by Frank Calvillo
Horror is filled with endless titles of ordinary people being taken over by ancient tribal rituals with oftentimes terrifying effects. This week, one of the newest entries in the genre is The Other Side of the Door, from the producer of High Tension, which sees a family toy with the rules of a sacred Indian temple in an effort to say goodbye to their departed son.
It’s up in the air just how much The Other Side of the Door will offer fans of this kind of horror film, but for those who feel it won’t deliver, may I suggest a viewing of 1972’s The Possession of Joel Delaney, a similarly-themed tale both stirring and unforgettable in its depiction of ordinary people dallying in the darkness.
In the little-seen The Possession of Joel Delaney, Shirley Maclaine stars as Nora Benson, an upscale Manhattan divorcee with two small children. When Nora’s younger brother Joel (Perry King) returns from a long trip to Tangier, she is ecstatic and goes to every length to celebrate his homecoming. However, strange behavior and a never-before-seen violent streak within Joel makes Nora begin to fear for her family. An exploration into the voodoo culture that exists in the depths of Spanish Harlem, and the discovery of a questionable friend of Joel’s past, lead Nora to believe that something is taking over her brother.
Compared to other films dealing with possession as a result dark spirituality, The Possession of Joel Delaney doesn’t have a great many of the traditional jumps and scares that would normally accompany such a title. What it does have, however, is an ongoing tension and creepiness as the audience watches Joel’s transformation before our eyes and Nora’s growing suspicion and fear as she struggles to find an answer to what is happening to her brother. When something shocking does happen on screen, such as Joel interrupting the gleefulness of his brithday party with a loud and shocking outburst, it takes everyone, audience included, by surprise.
Two key sequences help The Possession of Joel Delaney earn its demonic possession movie stripes. The first occurs when Nora agrees to attend a seance in the apartment of an expert in Santeria at the suggestion of her former maid. Using one of Joe’s scarves, things get incredibly uneasy when dangerous spirits begin to flood the room as Nora and the audience begin to feel they’re in the presence of something evil and otherworldy. It’s quite simply one of the most unforgettable seances ever illustrated on film. The second of course is the film’s somewhat disturbing ending in which a now fully-possessed Joel has traced Nora and her children to a beach house in the dead of winter. His continuous torture of them, most of which is psychological, is incredibly shocking, if not uncharacteristic of filmmaking styles of the time. Joel’s head may not be spinning, nor is he growling or roaring; yet with the soul of a malicious and evil human being trapped within him, he is nothing short of monstrous.
Just like any good horror entry, there’s an undeniable social commentary throughout the film. Here, it’s the vast differences between the social classes, especially during the hellish era of 1970s New York. Great pains are taken to show the stark contrast between the privileged life of Nora’s world and the lower-class existence where the spirit that inhabits Joel is from. A truly unnerving sequence comes when a dazed and bewildered Nora is shown wandering through the streets of Spanish Harlem as if she’s in a sort of war zone where everyone is out to get her. However, the subject comes to a head at the very telling scene in the dining room towards the end where a possessed Joel ridicules Nora and her way of life as she pleads with him to let her and her children go, to which he callously states, “The rich don’t beg.”
The Possession of Joel Delaney was made at a particularly strange time in Maclaine’s career. The sort of comedies and musicals for which she had been known for were out of vogue with the raw style and upfront frankness of the decade. With the exception of the previous year’s great Desperate Characters, The Possession of Joel Delaney remains one of the actress’ lone ’70s film outings and her only horror film to date. There are times throughout where the actress seems out of her comfort zone, but that more than works for a character who finds herself plunged into a world she’s never known before.
As the titular Joel, King is both mysterious and terrifying in what was his first feature film role. Playing a character who spends most of the time exhibiting the most vile of behavior isn’t an easy feat for any actor, and doing it opposite an actress of Maclaine’s stature would prove almost impossible, but King is more than up to the task.
Critics and audiences were left greatly uncomfortable by the film’s ending, not just for its harsh content, but for its explicit nudity with regards to one of the film’s young stars. With the release of what would become the ultimate film about possession, The Exorcist (in which Maclaine turned down the lead role), released a year later, The Possession of Joel Delaney has been all but forgotten by everyone with the exception of a handful of genre fans.
Ask any movie lover what their favorite movie featuring possession and/or the dark nature of ancient rituals is, and you will find they won’t be short of titles. Yet its pretty much a given that almost none of them would cite The Possession of Joel Delaney as an entry despite the film’s ability to blend all essential ingredients, including stellar acting, subtle but effective thrills, and an overall experience that never leaves you.
