The Spell

Middling TV movie about a slightly chubby teen (Susan Myers) who is constantly teased by her sister and classmates. Even her own father treats her like garbage. She begins getting even when she is taught how to be a witch by her gym teacher. Her sympathetic mother (Lee Grant) does not approve.

This was obviously inspired by 'Carrie', though this one under-develops the high school turmoil in favor of the girl's miserable family life. There is nary a likable character present here. In fact, I haven't disliked characters this much since Mario Azzopardi's 'Deadline', a film where I literally wanted to jump on screen and strangle the wife with my bare hands. The girl's father is a dick, plain and simple. I was hoping for his gruesome demise the entire time. Her sister (played by a young Helen Hunt) isn't much better. I hated these people so much that I was longing for the film to focus more on the school as opposed to the family. I did like Lelia Goldoni as the gym teacher, but she has about three scenes total.

Characters aside, there are a few good moments. The opening with the popular girl pulling off circus style tricks on the gym rope was fun. We also get a bizarre death scene where a woman's skin starts smoldering, and the confrontation between student and teacher is well done.

Really though, this film is far from special. Along with what's already been mentioned, we also have to deal with one of those horrid TV scores and there's a twist at the end that's pretty weak. The characters, though, are what make it a real struggle to get through.

She's 15 and at an age that is just so much more complicated when you're fat. Rita discovers that she has telekenetic powers and can seek revenge against those who are cruel to her. Good performances by Lee Grant and a young Helen Hunt. Bostock is downright chilling in the role. Some excellent special effects for this type of movie, and the end scenes are quite scary, actually. Most of all, a good message about teenagers. Sometimes they can be witchy and seem like aliens, but what they need most of all is love.

The Spell (1977)

** (out of 4)

This made-for-TV horror film was shown just three months after the release of CARRIE so it's easy to see why it's been forgotten over the years. Lee Grant plays a mother who starts to get worried when her overweight daughter (Susan Myers) begins to act strange against those picking on her. Soon it appears the girl has supernatural powers that she's using against those who pick on her. THE SPELL is obviously a cheap rip-off of the Brian DePalma classic and I think what really kills this film is the screenplay. It's hard to feel sorry for the young girl played by Myers because she's really just an all around ugly person. In CARRIE we at least cared about the girl and even in the end when we might not agree with what she was doing. In this film there's never a single scene where we feel for the girl and this is really what causes the film to fall apart. Each time we see her she's being rude, ugly or trying to kill somewhat. This here isn't the best way to fall for any character. It's also rather annoying watching the mother walking around so stupid and never really being able to see what's going on. The film is basically told through the eyes of the mother and she goes back and forth so many times that it's hard to relate to her as well. Grant, for the most part, deliver a good performance as the mother and I was also impressed with Myers. A very young Helen Hunt plays the sister and does a nice job with it and we also have James Olson turning in a good performance. The direction is okay but I think a faster pace would have helped things. THE SPELL really doesn't come anywhere close to CARRIE but it's probably best that one doesn't try to compare the two films. Even on its own, this here is pretty weak and is only for those who need to see every film of its type.

Every teenager has dreamt of having the mental power to smite their enemies. In the late 1970's, Hollywood gave that power to a select few. The made for TV production `The Spell' (1977) was a well done version of the theme, and fell between `Carrie' (1976) and `The Fury' (1978) in both chronology and style. `The Spell' came closest to the altered reality that most of us envisioned when running this scenario in our own teenage mental movie house. No ultra-evil-parents or goody-two-shoes types (Carrie) and no spies and secret organizations (The Fury).

Instead, `The Spell' presents the story of a regular out of place teenager in a regular unfair world. She finds that she suddenly has telekinetic powers, and the revenge that most of us dreamed about becomes a reality for her. The pacing is a little choppy, but the heart of the story unfolds nicely. The world is still unfair, she just doesn't realize that it is now HER that is being unfair to those who don't have her secret power. The result is a ‘teenage telekinesis' movie that actually relies on character rather than special effects for its most important moments. While the parents in the other two movies were either nuts (Carrie) or non-existent (The Fury) the parents in this movie are loving people who are trying to provide some proper guidance to a daughter who just seems to be changing from a timid young girl into a smart-ass teenager. Hallmark moments were never like this

There's one scene in the movie that always stood out in my head. A woman is walking down a flight of stairs, when she is overtaken by one of these spells. Her tongue turns purple and smoke comes out of her head. It was very shocking the way the attack just seemed to come out of nowhere.