I’m a big fan of director Brian De Palma for his signature stylistic flourishes, the way he uses music to score his camerawork, and how many of his movies deal with lurid images and/or themes. The Fury (1977) was his follow-up to his Stephen King adaptation, Carrie, and it also deals with teenagers discovering their psychic abilities. Though, here, the story (based on the novel by John Farris) also works in a government conspiracy angle and provides more ground for De Palma to pay homage to Alfred Hitchcock with some very fine set-pieces. Kirk Douglas plays a government agent on the run trying to track down his missing son (Andrew Stevens) taken from by a shadowy organisation for his son’s psychic powers. He seeks out Amy Irving, a teenage girl realising her own powers and feeling a strong connection to his imprisoned son. Like a lot of De Palma films, there might be parts that feel a bit dated or silly (Kirk Douglas at 60 years of age acting like a rugged hunk), but I love that as well because it covers a lot of tones with comic relief and love interests before descending into the darker, horror terrain of the third act. John Cassavetes is obviously collecting a pay cheque here to make his own movies as the bad guy Childress but he still imbues his role with a sinister affability, and looks quite cool with his black arm sling and dark shades. The explosive climax is very memorable and prefigures the body effects of Scanners by a good two years. Recommended.
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