Many who watched Brian De Palma’s Carrie in 1976 wondered what the US government would do if aware of individuals possessing the abilities of the title protagonist. The answer was given two years later by De Palma himself in his thriller The Fury.
The plot, based on the novel by John Farris (who also wrote the script), starts in Israel where former US secret agent Peter Sandza (played by Kirk Douglas) enjoys a vacation with his son Robin (played by Andrew Stevens) only to become a survivor of a terrorist attack. He soon learns that the attack was orchestrated by his old friend and former colleague Ben Childress (played by John Cassavetes) in order to snatch away Robin, whose psychic abilities make him a potential weapon. The young man is told that his father is dead and later sent to a special government facility where he would be subjected to all kinds of experiments, drugs and psychological manipulation. A year later Peter tries to evade Childress and his goons while searching for Robin, and the trail leads to Chicago where Gillian Bellaver (played by Amy Irving), a teenage girl with emerging psychic abilities, might help him. She is, however, sent to a special institute for psychic children, which actually serves as a front for Childress’s organisation. Gillian, who has a tendency to involuntarily make people around her bleed, begins to form a psychic connection with Robin, who became an extremely powerful psychic, but also mentally unstable. Peter plans to rescue Gillian from the institute with the help of his girlfriend Hester (played by Carrie Snodgress), one of the institute’s employees.
Following the success of Carrie, De Palma could afford a bigger budget, which was reflected in bigger stars, more elaborate special effects, more diverse locations and more action scenes. De Palma directed all that with his specific baroque style, obviously trying to match the previous film, but the results were underwhelming in comparison with Carrie. The reason could be found in an incoherent script which doesn’t achieve a proper balance between various genres – conspiracy thriller, action comedy and semi-gothic horror – and at times The Fury looks like a few different films edited into one. The cast mostly does well, including Kirk Douglas proving that even in his 60s he could function as an action hero, while Amy Irving, former co-star of Carrie, does her best to play a psychic character who is powerful, confused and scared at the same time. Some, like Andrew Stevens, are utterly bland, unlike Cassavetes who plays a menacing villain quite well despite not caring much for the role. Fans of NYPD Blue would, on the other hand, be happy to see young Dennis Franz in a small but memorable role as a Chicago policeman. The best acting comes from Carrie Snodgress playing the most sympathetic character with conviction which helps transcend that character’s one-dimensionality.
Problems with the script, including some minor plot holes, are compensated for by the very good musical score of John Williams, which in many ways elevates the rather bland content, but even more so by the direction. De Palma seems to have had great fun while making this film and often acts like a child in a candy store when presented with the opportunity to direct spectacular gunfights and car chases. This can be seen in the introduction of Amy Irving’s character, which features the future Mrs. Spielberg in an extended sequence where she walks wearing a bikini. The most memorable scene, however, comes at the end when De Palma tries to match the finale of Carrie with a combination of melodrama and gore. The scene works, but it only underlines the exploitative and derivative nature of this film. The Fury could nevertheless be recommended to viewers who like to spend two hours watching brainless but very stylish entertainment. RATING: 6/10 (++)
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