Taglines: If you believe, no explanation is necessary. If you don’t believe, no explanation is possible.
The Possession of Joel Delaney movie storyline. Norah Benson (Shirley MacLaine), an affluent socialite living in the upper east side of New York City, seems to be living the perfect life as a divorced mother of two. After her mother’s suicide, she becomes a mother figure in the close relationship she has with her younger brother Joel Delany (Perry King). However, Joel begins to a act very unusually. He tries to attack a man, and has to be taken to a mental asylum, and begins to lose his usual free-spirited kindness in exchange for a turbulent personality.
After witnessing the acts of her brother and finally breaking down the shield of her affluence and naivety, Norah seeks the help of a spiritismo who will attempt to exorcise the spirit of a murderer they believe to be possessing Joel. But before they can attempt to help her, Norah’s brother quickly turns on her, threatening her own life and the lives of her children.
The Possession of Joel Delaney is a 1972 American supernatural horror film directed by Waris Hussein and starring Shirley MacLaine and Perry King. It is based on the 1970 novel of the same name by Ramona Stewart. The plot follows a wealthy New York City woman whose brother becomes possessed by a serial killer.
Due to its release during the early 1970s and its theme of possession, many reviewers compare it, some favorably, to The Exorcist, which would come one year later. The film was entered into the 22nd Berlin International Film Festival. The Possession of Joel Delaney was the first film for Perry King and the last horror film Shirley MacLaine made.
About the Story
Norah Benson and her younger brother Joel Delaney attend a party being given by Dr. Erika Lorenz. Joel’s girlfriend Sherry appears. Norah is extremely protective of her brother, and it is subtly implied that theirs is not an ordinary siblings’ relationship. The siblings have sensibly different, albeit somehow complementary mindsets; in contrast to Norah’s upscale, self-compliant snobbishness, Joel is more of an adventurous, bohemian type and frequently goes on trips to exotic locations.
Two days after the party, Joel fails to attend a scheduled dinner at Norah’s house. When she calls him, all she hears is somebody breathing and making odd sounds into the phone. She tells her children Carrie and Peter to go ahead and eat, and heads over to her brother’s seedy Spanish Harlem apartment to find out about his delay. Norah sees Joel dragged out by the police. She then learns that he tried to kill the building superintendent, Mr. Pérez (Aukie Herger), and is being taken to Bellevue Hospital.
She learns that Joel has been taken to the psychiatric ward for observation. At Joel’s apartment, she finds the whole place in disarray and an eerie sign painted in the wall of both the super’s and his brother’s flats. She also finds an unusually large switchblade knife.
Sherry arrives and dismisses the possibility of Joel being homicidal, although she admits to him having a “dark side”. At the hospital, Joel claims not to remember the assault on the super. He insists that he did not take drugs but agrees to confess he did in exchange for leaving Bellevue and attending daily appointments with Dr. Lorenz. In one session, Erika asks why someone from such an affluent background would want to live in the East Village. Joel tells her he formed a strong bond with a young Puerto Rican named Tonio Pérez (the super’s son, as it is later revealed). At home, Joel behaves oddly. He asks Norah inappropriate questions about her sex life. He sneaks from his room and goes to a nearby nightclub where he finds Sherry intoxicated and flirting with other men. At her luxury high-rise apartment, Joel gets rough during their lovemaking.
The next day is Joel’s birthday and he invites Sherry to Norah’s for a small party, attended by Norah’s kids plus Sherry and Veronica, the maid. Joel starts acting childishly, pretending he has found Sherry’s lost earring. He then nearly burns Sherry’s hair in the candles on the cake and spouts insults in fluent Spanish. Norah goes to Sherry’s apartment to return her other earring. To her horror she finds Sherry’s decapitated body on the bed and her head hanging from a huge plant. Detective Brady arrives to question her, asking whether Joel has any Puerto Rican friends.
It turns out the murder is similar to three others from the summer before in which the victims were found decapitated this way. The grisly deaths got little attention because the girls were Hispanic. The belief is that Tonio Pérez committed the crimes, but he has been missing ever since. The investigation stalled when Pérez’s neighbors in Spanish Harlem refused to cooperate. The detective insists on seeing Joel, who is taken away by the officer.
Norah goes to the library to look at articles about the Pérez murders. She calls home to speak to Veronica but finds out that the maid quit. Norah takes a taxi up to Spanish Harlem and implores Veronica to help her learn what is going on with her brother. Norah is given the name and address of Don Pedro, owner of a store that sells paraphernalia for Santería rituals. He asks her to bring one of Joel’s belongings to his flat.
Norah brings a scarf belonging to Joel and finds Tonio’s mother, who claims that Tonio is dead and his spirit has entered Joel’s body. Mrs. Pérez admits that her son killed the other three girls and tells Norah that Tonio’s father killed him when he found out. Others arrive and the ceremony begins. All seem possessed by the spirit they are attempting to channel. But the ritual proves to be a failure; according to Don Pedro, Tonio’s spirit does not want to come out because Norah is not a believer. She must return with Joel.
At home, she finds Joel screaming (again, in perfectly fluent Spanish) and barricaded inside. She takes the kids to Erika’s apartment. Erika promises to deal with Joel. Norah rents a car and goes to her beach house. Erika’s husband leaves for a business trip, unaware that Joel is standing outside of their apartment building. Norah comes back from the beach with her children and finds Erika’s severed head on a cabinet above the refrigerator. Joel is standing nearby with a knife. Now uniformly possessed by his Spanish-speaking persona, he keeps them captive and subjects them to both physical and psychological torment. He taunts them by graphically cutting open a fish the kids caught. Joel puts on music and orders them all to dance.
The Possession of Joel Delaney (1972)
Directed by: Waris Hussein
Starring: Shirley MacLaine, Perry King, David Elliott, Lisa Kohane, Lovelady Powell, Barbara Trentham, Miriam Colon, Edmundo Rivera Álvarez, Teodorina Bello, Robert Burr, Ernesto Gonzalez, Peter Turgeon
Screenplay by: Grimes Grice, Matt Robinson
Production Design by: Peter Murton
Cinematography by: Arthur J. Ornitz
Film Editing by: John Victor Smith
Costume Design by: Frank L. Thompson
Set Decoration by: Edward Stewart
Art Direction by: Philip Rosenberg
Music by: Joe Raposo
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: May 24, 1972
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