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Abby

DVD Release

  • Release Date: 2003

  • Rating: StarStar
  • Genre: Horror
  • Movie Type: Supernatural Horror, Blaxploitation
  • Themes: Evil Children, Demonic Possession
  • Director: William Girdler
  • Main Cast: William Marshall, Carol Speed, Terry Carter, Austin Stoker, Juanita Moore
  • Release Year: 1974
  • Country: US
  • Run Time: 89 minutes

Plot

An intriguing blend of 70's "blaxploitation" and Exorcist clone, William Girdler's Abby is an effective and chilling film that incorporates elements of ancient African spiritualism into the conventions of the demon-possession genre. The story begins in Nigeria, where Professor Williams (Blacula's William Marshall) discovers a suggestive-looking fetish artifact in a cave once used by members of the sinister cult of "Eshu." When the relic is opened, it releases a foul-tempered Eshu demon which quickly kills several people and pursues Williams all the way back to America, where it soon enters the home of the professor's son Reverend Emmett (Terry Carter) and takes possession of the Reverend's proper and lovely wife Abby (Carol Speed). Emmett first begins to suspect something is amiss when Abby attempts suicide during a church picnic, but only after she begins vomiting in church and tormenting his congregation does he realize that her condition may not be mere insanity, and he consults his father for help. By the time the two men finally corner Abby in a sleazy bar, she has already seduced and killed several men. The exorcism is performed right in the bar, as dashiki-clad Williams incorporates both Western and African religious rituals to purge the foul spirit from Abby's body. Although Warner Brothers sought legal action against this film for its similarities to The Exorcist, this is no more of a rip-off than countless Italian variations on the formula, and its strong use of African religious traditions gives it a strength lacking in many low-budget blaxploitation films of the era. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Cast


Charles Kissinger - Dr. Hennings; Elliott Moffitt - Russell; Nathan Cook - Taft Hassan; Bob Holt - The Demon; Nancy Lee Owens - Mrs. Wiggins

Credit

Carol Speed - Composer (Music Score); Henry Asman - Editor; William Asman - Cinematographer; Corky Ehlers - Editor; William Girdler - Director; William Girdler - Producer; William Girdler - Screen Story; Layne G. Comell - Screenwriter; Gordon C. Layne - Producer; Gordon C. Layne - Screen Story; Gordon C. Layne - Screenwriter; Robert O. Ragland - Composer (Music Score); Hugh Smith - First Assistant Director; J. Patrick Kelly III - Production Designer

Similar Movies

Shock; Blackenstein; Blacula; J.D.'s Revenge; Scream, Blacula, Scream!; Antichrist; Voodoo Black Exorcist; Ganja and Hess; Sugar Hill; Chi Sei?
 
 
TV Series:

Abby

  • Movie Type: Sitcom
  • Main Cast: Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Kadeem Hardison, Randy J. Goodwin, Sean O'Bryan, Tangie Ambrose
  • Release Year: 2003
  • Country: US
  • Run Time: 30 minutes

Plot

Hastily assembled as a mid-season replacement for the failed series Haunted, the UPN sitcom Abby starred Sydney Tamiia Poitier as Abby Newman, the attractive young producer of the TV weekly "Northwest Sports Report." Splitting up with her self-absorbed boyfriend Will Jefferies (Kadeem Hardison), Abby is reluctant to give up the posh rent-controlled San Francisco apartment that she and Will had been sharing. Since Will feels the same way, the couple decides to remain platonic roommates (it's Will & Grace with two straight people). Other regulars included Sean O'Bryan as Abby's boss Roger Tomkins, Tangie Ambrose as her sister Joanne Walker, and Randy J. Goodwin as her would-be beau Max Ellis. Abby premiered January 6, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

  • Sydney Tamiia Poitier - Abby Newman
  • Kadeem Hardison - Will Jefferies
  • Randy J. Goodwin - Max Ellis
  • Sean O'Bryan - Roger Tomkins
  • Tangie Ambrose - Joanne Walker

Kurt Long - Miles; Heather Ankeny - Paige

Credit

Nat Bernstein - Executive Producer; Nat Bernstein - Screenwriter; Mitchel Katlin - Executive Producer; Mitchel Katlin - Screenwriter; Jacque Edmonds - Executive Producer
 
Wikipedia: Abby
For the English first name, see Abigail (name). For the Japanese singer, see Abby (singer).


