Brian de Palma's THE FURY

My parents refused to let me see this when I was a kid. I literally never caught up with it until about two months ago. I was shocked by how comic it was. What a weird mix of tones.

I remember seeing it in theaters when it first got released and eventually not being scared but just laughing at all the gore. The whole movie house was laughing as well. Mi just remember some scene involving body parts or heads just slamming against somebody's windshield.

I'd forgotten how hot Andrew Stevens was back in the day.

There was a thread on him here a few weeks ago -- didn't we conclude that he was basically a sociopath, and that was why he became a successful producer/ money guy when he was found to be too short and untalented as an actor?

Someone please fill me in.

Those two clown cops definitely felt out of place and made the film seem to goofy at places. Carrie also had some "funny" scenes (the gym scene and the shopping montage) but they were incorporated better into the film.

Nice Oscar-nominated score by John Williams:

I saw it when I was a kid (I think it was on HBO a lot in the early days) and it terrified me to no end.

When I was in high school, I got oddly obsessed with Pauline Kael (MARY!) and bought a copy of 5001 Nights at the Movies. She loves that movie so much, I wound up watching it again. Something clicked, and now I remember it fondly.

Never saw the movie but Andrew Stevens is a real cutie.

It was a bit meandering and ponderous. But I loved Gillian - especially at her posh school in the beginning, with that bitch LaRue and a young Daryl Hannah.

I was wanting for there to be more of a telekinetic showdown between Robin and Gillian ... the fact that they never meet is so weird. The whole movie seemed to be building up to that.

Love the soundtrack. And that signature slo-mo DePalma mis-en-scene, here involving Gillian's escape from the institute.

Wow, they have millennials in this movie? It was ahead of its time.

Andrew Stevens - now there's a blast from the past

an explosive finale

R9 They had millennial glasses way before The Fury came out - I believe King Baudouin of Belgium was one of the first self-described hipsters in the world.

Andrew in short shorts is the only thing worth watching of this unintentionally hilarious movie

Absolutely love the soundtrack.

Andrew Stevens was married to Kate Jackson for a few years and then they divorced. She claimed that he got a lot of money out of her during the divorce proceedings. A boy's gotta eat!

Andrew Stevens and Kate Jackson as a married couple. He looks prettier than her!

Andrew Stevens was stunningly handsome at his peak.

I thought it was funny but maybe I laughed at the wrong places, like when Andrew Stevens made the amusement park rides go all wonky. And the end.

[quote]Just watched it. It's flawed but still very entertaining.

OP, that describes just about every film de Palma has ever made, some much more so than others. Especially after Carrie and Dressed to Kill, when he was then usually given creative control and final cut privileges. He really needed some control by producers or studios to keep him from going totally over the top. Was he bipolar or something?

Still he's a favorite director director, possibly because of all the over-the-top stuff.

Andrew was hot, and I would have fucked Kirk too.

The trailer...

Kate looks like his mother in R16 picture. I don't mean she looks like Stella.

This movie is on Netflix now. I wasn't planning on watching it because it's always sounded silly, but now I'm intrigued by the hotties in it.

I'm a big De Palma fan, how bad can it be?

I even just bought the Indicator blu ray release of Body Double (which is fabulously entertaining by the way).

That is the movie I first met a very young Melody Scott Thomas on. She has a very quick appearance. A fun set considering the story.

[quote] I'm a big De Palma fan, how bad can it be?

r23, in some ways, The Fury and Body Double are the quintessential de Palma films, but neither are his best. It partly depends on why you like him. He's both very de Palma and very, very over the top here.

I'm a millennial and I loved this movie when I was little it was on TV and I saw it, then got the VHS. Andrew was very hot!

[quote] Andrew Stevens was married to Kate Jackson for a few years and then they divorced. She claimed that he got a lot of money out of her during the divorce proceedings. A boy's gotta eat!

That's funny, since this movie also features Amy Irving, who's probably most famous for her 100 million $ divorce settlement.

I'll probably like it then, R25. I'll report back.

I did NOT like Obsession, but maybe I need to see it again.

(And Obsession reminds me, I still need to try watching Don't Look Now again...)

I saw this flick in a theater as a sophomore. It was okay, I guess. I hated the downer of an ending. Typical 70's depressing disappointment. I'm amazed I survived that ratchet decade with most of my marbles. I did say most...not all of 'em.

Andy was a dandy. A fine as fuck Gemini. I agree with R8. So anticlimactic to not have a showdown between Amy Irving's character and Stevens'. Oh well. I was kinda surprised to learn that Brian DePalma directed this wannabe horror film. The parachute ride death scene was my fave.

John Cassavetes! Sooooo handsome!

Let us not forget his work in "Gloria," "Tempest," and "Rosemary's Baby."

I own "Tempest" on DVD (original widescreen format: 185:1). He's a very Handsome Silver Daddy in this film. ( I would have run away with him to an isolated Greek Isle as well.)

He's was only 59 when he died.

