Drive-In Dust Offs: THE POWER (1984)

All hail Film Ventures International. Long-time purveyors of cinematic sleaze and genre enchantment, they’ve produced or at least distributed some of my very favorite low budget wonders: Beyond the Door (1974), Grizzly (’76), The Incubus (1981), and Pieces (’82) are only some of their titles that have provided hours of entertainment, from the goofy to the sublime (which in their case, is often one and the same). One of their final releases, The Power (1984), is a good example of their often heady mix, and a solid springboard for directors Stephen Carpenter and Jeffrey Obrow on their way to their demented mutant mash The Kindred (’87).

Released in late January, The Power (AKA Evil Passage) didn’t do much business; playing in theatres for one weekend and bringing in just under a million dollars, head honcho Edward L. Montoro surely heading out the back door with a bagful of cash on his way to bankrupting the company. Regardless of its lack of success, The Power is a shiny enough testament to the talents of Carpenter and Obrow.

Okay here we go: A student gets a nosebleed from a pissed off professor just from a cutting glance. Said professor, in a whirlwind of fog and light, is impaled. All the hubbub is over an Aztec relic the size of an eye pop stress doll that is said to contain the ancient spirit of Desacatyl, whose only purpose from what I can gleam is to show the inherent evil in every one of us (so, very different from every other god, yes?). The idol ends up making its way to three teenagers who manage to wake up old Des inadvertently while using a Ouija board in a graveyard (as one does), which leads them to our intrepid reporter Sandy (Suzy Stokey – Armed Response) and her friend Jerry (Warren Lincoln – Torment), who takes it upon himself to dig into Des’ backstory, much to the chagrin of Sandy.

Jerry soon becomes possessed by Des, and fight as he may, is unable to stop the mayhem, which includes human death, sure, but mainly consists of copious personal property damage. Will Sandy and the teens be able to shut down…The Power?

Many questions arise as one watches The Power: A) What is the “power” exactly, B) Why are there three separate storylines, and C) No really, what the hell is the “power”? I’m kidding about A and C of course, because who the hell cares? The technical specs of this entity are irrelevant; the actual “power” is a mere MacGuffin to put the plot in motion (and this sucker is busy) and lay out some destruction. Essentially you hold the tchotchke and you become possessed. A budget this low doesn’t have time for all of your silly exposition, thank you very much. Des is a doer.

As for those multiple storylines; well, it’s more of a baton passing from a greedy explorer to the teens to Sandy to Jerry (ooh that’s four and not three – hot damn), and all it does is stall the narrative each time it switches gears. Yes, they are all tied in by the end, but enough traction is lost to be noticeable. But, but, but, Carpenter and Obrow are wise beyond their budgetary constraints and provide the film with enough impressive moments and set pieces that act as genre Gorilla Tape to hold it together.

So in addition to Professor Kabob, we’re treated to a coffin dance, some garbage disposal love (my fave The Cult tune by a mile), face mushing, and other instances of unpleasantness. Ooh and since we’re still in the ‘80s, some bladder work which is always gratuitous by its very nature. Which isn’t to say The Power is graphic by any means; the fiscal nature of this particular enterprise doesn’t necessarily prevent it from displaying, but C and O (as I’ll call them now) are smart enough filmmakers to know that if you can’t pull it off, don’t.

Instead, they choose well shot (by Carpenter himself) set pieces accompanied by a first class score by Christopher Young (Hellraiser), which help class up the joint considerably; one of C and O’s very tangible qualities is setting a scene and following through, even if they are spread out and kind of disjointed.

The cast is notable mainly for Stokey and Lincoln, who do plucky and shlumpy, respectively, and are simply more interesting characters than the teens. Lincoln especially is unique; with only one other film on his resume, he gives a relaxed take on the spurned boyfriend making his oh-so every guy looks work in his favour. Not that everyone else is terrible, but it becomes quite clear early on that most of the ink was spilled for these two.

Carpenter and Obrow’s final film together was the aforementioned The Kindred; and if you haven’t seen it yet, please put it on your list. It’s as good as it is quirky and insane. Some folks are very fond of their first effort, The Dorm that Dripped Blood (’82), a slasher that I personally find a bit wanting. Without question, there is a progression and tightening of their skills from that to The Power to their last collaboration, a surge if you will (ignore me, we’re almost done) in their confidence that is exciting to watch. What the hell, watch them all. Just don’t forget the middle child. He’s small, but he’s tenacious and if you rub him the right way, he can kick up one hell of a storm.

The Power is available on DVD from Scorpion Releasing.