THE POSSESSION OF JOEL DELANEY (1972)

Joel Delaney: he's not very nice

Long unavailable and slightly notorious, the Shirley Maclaine horror film THE POSSESSION OF JOEL DELANEY has finally made it out on DVD in both the UK (the version I'm looking at) and the US. As far as DVD quality goes, the mono sound is serviceable but not great, while the picture shows some damage and suffers from some rather drab colours. That could be the way it's shot but since the film opens with the old "X certificate" title card, I'm guessing it's more likely because of the old print from which the print has been made.

One of the key selling points banded about by the film's admirers is that it is a tale of demonic possession (possibly - there is a hint that Joel might just be a bit mental) that is not a million miles away from THE EXORCIST but was released first. It should be kept in mind however that this does not make it a better film.

One of the problems with this film is that the possession itself is not as shocking. For one thing, it happens to a grown man rather than a child; on top of that, we don't really see much of Joel pre-possession so when he turns into a total bastard there's not really much for us to compare it against.

The involvement of Puerto Ricans in the story does at least lend the film some added weight through a race-relations angle that scores it a point against THE EXORCIST but it lacks the out and out shock value of the latter film, except in a few key moments.

One such moment is the decapitation of a young lady, which is nice, but the most shocking scene of all (which, like THE EXORCIST, involves a child) sees a pair of young children humiliated by the apparently possessed Joel in a scene that almost single-handedly secured the film its notorious reputation. The scene is there in all its glory on this new DVD release and I defy anyone to watch it without showing some kind of reaction, even if it's just to pick your jaw off the ground.

An interesting curio from the annals of forgotten horror films, but no classic.