Dr. Monster The concept alone is terrifying. It doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman. The idea of an invisible being or force repeatedly attacking you is enough to explore in one film especially a horror film. To do it right you need someone who can sell this to the audience. Someone who will keep it from coming off as sleazy. Thankfully, Barbara Hershey succeeds in her portrayal of Carla Moran and her performance is one of the biggest strengths of the film. However, without Hershey the film would suffer tremendously and fall apart because unfortunately Hershey's performance is not only one of it's biggest strengths, but one of it's only strengths.Now I'm not saying the supporting cast is not good. In fact, the performances by the supporting cast members are solid all around for what the script gives them. As others have pointed out in their reviews the script is indeed sloppy. The tension steadily rises for the first half of the film, but after the halfway point the tension is jagged going up and down to the point that it almost feels like another movie. Of course in order for me to go any further I'd have to go into spoiler territory.***SPOILERS*** Once Carla's friend witnesses the titular Entity in action and Carla no longer feels that she's alone (Hershey does an excellent job portraying the wave of relief one would feel in that situation) the second half of the movie begins leading the film to decline in quality. Earlier I said the second half feels another movie and it does, specifically "Ghostbusters" (1984), but not in a good way. I'm not joking. Carla gets the help of three parapsychologists who help her combat the supernatural Entity and try to capture it. The film even has it's own Walter Peck in the form of Dr. Sneiderman (Ron Silver), who looks like the coke-head executive Harry Ellis from Die Hard. Sneiderman is a character that is fine for the first half of the film, but ruined in the second half no thanks to the sloppy script.In the first half of the film Dr. Sneiderman is portrayed as an understandably skeptical and logical man, who is reasonably reticent to think that Carla is affected by anything supernatural. He comes across as fair, level-headed man of science. Yet that all dissolves at the beginning of the second half. Unlike Walter Peck, who had never talked to eyewitnesses of the supernatural had justification for being skeptical of the supernatural whereas Dr. Sneiderman has none. Dr. Sneiderman devolves into an incredibly annoying, close-minded jerk who ignores eyewitness accounts from several people including Carla's boyfriend. I know I'm spending a lot of time on Dr. Sneiderman, but he really is a big problem for the film during the second half and frankly this character really drags the film down. The psychologists are frustrating to watch at this point because the audience and other characters know there's supernatural forces at work, but they refuse to listen. The end is also a bit of a mess. By that point in the film Hershey and the supporting cast are doing their best with the material they're given. Sadly, the ending leaves much to be desired. You really don't know what the Entity is and this is an instance where ambiguity hurts the film. There is no real satisfaction save for that Carla has become stronger from this ordeal I guess. Other than that there are a lot of unanswered questions and not in any contemplative or compelling way.All in all the Entity is a mixed bag of a horror film that starts off strong for a solid hour, but falters at the second half. Still its worth your time at least for Barbara Hershey's wonderful performance. In short, I personally wouldn't call this one of the 11 scariest films of all time like legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese, but to each their own.

BA_Harrison You know what a MILF is, right? Well, Carla (Barbara Hershey), the central character in The Entity, is a MELF — a Mum Entities Like to F**k.A strong, independent, single mother of three, Carla inexplicably finds herself the target of a powerful, sexually aggressive poltergeist that forces itself on her whenever she is alone. At first, Carla struggles to convince anyone of her plight: her best friend Cindy (Margaret Blye) is sympathetic but sceptical, while well-meaning psychiatrist Phil Sneiderman (Ron Silver) dismisses Carla's claims of physical attacks by another being, attributing her predicament to a sexually repressed subconscious.Understandably, Carla is somewhat relieved when one of her encounters with the supernatural is witnessed by a shocked and surprised Cindy and her husband. Satisfied that she isn't losing her marbles, Carla makes contact with a group of college parapsychologists who hatch a plan to isolate and immobilise the pervy poltergeist by freezing it with liquid helium, much to the consternation of disbelieving Dr. Sneiderman.Although The Entity explores similar territory to Tobe Spielberg's Poltergeist (also 1982), the treatment couldn't be more different: where Poltergeist took the popcorn entertainment route, delivering typically Spielbergian spectacle, The Entity, written by Frank De Felitta and directed by Sidney J. Furie, takes matters a little more seriously and manages to be all the more frightening for it. The first few sudden attacks are genuinely scary, helped in no small part by Charles Bernstein's simple yet effective pounding score. Hershey puts in a convincing central performance, and the ever-reliable Ron Silver gives solid support.However, once Carla teams up with the parapsychologists, the film loses momentum, the plot left with very few places to go: subsequent attacks lack the impact of earlier scenes (despite some impressive prosthetic work from Stan Winston), a steadfast Sneiderman comes up with some more sub-Freudian theories to explain his patient's situation, and the scientists dabble with their equipment while looking awe-struck at some weak visual effects. And when all is said and done, there is no satisfying resolution, Furie's film fizzling out with a lame statement that claims the film to have been based on true events.6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

Neil Welch Way back in the 70s and 80s, when I was just a young feller, I enthusiastically devoured horror novels by the ton. The large majority of them were called "The (Noun)", and Frank de Fellita wrote several of them including The Entity, duly filmed in 1982.This purports to be an adaptation of true events whereby a young mother is repeatedly raped by an unseen demonic entity of some sort. Her appeals for help bring her the attentions of a psychologist who thinks it is all in her head, and parapsychologists who believe her. They, like us, have seen that it is real.The film does not present us with the question of whether she is doing this herself, there is no question that this is all genuine. The double drama is a) whether she can be saved, and b) who will win the rationality vs parapsychology battle.In a dramatic, but not particularly horrific, movie, Barbara Hershey is excellent as the terrified but defiant young woman. Ron Silver is massively annoying as the bull-headed psychologist. The special effects, good in their day, are now a bit hokey, especially the prosthetic body used to show invisible fingers at work. And the climax is a bit, "Oh. And...?"

karo45 This is without a doubt the scariest movie I have ever seen in my life, and I have seen many. The fact that it is based on a true story makes it even more frightening. Barbara Hershey excels in portraying Carla Moran, the victim who has been chosen by an unknown entity, almost at the cost of her sanity and her life. The lives of her children are also at stake but she quickly discovers there is no refuge from this horror. She can run but she cannot hide. It will find her. And hurt her. She seeks help, and finds it, but it is a short-lived reprieve from the demonic entity that is out to get her. She has no choice but to succumb to the whims of the evil she cannot see but only feel. If I decided to watch this movie again, I would definitely pray first!