harbor more than a few secrets - we fear for her safety and also feel she is coming apart at the seams.

The chilling finale where a confrontation at the school's pool between demon and exorcist occurs is fraught with some tension because, believe it or not, I had no idea what was going to happen next (I didn't even think that Farentino was an exorcist though clearly he is more than human). For a Devil picture concerning a rather askew and radical setting for a possession, I felt my skin crawl and begin to shiver. A creepy film for an evening screening around Halloween time. WARNING: Make sure your candles are not lit!