Deadly Blessing (1981) (Blu-ray Review)
Directed By: Wes Craven
Starring: Maren Jensen, Sharon Stone, Susan Buckner, Ernest Borgnine, Lois Nettleton
Rated: R/Region: A/1×78/Number of dics: 1
Available from Scream Factory
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.
The film does a fine job of building tension from almost the start. It’s makes you think more than once that you have a clear cut answer as to who is doing what and even if your right (like I was) you won’t be all the way right. I think Wes actually does a better job with this film than he does later on with Scream on keeping what is going on a mystery until the end. One of our prime suspects is Isaiah Schmidt. The HAIC (Head Amish in Charge) is a pretty over bearing man. The actor who plays him is none other than Ernest Borgnine, who was nominated for a Razzie for whatever reason. I think he did a fine job myself and as a whole mostly everyone does OK from Sharon Stone to another man famous for being in a Wes Craven movie Michael Berryman. Berryman plays a Amish “man-child” in this one and it’s pretty funny to hear him running around chanting “Incubus!”
And what an end this one has as! This baby packs two major WTF moments in the films third act. One was a bit out of left field in its own right but the other kinda makes you just scratch your head and say “what??”. However it still gets major props and cool points from me because when you think you have it all figured out the question is drastically changed. While it seems to be this film is one of Wes Craven’s lesser known films it is a really good one overall in my humble opinion even if it is at times slow. Over the years I have heard some bad things about this film, but I think that it is unjust. Also, keep an eye out for the exact same scene that Craven would use later with a more popular film of his.
– Audio commentary by director Wes Craven
– Interview with Actress Susan Bucker and Writers Glen M. Benest and Matthew Barr
– TV Spots
– Theatrical Trailer
