Review: Deadly Blessing (Blu-ray)

From Haxan to last year’s The Devil Inside, religious horror films have been a staple in the genre. Often, films dealing with religion wade in the waters of the threat of a supernatural evil to explain events that could otherwise be attributed to a human force.

Deadly Blessing, a film made after The Hills Have Eyes, and before his groundbreaking A Nightmare on Elm Street, puts Wes Craven in the realm of the potentially supernatural with a serial murderer in a small town dominated by a religious community.

A young couple, Jim and Martha Schmidt (Douglas Barr, Maren Jensen), seem to have the ideal life, until one night when Jim is murdered out in the barn. Seeking refuge, Martha invites two friends, Lana and Vicky (Sharon Stone, Susan Buckner) to visit from the city. No sooner have they arrived, when the Elder of the “Hittite” community (Ernest Borgnine) warns his flock of their sinfulness and the danger of the incubus (a demon that inhabits women). From there the red herrings begin to mount.

The gravest error the film makes is its insistence on being too many things all at once and therefore succeeding at none. There are subplots on top of subplots that don't do the film any favors in muddying the already murky narrative waters. First, there is a neighbor of the Schmidt’s named Faith, and her mother (Lisa Hartman and Lois Nettleton) who pop in and out of the film for no real reason. Next, we have the various misadventures of Martha’s friends, including a from afar romance for Vicky, and Lana's nightly visitors from a man who stalks her dreams. When you add up all of these elements, they collide to create a structural mess of a screenplay that can’t ever really recover.

With all of its shortcomings, the film does have some things to warrant a recommendation. Craven is inarguably a skilled filmmaker and manages to at least keep things interesting enough in between set pieces with everything stacked against him script-wise. The cast assembled is completely capable, with the early performance from Sharon Stone being the weakest to me. Craven was also one of the first to discover James Horner, whose score is a clear indicator of the powerhouse of a composer he would become.

This is yet another great job by Shout! Factory. The disc isn’t as clean as some of their other releases, but it’s likely the best the film is going to look without going through some extensive restoration to remove nicks and other blemishes in the source. The detail level is quite impressive considering the film’s vintage and budgetary restraints. Sharon Stone’s often-ridiculous lingerie has some great texture in it, and skin detail is also impressive. Cinematographer Robert C. Jessup shoots the film beautifully and the disc really lets the visuals shine, including several lovely pastoral shots of the endless Texas landscape.

Speaking of Texas, there is a selection of bonus material here as big as that state. Kicking things off is a great commentary by Craven, moderated by Sean Clark of HorrorHound Magazine. Craven is always a fun listen, full of interesting technical and anecdotal tidbits. A selection of interviews with actors Michael Berryman and Susan Buckner, the film’s co-writers Matthew Barr and Glenn M. Benest, and one of the FX technicians (John Naulin) make up the bulk of the extras. A photo gallery, some TV and radio spots, and a very uncharacteristic trailer wrap things up.

Wes Craven’s now legendary horror input is interesting to say the least. I can’t think of another director who has helmed so many watershed horror films over a thirty plus year career: in the 1970’s with The Last House on the Left, the 1980’s with A Nightmare on Elm Street, and the 1990’s with Scream. Deadly Blessing is a minor work by a major talent, showcasing the first substantial role for Sharon Stone, as well as bridging a thematic gap in Craven’s earlier career. For Craven fans, this long unavailable film is a no-brainer, for others it's a moderately interesting curiosity piece.

Film Score: 2.5/5 Disc Score: 3.5/5