Editing Deadly Blessing

{{Short description|1981 film by Wes Craven}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Deadly Blessing
| image          = Deadlyblessing.jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Wes Craven]]
| producer       = Patricia Herskovic<br />Max A. Keller<br />Micheline H. Keller
| screenplay     = Glenn M. Benest<br />Matthew Barr<br />Wes Craven
| story          = Glenn M. Benest<br />Matthew Barr
| starring       = [[Maren Jensen]]<br />[[Lisa Hartman]]<br />[[Sharon Stone]]<br />[[Susan Buckner]]<br />[[Jeff East]]<br />[[Lois Nettleton]]<br />[[Ernest Borgnine]]
| music          = [[James Horner]]
| cinematography = Robert Jessup
| editing        = Robert Bracken
| studio         = [[PolyGram Filmed Entertainment|PolyGram Pictures]]<br />Inter Planetary
| distributor    = [[United Artists]]
| released       = {{Film date|1981|08|14}}
| runtime        = 100 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $2.5–3 million<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/56579|title=AFI&#124;Catalog|website=Catalog.afi.com|access-date=7 February 2022}}</ref>
| gross          = $8.3 million <small>(USA)<ref>{{Mojo title|deadlyblessing}}</ref></small>
}}
'''''Deadly Blessing''''' is a 1981 American [[slasher film]] directed by [[Wes Craven]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.filmlinc.org/films/deadly-blessing/|publisher=[[Film Society of Lincoln Center]]|access-date=December 29, 2016|title=Deadly Blessing}}</ref> The film tells the story of a strange figure committing murder in a contemporary community that is not far from another community that believes in ancient evil and curses. It stars [[Ernest Borgnine]], [[Maren Jensen]], [[Susan Buckner]] (both women making their last feature film screen appearances), and [[Sharon Stone]] in an early role. [[AllMovie]] comments that the film "finds director Wes Craven in a transitional phase between his hard-hitting early work and his later commercial successes."<ref name="AllMovie review">{{cite web |url=https://allmovie.com/movie/deadly-blessing-v12752/review |title=Deadly Blessing (1981) |last=Guarisco |first=Donald |work=[[AllMovie]] |publisher=[[RhythmOne]] |access-date=August 8, 2012}}</ref>

== Plot ==
Martha and Jim Schmidt live on an isolated farm named "Our Blessing." Most of their neighbors are "Hittites", an austere religious community led by Isaiah Schmidt who forbids any interaction with non-Hittites. After breaking up a fight between one Hittite member, William Gluntz and another, more artistically minded neighbor, Faith Stohler, Jim finds "[[incubus]]" scrawled on the wall of his barn. Later that night, Jim is killed when his tractor suddenly starts up and crushes him against the wall. Isaiah and other Hittites observe Jim's funeral, as he was a lapsed member of their community; they consider Martha to be an incubus for having lured him away from their religion.

Martha's friends Lana Marcus and Vicky Anderson visit the farm, hoping to persuade her to return to Los Angeles. While creeping around Our Blessing at night, William is stabbed in the back by a black-dressed figure. The following day, while looking for William, Isaiah, who was Jim's father, offers to buy the farm from Martha, but she angrily refuses. Lana is nearly trapped in the barn by the black-dressed figure. As she escapes, she finds William's corpse hanging from a rope. The Sheriff advises the three friends to leave town, as someone may be after them. However, they decide to stay. When Isaiah finds out that Jim's brother John has been seeing Vicky, he beats then exiles him. John meets Vicky outside the cinema and she lets John drive her car, giving him a sense of freedom. They stop at the side of a road and begin to make out but they are killed by the black-dressed figure.

Lana, overwhelmed by disturbing dreams, begins to believe that death is pursuing her. Martha discovers that Jim's grave has been dug up and the casket filled with chickens from the Stohlers' farm. In their barn, she finds Jim's body and an altar to her. John's estranged fiancée Melissa arrives reciting a ritual of exorcism but is attacked by Faith's mother, Louisa. Faith and Louisa, who hate the Hittites, have been the black-dressed figures murdering them. Martha struggles with them and tears open Faith's shirt, revealing her to be a man who has been in love with Martha. They pursue Martha to Our Blessing. There, Lana kills Louisa and a late-arriving Melissa stabs Faith to death. In a religious fervor, Melissa threatens Martha next, but an even-more-late-arriving Isaiah assures her that the messenger of the incubus has already been killed.