AIKC may have singlehandedly ruined this thread with his use of the teenage slang term 'ratchet'.

Using the blackish term "ratchet" sweetie. If you're going to be a judgy little fudge packer, at least get your frames of reference right, OK? 🖕

R31 and R32, If you can't be ' nice', and I've made it "Nice," then YOU ALL CAN GO HOME!

R30, I apologize for being petty and pedantic, especially if your comment about Cassavetes' Lear merely contained a typo, but I am sure Cassavetes' film did not have an aspect ratio of 185:1. That would have wrapped halfway around the theater. I'm sure you meant 1:85/1, which would have been the standard both then and now for non 'scope films.

Thank you, R34. You're correct. I'm "seepy" per my error. Time for me to go to sleep . . .

Mean girl Melody Scott Thomas & her bloody nose

Andrew's pants are so tight during the entire very long amusement park scene. He was my idea of a perfect sex partner. Also seeing him tormented throughout the film was hot.

The film is totally risible

Young ER Doctor Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes) as another mean girl.

Sorry- stinky link ^

She's on the left.

Andrew in a speedo (not from The Fury)

He was hot!

I watched it earlier this summer when it was playing one afternoon. I had forgotten how much it sucks. Not de Palma's finest hour.

Andrew Stevens was such a male babe

more Andrew in a speedo

C'mon, the movie isn't half as bad as some of you make it out to be. Sure, it's too campy and dated at spots and the story is a bit unfocused, but it's still a fucking masterpiece if you compare it with all the shitty films of today.

Did anyone read the novel the movie is based on? Is it any good? Apparently it also has a few sequels.

It's not a bad movie at all. Definitely not De Palma's best, but it has some killer set pieces and fun bits. The ending is hysterically bizarre. It almost feels like a post-test screening ending where the audience found the scene before it too depressing, so they cooked up this elaborate death for the main bad guy.

I think the cast is pretty likable, especially Carrie Snodgress.

[quote]Mean girl Melody Scott Thomas & her bloody nose

Sorry, r35, but that's Hillarie Thompson as Mean Girl "Cheryl"; her other claim to fame is being shaken like a ragdoll by Arnold Schwarzenegger on "The Streets of San Francisco"

The scene with Amy Irving on the staircase while the camera pans around her is stunning. It's classic DePalma by way of Hitchcock.

DePalma movies define my childhood, from Carrie, The Fury to Dressed to Kill. His movies were always exciting and sexy, but never boring. They were the ultimate popcorn movies. There was almost a porn-like quality to them. I'd much rather watch a DePalma movie than a Sidney Lumet movie from that era.

I agree a thousand times over r47

Saw it as a kid on TV in the early 80s and I've loved it ever since. The park ride coming apart and killing the occupants scared the shit out me.

I always saw this movie as some sort of an unofficial sequel to Carrie or at least taking place in the same universe.

The first book is okay; gothic and creepy, I never read the sequels. Apparently Gillian becomes the mother of a race of mutants or something. They sounded to me like John Farris stretched his original premise beyond all recognition just to make more money (based on the movie's success?). The movie gave nightmares when I saw if as a kid, though I can see why it seems over the top now.

The book is darker than the the movie. It's clear that the Andrew Stevens character is more or less a sociopath from the beginning. Gillian and Andrew Stevens' Robin character don't meet (physically) in the book either, but they don't really need to, as they spend a lot of time in each other's heads.

One of the odder characters - Raymond Dunwoodie

Does anyone know who's standing next to Andrew in 43's picture?

R53 - that's Sam Jones (who once played Flash Gordon)

More Sam Jones hotness.

Love the Fury, despite its flaws (including the already mentioned lack of focus and tonal disparity), because of its amazing set pieces (like the tragic and accidental death of Carrie Snodgress, the most sympathetic character in the film, in De Palma's trademark slo-mo) and outrageous mix of eclectic elements from various genres (spy thriller, horror film, sci-fi, melodrama, etc...). That wacky ending alone is worth the price of admission.

Btw, I strongly disagree with AIKC: the 1970s were a golden age for American cinema, and so many movies from that decade are the best Hollywood ever produced (Chinatown, The Exorcist, the Godfather 1 and 2, Apocalypse Now, etc...).

Carrie Snodgress was such a wonderful actress and she definitely deserved to have a bigger career. Wasn't she a druggie or something like that?

Didn't Snodgrass mostly retire from acting to care for her son? I think he has (or had) cerebral palsy.

R47, agreed! I think Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Blow Out, Body Double, Carlito's Way and Femme Fatale are De Palma's classic movies though (all better than The Fury).

Snodgress, oops.

Watched this tonight and really enjoyed it. Peak De Palma. The ending is depressing though. Kirk does all of that, really, for nothing.

Snodgress was wonderful in this. Shame she didn't have a bigger career. She was so likable and photogenic.

There's actually some really interesting female supporting performances in this film - Snodgress, Rutanya Alda, and Carol Rossen.