THE STORY In this 1981 American rural gothic chiller from director Wes Craven, Maren Jensen (Athena in TV’s original Battlestar Galactica) plays Martha, the wife of a farmer who is found crushed to death by his tractor. When she refuses to sell her farm to Isaiah (Ernest Borgnine), the leader of the ultra-religious Hittite community that her husband once belonged to, Martha finds herself branded an incubus and treated like a pariah. Then, a series of unsettling occurrences and a body in the barn leads her to suspect someone really does mean business…
THE LOWDOWN Deadly Blessing is a strange beast. Wes Craven, who was still three years away from making his signature slasher Nightmare on Elm Street, had successfully terrorised audiences with his home invasion horror Last House on the Left and the survival horror The Hills Have Eyes, but this psychological-cum-supernatural horror was a disappointment for fans and critics on its release. Mainly due to the lack of any real big scares or supernatural elements – except the twist ending, which was only added to give the film a Carrie moment.
Three decades on and Craven’s attempt at gothic is worth returning to, if only for Ernest Borgnine’s threatening performance, seeing a young Sharon Stone in her first speaking role, and revisiting the film’s two key scenes: Jensen sharing a steamy bath with a snake and Stone having a spider land in her mouth. It also gave me the chance to see my teenage crush Lisa Hartman (she starred in the Bewitched spin-off Tabitha) in glorious Blu-ray. It’s just a pity that Craven didn’t get to explore the film's more subversive elements, which is only hinted at when the killer is finally revealed to be… (No I won’t spoil it).
THE DISC The Arrow Video Blu-ray and DVD UK release includes an introduction by actor Michael Berryman, an audio commentary and interview with Wes Craven, and an interview with screenwriter Glenn M Benest. There's also a reversible sleeve with artwork from acclaimed artist Gary Pullin, and a collector's booklet.
Released 25 March 2013 http://youtube.com/v/SKQkF-j_RnM