Abby
Abby_poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster.
Directed by William Girdler
Produced by William Girdler
Mike Henry
G. Cornell Layne
Written by G. Cornell Layne
Starring William Marshall
Terry Carter
Austin Stoker
Carol Speed
Music by Robert O. Ragland
Cinematography William Asman
Editing by Henry Asman
Corky Ehlers
Distributed by American International Pictures
Release date(s) December 25, 1974
Running time 89 min
Country U.S.
Language English
Budget $100,000 (inflated figure reported as $400,000)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Abby was a 1974 blaxploitation/horror film about a woman who is possessed by an African sex demon. The film starred William H. Marshall, best known for portraying the lead role in Blacula, Terry Carter, and Carol Speed as the title character, Abby. It was directed by William Girdler, who cowrote the film's story with screenwriter Gordon Cornell Layne. The film was a financial success, but was pulled from theaters after the film's distributor, American International Pictures, were accused of copyright violation by Warner Bros., who saw the film as being derivitive of The Exorcist, and filed a lawsuit against AIP.

Synopsis

Bishop Garnett Williams (William H. Marshall) is a respected authority on African religions. His son, Emmett (Terry Carter) is a minister with a kind, adoring wife named Abby (Carol Speed). While Garnett is on an archeological dig in Africa, he comes across a religious icon that represents the sexual deity Eshu. When he opens the box, he releases a demon from captivity, and it manifests itself back in the United States by taking possession of Abby. Abby's personality quickly changes. She becomes unstable and lapses into demonic outbursts of increasingly supernatural proportions, until finally she is confined to a hospital. She forcibly escapes, setting out to follow the sexual urges brought on by Eshu. Garnett returns to the United States to confront the demon before it destroys Abby utterly.Abby is a clamboil.

Production

Abby was written and produced by William Girdler, a filmmaker who specialized in exploitation pictures that were often in the horror genre. Films such as Grizzly and The Manitou are some of Girdler's more notable productions, while Abby achieved a more infamous reputation due to the fact that it was accused of copyright violation by Warner Bros., who felt it was a direct copy of The Exorcist. Warner Bros. won their court case, and Abby was eventually pulled from theaters, but not before it was able to take in almost $4 million.[1][2]

Abby was filmed in 1974 in Louisville, Kentucky.[3] Carol Speed landed the part of Abby after the original actress demanded a masseuse, for which the film's low budget had no provisions. Speed's agent recommended her to Girdler, and she flew to Louisville, meeting her director for the first time on the set.

In one scene, Speed's character was required to sing a song in church, and the song was one that Speed herself composed, "Is Your Soul A Witness?".

The production of the film was met with an unusual threat when Louisville experienced a series of tornadoes that tore through the area around the set of Abby. Speed recalled spending time with co-star Juanita Moore huddled in the lobby of their hotel, wrapped in blankets for protection. "Juanita and I immediately left the set when the daytime sky turned pitch black. We ended up rolled in some blankets on the lobby floor. Ramada had built this nice hotel, but no basement or tornado shelter. Just glass windows...everywhere."[4]

William Marshall was vocal about his unhappiness with the production of Abby, mostly because he'd been promised certain script revisions that never materialized. Marshall did add certain elements to the film regarding the Yoruba religion.[5]

Critical reaction

The tone and content of Abby seems to have left it difficult to take seriously. The New York Times review published December 26, 1974, mentioned that "Abby is more silly than shocking even if it seems to take itself seriously."[6]

Scarcity of prints

Abby was out of circulation for many years, partially due to the lawsuit instigated by Warner Bros., and also because of the uncertain propriety of distribution rights. The ownership of the original film elements of Abby is still in question. As of October 2006, the film is only available on home video in one version, a DVD released by CineFear. It appears to have been transferred from a visually flawed 16mm print of the film, which is possibly the only format in which celluloid prints of Abby are still found.[7] This is the only commercially available presentation of Abby to date.

References

  1. ^ J. Patrick Kelly III interview at williamgirdler.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-20.
  2. ^ Career overview at williamgirdler.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-20.
  3. ^ IMDb. Retrieved on 2007-04-20.
  4. ^ Interview with Carol Speed at williamgirdler.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-20.
  5. ^ (1998) What It Is... What It Was!; The Black Film Explosion of the '70s in Words and Pictures. Miramax Books. ISBN 0786883774. 
  6. ^ New York Times review, December 26, 1974. Retrieved on 2007-04-20.
  7. ^ DVD Talk review. Retrieved on 2007-04-20.

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

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Movies. Copyright © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Movie Guide ® , a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
TV Series. Copyright © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Movie Guide ® , a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Abby".  Read more

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