Back home

The Entity

517 votes

Producing House

Carla Moran begins experiencing violent attacks by an unseen force. Her psychiatrist, Dr. Phil Sneiderman, believes the events stem from psychological trauma, while Carla becomes increasingly convinced something supernatural is at play.

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 1982-09-30

Runtime: 125 mins

Director: Sidney J. Furie

Spoken language: English

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Original title: The Entity

Production Companies: American Cinema Productions, 20th Century Fox

Production Countries: United States of America

Reviews

G

GenerationofSwine
This gets a lot of hype for being a scary film, and it's really not. It's more of a true life drama based on a haunting that.... probably never really happened. Or at least I'm skeptical about it. The main problem is that it tries to show a little too much. The first rape really didn't, and the close ups and jerky movement made it a little more chilling... and then they tried to to the Fx game and show a little more... and that's there the cheese came in. This is the kind of movie that does a lot better if the hide things in the shadows. However... it does build tension and suspense and is builds it pretty well. It leaves you with a paranoid nervous feeling as you are watching it and, that is really the reason why people like me watch movies like this... to illicate a visceral emotional response, and, in this case, rather than fear it's nervous paranoia... ... and that is just as good, it puts the film in the mission accomplished category, it did what it's supposed to do. But the cheese. I'm tempted to say that the technology wasn't there to make it look anything but cheesy, however... no... even today that doesn't work in movies. What works is showing less, inferring more, and allowing the viewers' own imagination to, well, to scare the heck out of them. Despite that, however, it's still a movie that builds suspense, it's still a movie that makes the viewer nervous, and that is the reason we watch these movies, and it does do that better than most.
2023-01-11

J

JPV852
Pretty bizarre but also unique supernatural movie featuring a great performance from Barbara Hershey. While the final act was a bit lame considering what happened before, still worth checking out if you haven't already. Probably will watch the documentaries on the real life aspects on Doris Bither.
2019-08-28

J

John Chard
Very up and down in its telling of an horrendous story. This is the loosely based on facts story of Carla Moran, a woman who was allegedly tormented and sexually molested by an invisible demon. Regardless of if the facts of the case are fictionalised for impact, or if indeed there is any basis of truth to the attacks in question, The Entity as a film fails to rise above average due to sloppy direction and a very poor script, whilst the score from Charles Bernstein is akin to being hit over the head repeatedly with a blunt instrument. That said, the film isn't a total wash out, there are genuine moments of dread in the piece, and most of the tension and fear is realised from a very credible performance from Barbara Hershey as Carla. The nature of the beast with this type of picture will always be open to either scoffing or a fear of the unknown, so to get the audience involved with a topic like this you really need your protagonist to be believable, Hershey manages to do this in spite of the character being hopelessly under written. There is no real urgency or understanding of feelings portrayed other than a few rushed sequences, it's kind of like poor Carla saying she's been attacked by a demon and her doctor going, oh OK, lets talk about it. If you believe in the paranormal etc is irrelevant, that The Entity isn't a terrifying story is sadly just a missed opportunity to not only scare, but to induce thought provoking conversation. 4/10
2014-08-28

Recommendations

12
3.3

12

2007-06-06

A loose remake of “12 Angry Men”, “12” is set in contemporary Moscow where 12 very different men mus

Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS
3

Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS

1975-10-01

Ilsa, a warden at a Nazi death camp that conducts experiments on prisoners, strives to prove that wo

The Mechanic
3.3

The Mechanic

1972-10-06

Arthur Bishop is a veteran hit man who, owing to his penchant for making his targets' deaths seem li

One False Move
3.3

One False Move

1991-10-12

Following a series of drug deals and murders, three criminals -- Fantasia, Ray Malcolm and Pluto --

A Stranger Is Watching
2.3

A Stranger Is Watching

1982-10-28

A twisted man holds a TV newswoman and a girl hostage in the bowels of Grand Central Station.

Sin Nombre
3.8

Sin Nombre

2009-03-20

Sayra, a Honduran teen, hungers for a better life. Her chance for one comes when she is reunited wit

1313: Nightmare Mansion
2.1

1313: Nightmare Mansion

2011-02-01

Six high school students, Will, Charlie, Bartok, Todd, Stevie and Linda, are handed invitations to a

Maalik
3.4

Maalik

2016-04-08

A man of Pakistan's Elite Special Forces whose life gets entangled with Politics. They soon realize

Callback
2.3

Callback

2016-04-27

Larry is an ardent evangelical Christian, lives in New York, works as a mover, and dreams of breakin

Cash Truck
3.2

Cash Truck

2004-04-14

Vigilante, a small armored truck company, is in full crisis mode. Victim of three violent hold-ups i

I Can Only See
2

I Can Only See

2021-07-21

A comic horror drama depicting a grotesque situation that occurs with the appearance of a supernatur

Polytechnique
3.6

Polytechnique

2009-02-06

A dramatization of the Montreal Massacre of 1989 where several female engineering students were murd

Sisters
3.4

Sisters

1973-03-26

Inquisitive journalist Grace Collier is horrified when she witnesses her neighbor, fashion model Dan

Chase a Crooked Shadow
3.5

Chase a Crooked Shadow

1958-01-16

A woman who lives in Spain has trouble convincing anybody that a complete stranger has taken her dea

The Pinkerton
0

The Pinkerton

Based on the historical private security guard and detective agency established in the U.S. by Scots

Impact
1.3

Impact

1988-11-06

New York City is in a panic caused by an insane murderer; Maria, a police officer is entrusted with

Election
3.6

Election

2005-10-20

After losing an election to become chairman of the Wo Lin Shing triad, a gang leader lashes out and

The Cell 2
1.8

The Cell 2

2009-02-27

The Cusp is a serial killer who kills his victims and then brings them back to life; over and over a

Demon Seed
2.9

Demon Seed

1977-04-07

A scientist creates Proteus, an organic supercomputer with artificial intelligence which becomes obs

Haunted
3

Haunted

1995-10-27

Professor David Ash exposes false spiritulists and mediums. He is invited to Edbrook to resolve the