Cristi_Ciopron 'Good against Evil' is actually an exciting movie, much better than reputed, and well crafted, its storyline offered indeed a possibility of progress, by bringing in the older priest, a very striking look (better than v. Sydow, in an equally conventional part), so there was the opportunity to continue the storyline (as emphasized by Rambo's teaming with O'Herlihy); there are also silly and clumsy, unintended funny moments, I do not mean the banal look of the attacks (fear can be shown like this), but the exorcist fighting with a pillow, or sipping a drink and looking self-important and conceited, which diminishes his dignity, so some slapdash. As a Gothic romance, it belongs to a now forgotten TV genre, named Gothic soap opera, which also accounts for the cardboard characters. Its eeriness works, I liked the cityscapes, perhaps the profanation of the church would of worked better as an evening scene, and with more characters.The script emphasizes that the plot is at least as much about love, as about the occult. This pilot has been meant to establish a story, which it does, convincingly, it's soap opera with occultism; it deals with Satanism as a cult, a '70s topic, and understandably so. An equally good series could have followed. The leading actor should of been a success with the female audiences, so we'll leave it at that. But the cast is very good: Lynch, O'Herlihy, Kim Cattrall.The veteran of the cast was O'Herlihy, who still had some nice roles ahead. Here, he does a colorful exorcist, though with the aforementioned silly moments.

rsoonsa This was meant as a pilot film, being an initial sequence for a projected television series that did not come about, and it is quite clear why it was not found to be acceptable, since it is immensely uninventive, with both its format and attitudes plainly copied from William Friedkin's THE EXORCIST, released but a few years prior, and the 1968 ROSEMARY'S BABY, directed by Roman Polanski. Two primary threads are woven into the narrative, the first relating the efforts of one Mister Rimmin (Richard Lynch), who is in fact Astaroth a Grand Duke of Hell, to breed with a young woman, Jessica (Elyssa Davalos), who has been reared and protected by a coterie of Satanists from infancy through her 22nd year (the present), with an objective to produce a child that will rule the world in favour of The Forces Of Evil. Since Satan and his court, whose acolytes are legion, may readily mate with any number of women at any time that they choose, there seems to be little point in Rimmin tarrying for Jessica. However, such flaws in logic are matched with those of risible continuity issues. The second principal theme in the plot is of the soap opera variety, a blithely groundless love affair between Jessica and a young man, Andy (Dack Rambo) whose romantic role in Jessica's life upsets the Duke of Darkness no end. His attempts to interfere with the budding relationship of the young lovers is empty of those cunning components that are requisite for films of the "Thriller" genre. The original television airing was for only 72 minutes, and the reason is revealed by an ongoing spate of orchestral crescendi along with fades indicating arrival of commercial interruptions. The release in the DVD format adds about 25 minutes, with little overall improvement, because of uninspired parallel editing that fails to engage a viewer with either of the contrasting story lines. There is even an exorcism here, in spite of its having little significant connection to the narrative but rather a bit more with the Friedkin film that it partially apes. Direction seems to be unfocused, and few able acting turns are to be found; nonetheless Richard Lynch, playing Astaroth as earthling, is impressive as ever. The film ends abruptly, with some lead-in dialogue to subsequent chapters that did not occur, an unsatisfactory finish to a work that is rapidly paced, easy to watch, and easy to forget. There are a good many such minor productions being reissued with fresh packaging to cash in on the burgeoning popularity of DVDs. This one should probably have remained wherever it was mouldering.

gsh999 Put me to sleep. Literally. Typical made-for-TV rubbish. Not scary or interesting. Just very boring. Only the director's mother would post a positive comment on this one. There are really no special effects. More of a love story than a horror movie anyway. I can't believe they put this on a DVD. Please make it go away! They were thinking about making a series out of this?! LMAO! Don't make the same mistake I did. Use the hour and a half to meditate. I'm being generous giving it a 2/10 because I'm in a good mood. Somebody please get rid of these stale garbage made-for-TV movies!! There are two superhot actresses in this one including a young Kim Catrall but only in dowdy TV-movie clothing. BARF!!

preppy-3 I saw this on TV back in 1977 when I was in high school. The next day me and all the other kids in school were ripping it apart. It's a predictable yawner about a kid being the Devil's child...or something like that. The exorcism at the end has certainly got to be one of the most BORING ones ever filmed! And, since it was a TV movie, no violence, no blood, no skin...no NOTHING! This even has a silly ending to pave the way for a TV series (which, thankfully, never came about). It might be enjoyable to watch with a roomful of friends to tear apart...but it just might put everybody to sleep. Add to this some truly terrible acting and you've got a worthless movie. Avoid.