Movie Review: Deadly Blessing (1981, Scream Factory)

Before Wes Craven went on to become one of the supreme auteurs of the horror genre with films like Nightmare on Elm Street and the Scream series, the filmmaker grabbed enough cult status to keep his name relevant with Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes. These were great films - visceral, nasty and both as unrelenting as anything produced in the 1970's.

In 1981, Craven's approach for the Amish themed thriller Deadly Blessing takes a more restrained but still includes many of his classic touches fans have been able to see in his work over the past 40 years. Scream Factory has just released the Collector's Edition of Deadly Blessing, and folks, it's pretty special because this is the first time it's ever been released on Blu-ray and DVD in the US.

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Kevin and Jeff discuss the Super Bowl and the ads for Iron Man 3 and Star Trek Into Darkness. They also discuss Ron Jeremy's medical situation, and Jeff introduces a new segment. He also reviews Deadly Blessing, and Kevin talks about the latest stand-up special from Jim Jefferies.

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Movie Review: Deadly Blessing (1981)

Directed by Wes Craven

Reviewed by Greg Goodsell

After Martha (Maren Jensen) movies with her husband John (Jeff East) to live at his country estate, the couple gets a chilling reception from the nearby Amish-like sect the Hittites. Her husband has been cast out from the sect, and his unforgiving father and sect leader Isaiah (Ernest Borgnine) refers to Martha as an “incubus.”

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Investigating a noise in the barn, John is killed after an unseen hand turns on his tractor, crushing him. His death written off as a freak accident, Martha’s longtime gal pals Vicky (Susan Buckner) and Lana (a young Sharon Stone) arrive at the country home to show their support. The girls all chip in to do their part by wearing as little as possible in order to inflame all the nearby Hittite men. The women’s only nearby friends are Louisa (Lois Nettleton) and her quirky daughter Faith (Lisa Hartman) who hate the Hittites as much as they do – but for different reasons.