Abby (1974)

A possession film about a marriage counselor who becomes possessed by a Demon of Sexuality, when her father in law, an Exorcist, freed it while in Africa. He returns home, along with his ... See full summary »

Director:

William Girdler

Writers:

William Girdler (story), Gordon Cornell Layne (screenplay),

Stars:

William Marshall, Terry Carter, Austin Stoker

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Marshall	...	Bishop Garnet Williams
Terry Carter	...	Rev. Emmett Williams
Austin Stoker	...	Det. Cass Potter
Carol Speed	...	Abby Williams
Juanita Moore	...	Miranda 'Momma' Potter
Charles Kissinger	...	Dr. Hennings
Elliott Moffitt	...	Russell Lang
Nathan Cook	...	Tafa Hassan
Nancy Lee Owens	...	Mrs. Wiggins
William P. Bradford	...	Dr. Rogers (as Billy Bradford)
Joann Holcomb	...	Lois
Claude Fulkerson	...	Benny
Bill Wilson	...	Dan
Charles Broaddus	...	Joe (as Chuck Broadus)
Don Henderson	...	Flip

Storyline

A possession film about a marriage counselor who becomes possessed by a Demon of Sexuality, when her father in law, an Exorcist, freed it while in Africa. He returns home, along with his son and a policeman to perform an African Exorcism on her.

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Plot Keywords:

exorcism | possession | demon | kicked in the crotch | priest | 

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Taglines:

Abby doesn't need a man anymore... The Devil is her Lover Now!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Blaxorcist

Filming Locations:

Louisville, Kentucky, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$400,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

American International Pictures (AIP), Mid-America Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In addition to the devastating tornadoes that struck during filming, there were more instances of bad luck on the set. Actor Terry Carter broke his ribs filming one scene, and whenever Carol Speed would appear on the set dressed as the demon, the generators would fail.

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Quotes

The Demon's voice: I don't need you! I've got Abby!

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Rod Stewart (1981)

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Soundtracks

"Gone Woman"
Sung by George Gentre Griffin

User Reviews

pretty good, *very* 1970s*, surprisingly foul language!

"The Blackorcist," as this was supposedly nearly called, is actually not as blatant a rip-off of Exorcist, The (1973) as Chi sei? (1975) AKA Beyond the Door, or Seytan (1974) AKA The Turkish Exorcist. The latter in particular steals many scenes shot-for-shot (though not actual footage), but does actually steal same recording of the music "Tubular Bells."

Abby is pretty enjoyable. I saw the Cinefear DVD of it, and hopefully some other company will be able to do a proper transfer of the film at some point. Credit to Cinefear for getting it out, though, and even including some extras.

Abby is sort of the equivalent of Linda Blair's character in The Exorcist, but Abby is not a young girl but a young married woman; her husband and father-in-law are both priests. I'm not certain what denomination they were. The father dresses like a Catholic priest with black shirt and white collar, but has a wife and son. The son wears a khaki shirt with a white collar.

The father unwittingly releases a demon in Africa, which for some reason possesses Abby in the US. The demon causes Abby to swear rather profusely - I was surprised.

If a new DVD is ever released, there was some Greek, Hindi, and an African language spoken by the demon and the priest, and it would be interesting to get some optional subtitles for those scenes. The text of the lawsuit against the movie would also be interesting.