The Power

"Pray for them. They have unleashed..."

1984 1h 24m EN

💀

4.2

SKIP

★4.2TMDB · 18

Horror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A man comes into possession of an ancient Aztec doll. However, the doll is possessed by an evil spirit, which takes over his body.

“Pray for them. They have unleashed...”

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Cast

Susan Stokey
Sandy
Warren Lincoln
Jerry
Lisa Erickson
Julie
Chad Christian
Tommy
Ben Gilbert
Matt
J. Dinan Myrtetus
Mr. Zofftens
Stan Weston
Professor Wilson
Chris Morrill
Ron Prince

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Stephen Carpenter
Writers: Jeffrey Obrow, Stephen Carpenter, Stephen Carpenter
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

84 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

42 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Stephen Carpenter, shot by Stephen Carpenter. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Christopher Young. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Stephen Carpenter shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Susan Stokey and Warren Lincoln and Lisa Erickson carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Pray for them. They have unleashed...".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0081366 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Stephen Carpenter directs. Stephen Carpenter behind the camera. Christopher Young scores. Stephen Carpenter cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

184 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
242 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Stephen Carpenter, shot by Stephen Carpenter. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Christopher Young. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Stephen Carpenter shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Susan Stokey and Warren Lincoln and Lisa Erickson carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Pray for them. They have unleashed...".
8IMDB entry: tt0081366 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 18 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Stephen Carpenter
Original score: Christopher Young
Editing: Stephen Carpenter
Production design: Chris Hopkins
Makeup / hair: Matthew W. Mungle
Runtime: 84 min · 1h 24m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Power (1984)

Also by

Stephen Carpenter

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2023-02-28
★ 5/10
Enjoyable, but unexceptional mystery/horror about a potent Mesoamerican relic An Aztec idol, Destacatyl, ends up in the hands of three high School students on the coast near Los Angeles. After an unexpected death, the trio seeks the aid of a tabloid writer, but it’s her ex-beau who’s fascinated by the artifact and the evident power thereof. Havoc ensues. "The Power” (1984) mixes the evil spirit shenanigans of “The Exorcist” (1973) with the misshapen man-beast bits of “Altered States” (1980) while the faith-in-the-idol angle is done better in the future “Wendigo” (2001). It’s one of those ‘almost’ movies that almost works enough. Both Lisa Erickson as blonde teenager Julie and Suzy Stokey as brunette journalist Sandy are effective on the female front. Meanwhile the three teens investigating the spooky happenings is reminiscent of Scooby-Doo, albeit without the dog. Unfortunately, there’s just not enough to push the flick beyond mediocre. It needed a rewrite to flush out the potential, but that takes time and time is money in the movie biz. Still, I enjoyed it well enough for a streamlined mystery/horror from the early ’80s. The film runs 1 hour, 24 minutes, and, was shot in Redondo Beach, California, which is just southwest of Los Angeles. GRADE: C+
ZenosParadox2025-04-14
★ 3/10
Hi, so this started out well enough; same as a dozen other evil idol dolls, but they made the possession/death interesting. About 1/2 way through, and the reason I went out of my way to come write this, either something happened post release or they intentionally made all the characters stop turning on lights as a cheap way to try to make it scary. Either way, I hate constant unlighted sets. It was a 3 if intentional, 4 if technical issue. Cheers