The Possession of Joel Delaney by Ramona Stewart

It's obvious right from the opening party sequence that Joel & Nora's relationship has always been unwholesome, yet the theme of incest is submerged. An atmosphere of malevolence is well sustained, & the incestuous subtext is as disturbing as the supernatural ingredient. He procedes to torment Nora & the kids, & we get a bloody climax plus a predictable but pretty good fillip.īased on a novel by Ramona Stewart, this is a decent precursor to The Exorcist (1973), with some shocking menace toward Nora's children, such as would be unexpectedly appalling even in today's increasingly tasteless horror. So Nora takes her kids & splits for an isolated beach house to be safe.īut in such stories as this, being isolated is never safe, & sure enough, Joel shows up, with Tonio in complete control. Joel meanwhile is wigging out as though indeed possessed. If you don't believe, we can do nothing.'

It's necessary to bring her brother into the group to try again. The ritual has an intensity about it, & the actor playing Don Pedro conveys such authenticity, that it hardly seemed possible this sequence was only actors! The strength of it is in the acting - Shirley really puts some sweat into her performance - & evokes horror without need of special effects. Nora is slow to believe this, but willing to go along with Don Pedro attempting a long-distance exoercism. Peasant priest Don Pedro (Edmundo Rivera Alvarez) already knows 'all about' Joel Delaney, who he asserts is possessed by the evil spirit of a serial decapitator, Tonio Perez. Having learned he has secretly practiced voodoo, she follows the lead into the Puerto Rican Santaria community of Spanish Harlem. Nora begins her own quest for answers that may help her brother. But where is Sherry's head? And could Joel be the killer? The unspeakable murder of Joel's girlfriend Sherry (Barbara Trentham) brings police into their lives. His behavior as a selfish young man becomes increasingly sinister as he gives evidence of a second personality, one that speaks vulgar Spanish & whose nature is angry & sadistic. Nora's possessiveness of him induces her to ignore his cruelties while accepting warmly his friendly touches. When he's not being inappropriately intimate with her, he's being verbally cruel. There's something distinctly unwholesome about their relationship. When let out of Bellevue, he has to stay with his overprotective sister. He seems to have some sort of emotional break-down into violent madness & is sent to a psychiatric unit.

He is not the innocent youth he pretends & is in fact menacing toward Nora's children. Within these wealthy spoilt & decadent circles, McLaine as Nora is a devorcee, mother of two, obsessively concerned with the life of her baby brother Joel (Perry King). Shirley MacLaine picks her nose at a party within a couple minutes of The Possession of Joel Delaney (1972), so you gotta see it for that.

The Possession of Joel Delaney by Ramona Stewart