Deadly Blessing

An excellent example of a mundane project elevated into quite a palatable genre movie by its director. Craven (who previously made The Hills Have Eyes) faced a script with one laborious idea in which a woman is terrorised by a rural religious sect. Realising the limitations, Craven has to keep audience interest alive with some desperate but occasionally inspired strategies: several unpredictable plot twists have been added, as well as an atmospheric sub-theme involving the heroine's nightmares. The shock sequences are punchy and varied, including one disturbingly Freudian horror of a snake in a bathtub, while the visual style is a deliberate attempt to make Texas look as lonely and lost as an Andrew Wyeth painting. Best of all, the impudent ending seeks to imply that all the sect's demonic imaginings are literally true. Deadly Blessing isn't a very good movie, but it holds out distinct promise that Craven will soon be in the front rank of horror film-makers.