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

When Jeff East meets Susan Buckner in town, the marquee at the theatre shows the title "Summer of Fear" (aka Summer of Fear (1978)), a made-for-TV movie by Wes Craven in which East also starred.

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Goofs

While Martha is taking a bath, supposedly naked, a black bikini is clearly seen through the bath bubbles.

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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

Early Craven effort

Like great wines, Craven's Deadly Blessing improves with age. When looking over the spectrum of his cinema one can see how this films fits into that particular period in his career when he struggled to finance A Nightmare on Elm Street. Unfortunately that classic would not appear until after Swamp Thing and Hills Have Eyes 2. But here we have a story closer than usual to Wes Cravens's heart, repression, religious conflict and social devision, therefore it comes as quite a surprise that Craven does not regard this as one of his more accomplished efforts.

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