Sandwiched in between their slasher "The Dorm That Dripped Blood" (a.k.a. "Pranks") and their monster movie "The Kindred" is the supernatural shocker "The Power" by the filmmaking team of Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter. The acting by the no-name cast is sincere and not as incompetent as would usually be the case for such a low budget genre piece. Obrow and Carpenter don't go about making sure that their little movie makes a whole lot of sense but do give it a respectable level of atmosphere and some decent horror scenes. Of course, the viewer does have to sit through less interesting parts to get to the good stuff.The tale involves a miniature Aztec idol made to honour a god named Destacatyl. This idol often brings death and destruction to those in its vicinity, and makes its way into the possession of some high school students with an interest in the occult. A young man named Jerry (played by the big-haired Warren Lincoln) is *really* intrigued by their story and becomes determined to get his hands on this idol, which leaves him vulnerable to getting possessed by this Destacatyl. This leads to nightmares for Jerry's ex-girlfriend Sandy (Susan Stokey), a journalist, and various otherworldly occurrences.Noteworthy components include the moody lighting by Carpenter, the excellent music by Christopher Young, enjoyable visuals (arms shooting out of a mattress), and pretty good makeup effects by Matthew W. Mungle. Standing out (relatively speaking) among the cast is the attractive and appealing Lisa Erickson as Julie. Overall, the movie is watchable if nothing special, but the last second twist ending comes off as just too predictable.If you're a genre completist who would like to see just about everything from the 1980s, then by all means give "The Power" a try; just don't expect too much.Six out of 10.

I wasn't expecting much from this film, but was eager to try something which I initially thought would primarily be an early 80s teen horror. Although three teens are somewhat critical plot, it is by no means a teen horror film.'The Power' is about a little Aztec idol that exchanges many hands as its possessor (who must be adult and thus, 'corrupted') becomes the vessel for unleashing all of the idol's evil, and often with deadly implications for not only the victims of the possessor, but of the possessor himself. After making several exchanges in vying over control of this thing, three teenagers wind up finding it and can't figure out what it is, except that since they found it, strange and dangerous things are afoot. They offer to explain the situation to a news reporter who doesn't buy into the spiritual bologna. Although, it is her producer who wants to investigate further, especially if it means he can get control of the idol (I presume the teens are even not yet corrupted enough to feel the dangerous desires encouraged by the idol). It is a story told a thousand times, particularly in 1950s and 60s horror and science fiction fare.This one was at least, for me, able to sustain some interest. Though low budget, it was not done so obviously cheaply or loaded with bad acting as many of the low-budget, come-and-go horror fare of the earlier decades had (nowadays, they have the same cheesy qualities, but bigger budgets). We are spare enough of it to at least allow ourselves an opportunity to become at least a little bit absorbed with the eerie atmosphere and so forth, despite a story of clichés. And, though not terribly gory, the special effects were done nicely.Again, it is routine horror tale, especially with the ending (which by modern standards has become a device that is annoyingly overused), but one that is not so embarrassingly bad. It might be worth checking out, even if just for laughs.

Man comes in contact with an ancient Aztec figurane that is cursed by an evil spirit. The spirit takes over the man's body and begins a massive killing spree. Swift, fast paced horror film with it's fair share of shocks. This is one film where the low budget actually helps the move and gives it a more realistic feel. The special effects are even pretty good for this kind of movie. Rated R; Violence and Profanity.

Low budget horror about an evil force. Hard to believe in this day and age, but way back when this stuff actually used to get theatrical release! These days this sort of thing would either go direct-to-video or straight to cable. Shouldn't be too hard to avoid this one; who's ever heard of it?