Bendición mortal

This was awesome fun! I totally loved it, from beginning to end. I don't see why this got such mixed and/or bad reviews! This was great. Yes, the script could've used another polish, but after I saw it once I figured out what was happening. Maren Jensen, Sharon Stone, and Susan Buckner are bodacious babes living in a farmhouse in the remote countryside, surrounded on all sides by a religious cult known as the Hittites. Soon weird things start happening and people begin to die. Who is responsible? Is it the Hittites? Or something else? This is great! Rent it! Buy it! Cherish it! There are such great scenes, such as the scene in the barn (I swear, this scene had me jumping out of my socks!), the bathtub sequence, the double murder in the car, the peeping tom sequence, and the finale which was awesome! See this one, you won't be disappointed!

After the mysterious death of her husband, soon after leaving a strict religious sect known as the Hittites. Martha is left as a lonely widow expecting a child, and inherits the country house. Soon two of her friends Vicky and Lana come to comfort her and hopefully bring her back with them, but she prefers to stay. The local Hittites headed by Isaiah see her as the blame for the death and including one of their own, and claim her to be the incubus. Soon strange things begin to happen, and she gets the feeling it might be the sect behind it, but far more sinister work seems to be abound.

Craven's lost treasure in his film collection just might be his curiously under-seen 1981 cult film "Deadly Blessing". Finally with its DVD release in Australia, I got the chance and really enjoyed this stylishly skin crawling and at times inspired psychological shocker. Everything about Wes Craven's well-mounted set pieces is genuinely haunting and visually striking with its spontaneously unexpected and innovative jolts. Tight, pressure-boiling suspense is atmospherically tailored to the dreamy, offbeat air and Craven's judgement is immensely on song. He paints the surreal mood with great use of tinted colouring, well-lit lighting and an eerily original and alienating rural location choice. Going a long way to making the whole set-up quite effective was James Horner's alarming music score, which ripples with ripe and tight thunderous cues. Glenn M. Benest and Mathew Barr's busily symbolic story builds upon the groundwork to only end up all over the shop with its supernatural and psychological elements that seem too uneven and illogical. Boy does it become out-of-control, and strange leading to the climax. It does throw one surprise after another! However the ambiguously outrageous and tacky shock ending, now that was a real eye opener that totally felt out-of-place within the subtle context. Listen to the amusing DVD commentary to understand the reasoning for its inclusion. Robert Jessup's elegantly scenic cinematography is well observed and swiftly handled. The three beautiful lead females were convincingly accessible; a headstrong Maren Jensen, joyful Susan Buckner and a drop dead gorgeous, but fragile-minded Sharon Stone. Ernest Borgnine's steadfast, godly turn as the sect leader is superbly prominent. Michael Berryman is unforgettable. Lisa Hartman and Lois Nettleton are enjoyably lively, and Jeff East and Kevin Cooney also appear. Also Craven manages to squeeze a neat little reference to his very good TV movie "Summer of Fear".

When a farmer is killed in his barn, his wife, Martha (Maren Jensen) finds herself up against a local Amish-like group, known as the Hittites. When Martha's friends, Lana and Vicky (Sharon Stone and Susan Buckner) arrive for a visit, horror ensues. It seems that someone is bumping off believers and non-believers alike, making an already bad situation much worse!

Ernest Borgnine is perfectly glum as the stolid Isaiah, leader of the Hittites. This is easily his best role since THE DEVIL'S RAIN.

Director Wes Craven pulls out all the stops here, using spiders, snakes, chickens, religious madness, Sharon Stone in awesome nightwear, and Ernest Borgnine in a beard to incite terror! Sort of a wacky giallo, complete with black-gloved killer, there's much enjoyment to be had!

P.S.- The final conflict in the farmhouse, and the hellish epilogue must be witnessed to be believed!...

A group of Hittites have been terrorizing their non-Hittite neighbours in an attempt to run them off their land, so that they can seize it for themselves.

The Hittites are an extreme religious sect that, "make the Amish look like swingers".

They shun anyone who does not follow their hardline path, calling them serpents, while claiming that all non-Hittite women are incubus.

When one of their own leaves the group to pursue an education in the city, and returns with a beautiful wife to claim his inheritance, and farm the land with modern methods...it is no coincidence that he winds up murdered.

However, the death doesn't stop there.

One of the Hittite boys with developmental disabilities also winds up dead, when he is caught peeping on the women next door.

It seems that something more supernatural may be afoot when doors start being slammed by unseen forces, and the women are tormented by snakes and spiders.

The question now, is, whether a murderer might be running rampant, or if some sort of Hittite golem been unleashed?

Perhaps the answer isn't so simple.

Things are left ambiguous enough to keep you guessing...as people continue to die.

And the culprits may just be the ones you least expect.

The truth is revealed in an obvious case of foreshadowing, but they leave enough room for reasonable doubt to keep you questioning things.

While an unexpected twist is spun in at the end to throw you for a loop.

All in all, it's an entertaining little horror mystery with a lot of twists and turns.

And the women are all total babes.

6.5 out of 10.

This film is underrated as hell. I personally consider it Craven's best film aside from The Hills Have Eyes. Of course, I've always been interested in the Amish culture, so this film taking it a step further with the Hittites was something I was intrigued by before I'd even first watched it. The film is thematically interesting in it's juxtaposition of a strict, patriarchal culture with individuals who hold more modern values. Fertile ground for Craven given his stern religious upbringing. while the movie adheres more closely to the slasher formula, the setting and the implications of the supernatural both help to distinguish it.

The entire film is shrouded in an eerie atmosphere from the get-go. The country setting is beautiful, yet strangely menacing in the confines of the film. We also are treated to a few unnerving sequences, the snake in the bathtub and the spider dream sequence in particular. There's also a lengthy set-piece which takes place in the barn, exceptionally well-done.

Maren Jenson is a gorgeous woman (much more so than Stone), and she brings a grounded quality to her leading role. It's a pity she didn't do anymore films, TV or anything after this. This film marked Sharon Stone's first speaking role, and while she isn't great or even good, I did like her delivery when describing her dream early on. Ernest Borgnine and Michael Berryman are both favorites of mine, and they deliver two more solid characters to their resumés. The underrated Lois Nettleton is here too as Jensen's oddball neighbor.

I also have to admit that I loved the ending, which is often bashed. I thought if fit with everything that had come before, like the dog on the prowl, the spiders, Stone's dream sequences, etc. It felt like a malevolent force was influencing the surrounding area.

This film is a long-standing favorite of mine, and I for one think it deserves more respect. Of course, for that to happen, I suppose more people would need to see it first. Probably Craven's least seen film, which is most unfortunate.