The Dark Power (1985)

Director:

Phil Smoot

Writer:

Phil Smoot (writer)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

The spirits of dead Indians are haunting a couple's house, and they call in an exorcist, whose trademark is a black whip, to get rid of them.

Plot Keywords:

House | Sorcerer | Medicine Man | Ghost | Supernatural

Cast

Lash La Rue	...	Ranger Girard (as Lash LaRue)
Anna Lane Tatum	...	Beth
Cynthia Bailey	...	Tammie
Mary Dalton	...	Herself
Paul Holman	...	Uncle Earl Coleman
Cynthia Farbman	...	Lynn Evans
Marc Matney	...	Craig Evans
Tony Shaw	...	David Cody
Robert Bushyhead	...	John "Four Eagles" Cody
Suzie Martin	...	Suzan
Dean Jones	...	Alan
Steve Templeton	...	Dallas
Page Elizabeth Ray	...	Page
Eric Mikesall	...	Cletus
Tony Elwood	...	Courthouse Student

Runtime:

UK:78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | Italy:T | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Belews Creek, North Carolina, USA

Quotes:

Mary: Of course, some girls might be a little crazier about whips than others.
Ranger Girard: You know about my whip?

Movie Connections:

References The Blues Brothers (1980)

Ultra cheesy fun!

Okay, this is a mid-80's movie about the spirits of the dead returning to have their revenge on the living. So you pretty much expect cheesy-looking zombies who have no consistency in their behaviour, a bunch of stupid, screaming college students who are only there as splat-fodder, leaving the (mildly) more likable ones behind to be saved in the nick of time by a hugely unlikely hero, who utters the line "I'm getting too old for this" at least once. You also expect some pretty gory moments where hands and heads come off and blood stains the grass, and cringe-worthy dialogue like "Die, you corpse!"...and, you get it with this movie XD.

The only real complaint is that the Zombies are not really zombies, they are just menacing undead creatures who run around with sharp weapons (well, two of them do, the other two just run around and fumble at their victims while making dubbed grunt/moan noises) and kill people. This is a pretty good splatter movie to kill a hour or so with i suppose. You even see some titties!, and it features a similar racial theme to "Night of the living dead", except handled much more clumsily, with all the subtlety you would expect from an 80's splatter flick. Great viewing all round, but don't pay more than £6!

Tally (yeah, i decided to incorporate this in all my reviews): Sex: 1/10, Drugs: 0/10, Rock 'n roll: 2/10, Zombies: 7/10, Classic cars: 0/10, Splatter: 6/10