IMDb RATING
5.5/10
7.3K
YOUR RATING
After her husband dies under mysterious circumstances, a widow becomes increasingly paranoid of the neighboring religious community that may have diabolical plans for her.After her husband dies under mysterious circumstances, a widow becomes increasingly paranoid of the neighboring religious community that may have diabolical plans for her.After her husband dies under mysterious circumstances, a widow becomes increasingly paranoid of the neighboring religious community that may have diabolical plans for her.
- Awards
- 3 nominations
Colleen Riley
- Melissa
- (as Coleen Riley)
Douglas Barr
- Jim Schmidt
- (as Doug Barr)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWes Craven compared his work with actor Ernest Borgnine to John Carpenter's work with Donald Pleasance in the original Halloween (1978). He states that Borgnine was the first "big name actor" he had worked with and was at first intimidated by the actor.
- GoofsThe cult members only accuse female characters of being the Incubus. In folklore, however, an Incubus is an exclusively male demon, the counterpart to the exclusively female Succubus. **The "incubus" in this case actually was a man, who was living as a woman, so this isn't entirely a goof.**
- Quotes
[in reference to Martha's land]
Vicky Anderson: If I owned a piece of property like this and I kicked the bucket, my parents would start building condos on it on the way home from the funeral!
- Crazy creditsThe end credits start rolling before the narrator's dialogue is finshed.
- Alternate versionsIn the British version, to avoid what they might call confusion, they omitted the "finale" in which the incubus ascends from hell. This version runs 98 minutes.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Directors: The Films of Wes Craven (1999)
Featured review
Neglected and overlooked Wes Craven film that falls between his best (Hills Have Eyes{1978}) and his worst (Vampire in Brookyn{1995}). The acting is ok and direction is not anything special but competent. Stars Sharon Stone before she became known for her infamous role in Basic Instinct(1992). The film seems to have suffered some cuts that were not the director's choice. I would love to see someone unearth a director's cut of Deadly Blessing(1981) with an alternate ending if such exists. Ernest Borgine replays the kind of person he played in The Devil's Rain(1975). A hard to find Craven pic that is in need of a DVD release by someone who cares about good horror pics. Deadly Blessing(1981) is a good feature film that has its share of flaws and could have used a better lead actress than the one used in the film. Has some daring aspects that were typical of Wes Craven during this stage of his career. The best and my favorite scene of the film involves a snake in a bathtub while a woman takes a bath.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Dem Tode geweiht
- Filming locations
- Waxahachie, Texas, USA(Martha Schmidt's home)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $2,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $8,279,042
- Gross worldwide
- $8,279,042
- Runtime1 hour 40 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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