The Entity
| The Entity | |
|---|---|
 Film poster |
|
| Directed by | Sidney J. Furie |
| Produced by | Harold Schneider |
| Written by | Frank deFelitta |
| Starring | Barbara Hershey Ron Silver David Labiosa Margaret Blye Jacqueline Brookes |
| Music by | Charles Bernstein |
| Cinematography | Stephen H. Burum |
| Editing by | Frank J. Urioste |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | February 4, 1983 |
| Running time | 125 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $9 million[1] |
| Box office | $13,277,558 |
The Entity is a horror film purportedly based on the paranormal events a woman and her family experienced circa 1974. It stars Barbara Hershey as a woman tormented by an unseen entity.[2] Despite being filmed and planned for a release in 1981, the movie was not released in worldwide theaters until September 1982 followed by the United States in February 1983.
Contents |
Plot [edit]
The movie begins as Carla Moran (Barbara Hershey) a single mother, is violently raped in her home by an unseen force. Initially convinced the attack was a nightmare, a subsequent episode of poltergeist activity causes her to flee with her children to a friend’s home.
Evidently followed by the entity, Carla is nearly killed the following day when her car mysteriously loses control in traffic. Urged by her friend Cindy to see a psychiatrist, Carla meets with Dr. Sneiderman (Ron Silver) and tentatively agrees to undergo therapy. An attack occurs that leaves bruises and other injuries on Carla which she shows to Dr. Sneiderman who believes she has caused them to herself. We learn that Carla suffered a variety of traumas in her childhood and adolescence including sexual abuse, teenage pregnancy and the violent death of her first husband. Dr. Sneiderman believes her apparent paranormal experiences are delusions resulting from her past psychological trauma. He urges her to commit herself to a psychiatric hospital for observation. She refuses.
After Carla’s friend Cindy witnesses an attack, the two explore possible supernatural causes. While visiting a local bookstore, Carla happens to meet two parapsychologists who she convinces to visit her home. Initially skeptical, the scientists witness several paranormal events and agree to study the home. During their study Dr. Sneiderman arrives and confronts Carla, trying to convince her that the manifestation is in her mind, but she dismisses him. Reassured that her case is being taken seriously, Carla begins to relax. Carla’s boyfriend Jerry visits and she suffers a particularly disturbing attack which he witnesses. Hearing the commotion, Carla’s son enters the room and believes that Jerry is harming her, prompting him to attack Jerry. Later at the hospital, Jerry is so troubled by what he saw, he ends their relationship.
Desperate for a solution to her problem Carla agrees to participate in a complicated study carried out by parapsychologists at a local university. A full mock-up of her home is created as a trap to lure the entity. Once inside, it would be frozen in liquid helium. Before the experiment can begin, Dr. Sneiderman arrives and unsuccessfully tries to convince Carla to leave. The entity eventually manifests as a cold wind and unexpectedly takes control of the helium tanks, attempting to kill Carla who defiantly stands up to it, stating that it can never have her. Dr. Sneiderman rushes in and saves her. As they escape the laboratory, they see the entity frozen for a brief period into a very large mass of ice. It eventually breaks free and vanishes. Carla returns to her house the next day. The front door slams by itself and a demonic voice greets her saying, "Welcome Home Cunt." She calmly opens the door, exits the house, and gets in a car with her family and leaves.
The film ends with captions stating that Carla now lives in Texas with her family and that the attacks have decreased in both frequency and intensity but she still experiences paranormal activities.
Cast [edit]
- Barbara Hershey as Carla Moran
- Ron Silver as Dr. Sneiderman
- David Labiosa as Billy Moran
- George Coe as Dr. Weber
- Margaret Blye as Cindy Nash
- Jacqueline Brookes as Dr. Cooley
- Richard Brestoff as Gene Kraft
- Michael Alldredge as George Nash
- Raymond Singer as Joe Mehan
- Allan Rich as Dr. Walcott
- Natasha Ryan as Julie
- Melanie Gaffin as Kim
- Alex Rocco as Jerry Anderson
Other media [edit]
- An excerpt of Charles Bernstein's score appears in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.
- Hawa, a 2003 Bollywood film, was based on this film.
- Footage from The Entity was reused in Peter Tscherkassky's avant-garde short film Outer Space (1999).
Reception [edit]
Director Martin Scorsese placed The Entity on his list of the 11 scariest horror films of all time.[3]
In a rare interview with Rue Morgue magazine in July 2012, director Sidney J. Furie stated that he did not consider The Entity to be a horror film in spite of its extreme imagery, unsettling atmosphere and horrific plot. Instead, Furie said he considers The Entity to be more of a "supernatural suspense movie." Furie also confessed that he intentionally avoided researching the actual case upon which The Entity is based as he "did not want to judge the characters and story in any way." Both he and actress Barbara Hershey did not meet with Doris Bither, the real-life Carla Moran, either prior, during or after the shooting of the film was completed in 1981.
Also speaking with Rue Morgue in the same issue, actor David Labiosa who plays Carla Moran's teenage son, Billy, revealed that Sidney J. Furie dropped an entire dream sequence and plot thread from The Entity which featured Carla being forced by the entity to have incestuous thoughts about her own son. Labiosa believes that this aspect of the film was too "controversial" and "sexually-charged" for audiences in the early 1980s and had to be excised.
According to the trivia section of IMDb's page on The Entity, "The real-life Carla Moran's teenage son described a particularly vicious attack in which Carla was thrown by the malevolent force and hit her head. He tried to intervene, but was also thrown, breaking his arm." David Labiosa recently informed Rue Morgue that during the shooting of this same scene in The Entity his arm was also broken in an accident. This bizarre coincidence resulted in Labiosa missing a few days of filming and being written out of several scenes in which his character was originally to have featured. The arm-cast which he is seen wearing was hastily written into the film.
Awards and nominations [edit]
| Award | Category | Subject | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival Award | Best Actress | Barbara Hershey | Won |
| Saturn Award | Best Music | Charles Bernstein | Nominated |
References [edit]
- ^ Aubrey Solomon, Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History, Scarecrow Press, 1989 p260
- ^ "The Entity (1981)". imdb.com. Retrieved September 17, 2010.
- ^ Scorsese, Martin (October 28, 2009). "11 Scariest Horror Movies of All Time". The Daily Beast. Retrieved November 15, 2009.
External links [edit]
- The Entity at the Internet Movie Database
- The Entity at Box Office Mojo
- The Entity at Rotten Tomatoes
- GhostTheory.com interview with one of Doris Bither's sons.
