PopHorror Let's Get Scared
For connoisseurs of parody movies, the gold standard are films such as Hot Shots, The Naked Gun and Scary Movie. Then you have the opposite end of the spectrum with some of the biggest atrocities committed to film (looking at you Friedberg and Seltzer!). Then you have the middle. The movies where the jokes hit and miss equally. The movies that are funny but not that funny. In 1990, Bob Logan’s REPOSSESSED hit the theaters.
So what is REPOSSESSED about? In 1973, Father Mayii (Leslie Nielsen – The Naked Gun 1988) had banished the spirit of Satan from the body of Nancy Aglet (Linda Blair – The Exorcist 1973) before going into hiding. 17 years later Nancy is a married housewife and she gets re-possessed. Televangelist Ernest Weller (Ned Beatty – Superman 1978) and his wife Fanny (Lana Schwab –The Silence of The Hams 1994) want to televise the exorcism for TV ratings. Father Luke Brophy (Anthony Starke – License To Kill 1989) wants to perform his own exorcism but can’t beat Satan alone, enlisting the help of Father Mayii to finally stop Satan after all. Will they do it? Watch the movie and find out.
The background to REPOSSESSED is that producer Steve Wizan did NOT want to make a parody of just The Exorcist but horror movies in general. The problem is anyone with a brain knew what exactly was being parodied. Bob Logan wanted Linda Blair essentially to reprise her role from The Exorcist. Linda initially refused until Bob asked what it would take to get her to do it. With The Naked Gun still hot at the time, Linda said get Leslie Nielsen or no deal. They got ahold of Leslie and sent him the script, which Leslie laughed at and said he’d do it.
The acting in REPOSSESSED was awesome. Anthony Starke was coming off the James Bond flick License To Kill so him playing the timid, confused Brophy was a stark contrast to his sneaky weasel character in LTK. Linda Blair as a comedic version of Regan MacNeil was fun to watch and Leslie Nielsen is the master of these kinds of movies. Ned Beatty as a blowhard televangelist worked and anyone who watched wrestling in the 80’s could appreciate Jesse The Body and Mean Gene.
I’ve always squawked about parody movies in in my editorial on Scary Movie and how they could go either way, but REPOSSESSED was right in the middle. Some of the jokes landed, some of them didn’t. Its not the fault of the actors but more so the writing and directing. No amount of cameos from fitness guru Jake Steinfeld or wrestling personalities Jesse “The Body” Ventura and “Mean” Gene Okerlund can make up if the jokes don’t land, no matter how much effort they put in. Critics praised Nielsen but felt the material fell flat. For example, one of the scenes takes place at a gym with Nielsen and Starke causing chaos. Part of it was hilarious with Nielsen slamming weights down on the hand of Jake Steinfeld but others such as the dog attacking Leslie in drag just felt forced.
Now for the horror elements of REPOSSESSED. Is there gore? If split pea soup vomiting doesn’t count, then no. Is it scary? Not really. Is there T & A? Actually yes. Shout out to the late, great “Judge” Julie Strain for her cameo in this. Does anyone actually die? Apart from a dog, no. Its not a horror comedy, its more of a straight comedy. REPOSSESSED isn’t meant to be taken seriously, its meant to be laughed at like any comedy. The problem is the humor is hit or miss. Some of the scenes such as the televangelist montage was a little blah while others such as Linda Blair bouncing her booty to “Devil In A Blue Dress” with Leslie Nielsen dressed as Michael Jackson was legitimately funny.
What about legacy? Anthony Starke never again reached the heights he was at following License to Kill and REPOSSESSED. Ned Beatty and Linda Blair went on to have long careers in television and film. One year later Leslie Nielsen starred in The Naked Gun 2 which got rave reviews before continuing to do parody films such as The Naked Gun 3, Dracula Dead and Loving It, Scary Movie 3 and Scary Movie 4 before passing in 2010.
All in all, REPOSSESSED clocks in at just 84 minutes long so its short and sweet. Its not a total waste of time but there are better parody movies starring Leslie Nielsen out there. However, if you’re a fan of Leslie or The Exorcist then this will be a fun way to spend 84 minutes. Check it out when you can and here’s to 35 years of it.
