Teenager Rita is harassed by her classmates for being withdrawn and overweight. At home, her father and younger sister treat her like utter garbage; her mother seems to understand her to some extent, though not entirely. But Rita is, unbeknownst to them all, honing her own supernatural skills that jeopardizes anyone who comes in her path.
This made-for-television romp from the golden age for TV horror films riffs on "Carrie" in multiple ways, even imitating key moments from the 1976 film. Yes, so "The Spell" is a cash-in. But what else is there to say about it? More than one may think. It is not exactly a well-made film: It's choppily-edited and the narrative is a bit heavy-handed. The bulk of the film is really made up of twisted family melodrama, which would be rather boring if it weren't the most utterly bizarre family dynamic ever filmed.
I honestly did not realize until about thirty minutes in that the protagonist, Rita, was a blood relative of the family; not only does she look nothing like her on screen parents and sibling, but she is treated by virtually every member of her family like an unwelcome cousin, twice removed—maybe even worse—and for no immediately decipherable reason. They just simply despise her, and her resentment continues to grow (and with frankly good reason). The relationships on which the film is predicated are utterly strange and do leave the audience somewhat adrift, as there is virtually no likable character from beginning to end.
The performances here are memorable, with Lee Grant playing the stern but sometimes-empathetic mother; a young Helen Hunt plays Rita's perfect little sister, and Susan Myers (who, for the record, is not at all overweight) is memorable in the lead role, delivering some surprisingly chilling scenes; her performance at times reminded me of Tina Romero's in "Alucarda," mixed with a bit of Linda Blair from "The Exorcist." There are a handful of scare scenes here that are dated by contemporary standards, though one is so bizarre and unexpected it's almost disturbing. The twist ending is mildly clever, though fairly perceptible by the time the film has rolled into its final act, and the whole thing ends rather abruptly (not uncommon for television films of this era).
Overall, "The Spell" is an amusing film that I personally found utterly absorbing, largely because its core melodrama was so perplexing. It's a fun, frivolous viewing experience for fans of seventies television horror as it does capture the era effectively, and there is a handful of sideshow attractions to be had. Perhaps the most memorable element of it all though is the fact that most of its runtime consists of an introverted teenage girl being groundlessly flanked by not only her peers, but her entire family. The seventies were a strange time, I guess. 7/10.
