Director Brian De Palma followed the huge success he had with Carrie with another slice of telekinetic horror.
The Fury opens with John Cassavetes arranging the kidnap of the telepathic son of his colleague (Kirk Douglas), aiming to turn him and similarly gifted people into human weapons. Meanwhile, Gillian (Amy Irving), is worried enough about the destructive potential of her own powers so much that she agrees to be institutionalised at the Paragon Institute but is this place all that it’s cracked up to be?
The film starts like a normal thriller but as we get to know the characters it delves deeper into what they are capable of and the horrific powers they can unleash if pushed. As usual, De Palma has some fabulous set pieces, the horrific fairground crash and the gory climax where Gillian unleashes all her anger on her captors.
All the cast are good in their roles, Kirk Douglas looking in great shape, he was around 60 at the time, Amy Irving as the girl who is having trouble understanding her gift and John Cassavetes oozes menace and the head of the telepathic institute. Look out also for very early roles for Daryl Hannah and Dennis Franz.
The Blu ray released by Arrow has a truly stunning 1080p remastered picture. It looks clean and fresh but without DNR, colours are solid and stable and it is probably the best this film has ever looked. Full marks to the restoration team especially all the work done and overseen by James White at Deluxe Digital Cinema – EMEA, London.
With the sound, you are given 2 choices, English DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 and English LPCM 2.0. Both are great but the DTS track opens up the film nicely giving a good clean sound.
The extras are again very good as expected from Arrow.
- Isolated John Williams score.
- Blood on the Lens: An interview with Cinematographer Richard H. Kline in which he discusses many aspects of the production.
- Spinning Tales: Fiona Lewis on starring in The Fury and how at first she was unsure about the gore and violence in the script.
- The Fury – A Location Journal: An interview with Sam Irvin, intern on The Fury, author of the film’s shooting diary and then the correspondent for Cinefantastique magazine.
- Original archive interviews from the 1978 promotional tour, featuring Brian De Palma, producer Frank Yablans and stars Carrie Snodgress and Amy Irving. These are poor quality but a fascinating glimpse into the early promotion of the film.
- Double Negative: A short film tribute to Brian De Palma by Sam Irvin, starring William Finley.
- Gallery of behind-the-scenes production images
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jay Shaw.
- Booklet featuring new writing on the film by Chris Dumas, author of Un-American Psycho: Brian De Palma and the Political Invisible, as well as a reprint of a contemporary interview with Brian De Palma, and a brand new interview with screenwriter John Farris on the writing of the film, his and De Palma’s unrealised adaptation of Alfred Bester’s The Demolished Man and more, illustrated with original stills and posters.
The Fury has dated very well, the build-up and action set pieces are great and with the superb restoration, this release comes fully recommended. The Fury has been released on a region A Blu ray by Twilight Time in the USA, but it had a limited pressing of only 3000 units, so this release by Arrow enables fans who have a multi-region player, to get a version which will not quickly go out of print but also has a superior transfer and extras.
FILM: 7.5 PICTURE: 9 SOUND: 7.5 EXTRAS: 8
