The Entity on PAL Laserdisc – The DVDfever Review – Barbara Hershey
**The Entity** is the ultimate story of supernatural terror. Based on events that actually took place in Los Angeles, California in October 1976, only the names have been changed; the facts remain unaltered…
Carla Moran quietly undresses for bed. Suddenly, she is thrown across the room and violently raped – but she sees no-one. There is no explanation for her bruises, nor for the furniture tossed around everywhere. No explanation except… *The Entity*.
In the film, Carla battles a terrifying invisible presence that is determined to possess her body and soul.
*”She was so injured, so hurt by this thing, so emotionally destroyed by it,”* says Frank DeFelitta, who interviewed the real Carla Moran extensively for both the novel and the screenplay. *”She was experiencing something that was both unexplainable and terrifying; she didn’t know what to do, where to go, or who to turn to.”*
Inspired by this startling true incident, *The Entity*’s chilling account chronicles Carla’s continuing attacks, her frustration with a psychiatrist’s useless explanations and the terror of living with a mysterious, unseen assailant. It is only when parapsychologists witness the shocking phenomena that a plan is devised to capture and destroy whatever that has turned Carla’s life into a living hell.
This is the first time I’ve watched this film and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There’s great acting from all concerned, particularly **Barbara Hershey** as the haunted woman, not to mention the fact that she’s a babe – and yes she does strip down to the altogether; and **Ron Silver** as the sceptical doctor who tries to provide realistic explanations for what she’s going through, despite the fact that ‘realism’ doesn’t come into her experiences.
He’s not the only one who sees things in black and white. When Carla is babysitting at a friend’s house, just after they get into their car to leave, the invisible man does his business destroying the front room. Her friend runs back in and tries to console Carla, while her friend’s husband comes out with a classic, “Christ, she tore the fucking place apart!”
Like Encore’s other release this month, *Omen III: The Final Conflict*, the picture quality is almost spot-on, the only non-perfect element being a few flecks dropouts on the original print, but this is to be expected on a film which is 16 years old.
The sound quality excellent too. It’s in Dolby Surround, which is well used for the moments when Carla is threatened by the unseen force – cue a few well-chosen directional sound effects – and is also very clear for the dialogue.
There are 28 chapters spread throughout the 119 minutes of the film and it also contains the original theatrical trailer afterwards.
Overall, this film is an engaging drama punctuated with loud, spectacular sci-fi moments, making for one of the best films I’ve seen all year. Even though this is not the newest of films released on laserdisc this month, the top-notch picture and sound quality make this one of the best reasons to part with a twenty-pound note this summer.
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FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS |
10 9 10 2 |
|
OVERALL |
9 |
NOTE: There are no mid- nor post-credit scenes.
**The Entity** is available on laserdisc.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 18
Running time: 119 minutes
Sides: 2 (CLV)
Year: 1982
Release date: July 1st 1998
Chapters: 29 (15/13+1)
Sound: Dolby Surround
Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Panavision)
Price: £19.99
Extras: Original Theatrical Trailer
Director: Sidney Furie
Producer: Harold Schneider
Screenplay: Frank DeFelitta
Novel: Frank DeFelitta
Music: Charles Bernstein
Cast:
Carla Moran: Barbara Hershey
Phil Sneiderman: Ron Silver
Billy: David Labiosa
Dr. Weber: George Coe
Cindy Nash: Margaret Blye
Dr. Cooley: Jacqueline Brooks
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1998.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.