The day after, Lana returns to LA. Though Jim's ghost tries to warn her, the incubus bursts through the floor and drags Martha to hell.

== Cast ==
{{div col}}
* [[Maren Jensen]] as Martha Schmidt
* [[Sharon Stone]] as Lana Marcus
* [[Susan Buckner]] as Vicky Anderson
* [[Jeff East]] as John Schmidt
* Colleen Riley as Melissa
* [[Douglas Barr]] as Jim Schmidt
* [[Lisa Hartman Black|Lisa Hartman]] as Faith Stohler
* [[Lois Nettleton]] as Louisa Stohler
* [[Ernest Borgnine]] as Isaiah Schmidt
* [[Michael Berryman]] as William Gluntz
* [[Kevin Cooney (actor)|Kevin Cooney]] as Sheriff
{{div col end}}

== Production ==
The film was shot [[Filming location|on location]] in [[Waxahachie, Texas|Waxahachie]], [[Texas]]. Actor [[Michael Berryman]] had previously worked with Craven on ''[[The Hills Have Eyes (1977 film)|The Hills Have Eyes]]'' playing a similar character.

[[Universal Pictures]], the primary distributor for [[PolyGram Filmed Entertainment|PolyGram]]-produced films at the time, chose not to pick up the finished project; it was instead released in theatres by [[United Artists]] and was the final United Artists film to be owned by [[Transamerica Corporation]] after being acquired by [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] on July 28, 1981.

== Reception ==
[[Academy Award]]-winner [[Ernest Borgnine]] was nominated for a [[Golden Raspberry Award|Razzie award]] for "Worst Supporting Actor" for this film.

''Deadly Blessing'' has been poorly received by critics. It currently holds a 33% approval rating on [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], based on 9 reviews with an average rating of 4.70/10.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/deadly_blessing|title=Deadly Blessing (1981)|work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|publisher=[[Fandango Media]]|access-date=July 3, 2018}}</ref> AllMovie called the film ultimately disappointing, but wrote that it has "enough eccentricities and stylish flourishes to make it worthwhile for fans of vintage horror."<ref name="AllMovie review"/> [[Time Out (company)|Time Out]] wrote, "''Deadly Blessing'' isn't a very good movie, but it holds out distinct promise that Craven will soon be in the front rank of horror filmmakers", calling it "an excellent example of a mundane project elevated into quite a palatable genre movie by its director."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timeout.com/film/reviews/65087/deadly_blessing.html |author=DP |title=Deadly Blessing |work=[[Time Out (company)|Time Out London]] |access-date=August 8, 2012 }} {{dead link|date=June 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

== Home media ==
On January 22, 2013, [[Shout! Factory]] released a Collector's Edition of the film on [[Blu-ray]] and [[DVD]] under license from [[Universal Pictures Home Entertainment|Universal Studios]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dreadcentral.com/news/61296/scream-factory-announces-bonus-features-deadly-blessing-collectors-edition-blu-ray|title=Scream Factory Announces Bonus Features for Deadly Blessing Collector's Edition Blu-ray and DVD|last=Moore|first=Debi|work=[[Dread Central]]|date=November 1, 2012|access-date=May 25, 2014}}</ref>

== References ==
<references/>

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0082245}}
* {{AFI film|56579}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|deadly_blessing}}

{{Wes Craven}}

[[Category:1981 horror films]]
[[Category:1981 films]]
[[Category:1980s slasher films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Wes Craven]]
[[Category:American slasher films]]
[[Category:American supernatural horror films]]
[[Category:American independent films]]
[[Category:American religious horror films]]
[[Category:1980s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films set on farms]]
[[Category:Films shot in Ohio]]
[[Category:Films shot in Texas]]
[[Category:Films scored by James Horner]]
[[Category:PolyGram Filmed Entertainment films]]
[[Category:1980s American films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Wes Craven]]
[[Category:Cross-dressing in American films]]
[[Category:English-language horror films]]