Deadly Blessing (1981)

After her husband dies under mysterious circumstances, a widow becomes increasingly paranoid of the neighboring religious community that may have diabolical plans for her.

Director:

Wes Craven

Writers:

Glenn M. Benest (story), Matthew Barr (story)

Stars:

Maren Jensen, Sharon Stone, Susan Buckner

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Maren Jensen	...	Martha Schmidt
Sharon Stone	...	Lana Marcus
Susan Buckner	...	Vicky Anderson
Jeff East	...	John Schmidt
Colleen Riley	...	Melissa (as Coleen Riley)
Douglas Barr	...	Jim Schmidt (as Doug Barr)
Lisa Hartman	...	Faith Stohler
Lois Nettleton	...	Louisa Stohler
Ernest Borgnine	...	Isaiah Schmidt
Michael Berryman	...	William Gluntz
Kevin Cooney	...	Sheriff
Bobby Dark	...	Theatre Manager
Kevin Farr	...	Fat Boy
Neil Fletcher	...	Gravedigger
Jonathon Gulla	...	Tom Schmidt

Storyline

A former Hittite (a member of an Amish-like sect) dies in a mysterious tractor "accident", and his widow is left to face the frightening Hittites who view her as "the incubus" and may have sinister designs on her.

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Plot Keywords:

spider in mouth | countryside | insect in mouth | psychotronic film | supernatural | 

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Taglines:

Pray you're not blessed

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Actor Ernest Borgnine, who had won a Best Actor Academy Award for Marty (1955), which also was Borgnine's only ever Oscar nomination, was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor for Deadly Blessing (1981), but lost out on the Razzie to Steve Forrest for Mommie Dearest (1981).

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Goofs

The cult members only accuse female characters of being the Incubus. In folklore however an Incubus is an exclusively male demon the gender opposite counterpart to the exclusively female Succubus.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: In the rolling hills of a sinful farm community, untouched by time, a gruesome secret has been protected for generations.

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Crazy Credits

The end credits start rolling before the narrator's dialogue is finshed.

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Alternate Versions

In the British version, to avoid what they might call confusion, they omitted the "finale" in which the incubus ascends from hell. This version runs 98 minutes.

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Connections

Referenced in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

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Soundtracks

Maggie May
Written by Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton
Performed by Rod Stewart

User Reviews

Amish Paradise

A solid shocker, ruined by a botched story and a ridicolous finale, but already demonstrating the greatness of his director, Wes Craven. A couple of scenes in the movie (like the dream spider sequence with a young and pretty Sharon Stone, and the almost heartstopping snake in the bath scene) are really good and even the movie is good for more than half is length. Alas, the botched explanation of the resolution of the story (really stupid and very similar to another movie of those years - Sleepaway Camp) and the really ridicolous demon apparition at the end of the movie soften the total impact of this otherwise more than watchable thriller with mildly supernatural tones.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 August 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Deadly Blessing

Filming Locations:

Waxahachie, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$8,279,042

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$8,279,042

Company Credits

Production Co:

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Inter Planetary

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1