John Slaney's extremely popular Slaughtered on Sight (older articles here) is back with a brand new edition I'm sure you're going to enjoy. As you all know the news has been insane the past few weeks, thus leaving me no space (or time) to post the latest gem from John. Inside you can read the latest volume, which features William Girdler's 1974 film 'Abby'... Enjoy!
“Abby” 1974 Starring:William Marshall, Terry Carter, Austin Stoker, Carol Speed Written by:William Girdler, Gordon Cornell Layne Directed by:William Girdler Produced by:Samuel Z. Arkoff, William Girdler, Mike Henry, Gordon Cornell Layne, David Sheldon Originally released in:US
“Abby doesn’t need a man anymore... The Devil is her Lover Now!”
This is such an unfortunate poster... I was teetering on edge – struggling with the decision to write about this one. I’m not really sure why, I mean, I think it’s because of the ”blaxploitation” element; it seems almost wrong to further exploit it, you know? During the height of blaxploitation cinema – the 1970's – civil rights groups criticized the ‘genre’ for its use of gratuitous stereotypes... Of course, they were entirely correct but, nonetheless, the films remained popular as the “target” black audiences made them box office successes. This was, obviously, because the movies cast black actors in all types of roles – from strong male and female heroic leads, to utterly villainous antagonists. In an industry full of racist, sexist subversion, this so-called ”blaxploitation” was a welcomed, if not flawed change.
So, with that, I must insist this poster is fair game – as it is just awful. The seriously ridiculous elements are few; but they’re bold. I’ll start at the bottom and work up...
Like so many other blaxploitation movie posters (see “Devil’s Express, Cleopatra Jones, Blacula, Dolemite”) this one is all disheveled and confused – sort of like a last-minute grade school science project or a sh*tty recipe you try to fix by just adding more salt. The title looks watery – like what the titling for an ”Aquaman” movie might look like. Why blue? Red would have been better... Blue is water, red is blood. Were these rules ever different?
Not only is Abby possessed, it seems she’s a terrible dresser as well; and may also have some kind of problem with wild flailing. I’m not sure what that little screaming woman is supposed to be doing, but she may be either attempting to fly or she’s just leapt off a rooftop. Who knows; but, whatever it is, she’s doing so with an aquamarine dress and matching shoes.
Or, maybe she just tripped? That would explain the awkward forward tilt and the far-reaching wingspan. If she did in fact trip, it would be something almost novel in the ‘possessed-by-demon/devil’ film catalogue... I can’t think of any instance where the demonically-enhanced human – during a sinister, low-timbered tirade about what ‘your mother does in hell’ or while running panicked through unusually thick fog – has caught a root with the top of his or [usually] her foot and taken a header into the dirt. I mean, vomiting is one thing and, along with sweating, sunken eyeballs, open sores and disconcerting ranges of motion, it only serves to heighten the sense of dread and disturbed queasiness. But, if the demon’s “flow” was hampered or stunted or cut short by something like a lash in the eye or inhaling some spit, I’d be more inclined to recognize the humanity within, you know? Of course, what the hell do I know? I suppose if you want comedy in your ‘possession’ movies – intentional comedy, to be more precise – you’ll just have to watch 1990's ”Reposessed” – but I wouldn’t recommend it.
As was common in the seventies, the male cast members all sport roughly the same ’fro haircut – not too tame as to appear less than funky; but not too big, in order to avoid that so funky it’s crazy “Superfly” look. This is, after all, a movie about a woman possessed by a demon; and, thus, is no place for funk of that caliber. In other words, the characters had to keep the funk cooled down – mellowed out so that under every-day circumstances, the funk lay just beneath the surface... But you could tell that, come the right night, that funk would bust the hell out. Sadly, this era has passed.
The coup de grace for this poster will be the revelry with which I highlight the big damn head; and the big damn head’s big damn hair. This aspect is clearly the reason this poster caught my eye in the first place... I didn’t really know what to make of it – that is, at first. But, had it not been for the subtitle, ”...the story of a woman possessed!” and markedly, the mention of the devil as her lover, the big damn head looks like a big damn joke.
Personally, I don’t think the disembodied head is an effective device... And you won’t find too many of them among the thousands of movie posters available – probably because disembodied heads look stupid. A neckless noggin’ floating in mid-air is hardly an image one could be expected to take seriously. The fire in the background only serves to accentuate the laughable focal point; and, while Abby’s yellow eyes may be an attempt to make her look fittingly demonic, I think they just make her look like ’She-Hulk’. Plus, if you form a little peep-hole with your curled index finger and thumb, then use it to crop-out She-Hulk-Abby’s big dynamo super hair, so that you see only ‘her’ face, you might notice that she then looks a bit like a thoroughly enraged Harry Belafonte – only with pasty, pasty skin.
The hair is an issue for me... I think it detracts from the whole possessed thing. Recall Linda Blair’s do in “The Exorcist” – after her devilish affliction set in... Do a Google image search for “The Exorcist” and you’ll find a skin-ulcer-ridden Blair complete with some oily, scraggly and otherwise disheveled locks. Abby, on the other hand, seems able to maintain quite the voluminous mop. Even as a possessed concubine of Satan himself, her hair is fabulous! Lame.
Of course, the glaring problem is the overall stupidity of the poster – it’s all dumb... The WHOLE THING. It’s a muddled mess of mismanaged imagery and design ineptitude – it’s almost sordid, really. And, thus, I love it. It’s also interesting to note – finally – that ”Abby”, to quote IMDB, fell “Out of circulation for years after Warner Bros. sued American International claiming it was a rip off of their film The Exorcist (1973).” Perhaps only telling of its general lack of popularity, you also won’t find it in the Netflix catalogue. So sad.
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