The Premonition (1976 film)
This article is missing information about the film's production, and theatrical/home media releases.(July 2018) |
The Premonition | |
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Avco Embassy Pictures | |
Release date |
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Running time | 94 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $850,000[1] |
The Premonition is a 1976 American psychological horror film produced and directed by Robert Allen Schnitzer, and starring Richard Lynch, Sharon Farrell, Danielle Brisebois, and Jeff Corey. Its plot follows a foster mother who enlists the help of a parapsychologist after her foster daughter is stalked by her mentally-unhinged biological mother and her circus clown boyfriend.
Plot
Andrea Fletcher, a clinically insane woman who was once an esteemed pianist, locates her biological daughter, Janie, who has been raised by
One night, Andrea breaks into the Bennetts' home and Sheri finds her cradling Janie in her bedroom, clad in a red dress. Sheri and Andrea get into a physical fight before Andrea flees, bringing only Janie's doll with her. Sheri summons the police, and is terribly shaken by the event. Andrea and Jude return to their apartment where they live in squalor, and Andrea has a
Meanwhile, Sheri begins having psychic visions that appear to be premonitions. Miles consults his peer, Jeena Kingsly, a doctor studying parapsychology, and with whom he is having an affair. Det. Lt. Mark Denver begins searching for Andrea, and visits her father to get additional information on her whereabouts. While home alone, Sheri has a disturbing vision of an eviscerated Andrea laughing in Janie's bed, and subsequently receives taunting phone calls from Andrea. Unaware that Andrea is in fact dead, Sheri believes instead that Andrea is a witch who has placed a curse on her.
During a rainstorm one night, Sheri departs with Janie to meet with Miles and Jeena at the university, but her car begins to act of its own accord, causing her to crash. Sheri is taken to the hospital, but Janie is not found at the scene of the accident. Janie wanders toward the carnival where Jude works, having visited it several times before. She is taken in by Jude, who conceals her from police. Meanwhile, after Sheri is released from the hospital, she has an overwhelming feeling that draws her to a rural lake. In an abandoned farmhouse on the shore, they find Janie's doll. Police subsequently drag the lake, recovering Andrea's body. At the carnival, Lenore, a fortune teller, attempts to call police and report they have found Janie, but Jude murders her before she can. Sheri begins to sense that Janie is running out of time.
With the police's prime suspect, Andrea, now dead, Jeena suggests that Sheri attempt to appeal to Andrea's spirit. With Andrea's love of music in mind, Jeena has Sheri perform a piece that Andrea composed in the town square. Meanwhile, Jude is attempting to flee town, with Janie asleep in the back of his RV. He arrives in a traffic jam near the town square where Sheri is performing Andrea's piece, which he recognizes. Miles sees a painting of a horse in the back of the truck, which mirrors a painting from one of Sheri's visions. Miles breaks into the RV, but cannot find Janie. As Sheri's performance reaches its
Cast
- Sharon Farrell as Sheri Bennett
- Edward Bell as Professor Miles Bennett
- Danielle Brisebois as Janie Bennett
- Ellen Barber as Andrea Fletcher
- Richard Lynch as Jude
- Chitra Neogy as Dr. Jeena Kingsly
- Jeff Corey as Lieutenant Mark Denver
- Margaret Graham as Andrea's Landlady
- Rosemary McNamara as Lenore
- Thomas Williams as Todd Fletcher
- Roy White as Dr. Larabee
- Robert Harper as Carnival Watchman
Production
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The film was shot in Mississippi.[2][1]
Release
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Home media
The film was released on
Critical reception
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Critical response for The Premonition has been mixed, with some criticizing the writing, while others praised the film's atmosphere. Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded it two out of four stars, calling it "mediocre", and writing, "[its] Muddled script works against [the] eerie atmosphere in this supernatural tale."[4] Reviewing the American Horror Project Vol. 1 release of the film, Clayton Dillard from Slant Magazine stated that the film "implicitly challenges how art cinema of the ’60s and early ’70s typically utilizes female anxiety as a source of masochistic pleasure for the viewer".[5] The Terror Trap gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, writing, More atmospheric than plot driven, Premonition is a valiant effort at ambient fearmaking, but it comes up just a little short due to a convoluted and confusing tie-up."[6]
Brett Gallman from Oh, the Horror! gave the film a positive review, writing, "The Premonition is a film that zigs and zags, though it hardly does so in a playful manner. Rather, it spirals ominously, as if bent toward some fatalistic doom. Dusk seems to have permanently settled over and around these characters, enwrapping them in a languid, hypnotic rhythm. Despite its very realistic—and grim—subject matter, the film seems to unfold under a foggy, supernatural haze that's deceptively drowsy."[7]
References
- ^ a b "The Premonition". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
- ^ themonstergirl, "Sunday Nite Surreal-The Premonition (1976) Carnival Clowns & Deathly Dreams", The Last Drive-In, February 2, 2014. This blog includes an extensive scene by scene synopsis of the film, mixed with commentary.
- ^ "The Premonition (1975) - Robert Schnitzer". AllMovie. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
- ISBN 978-1-101-60955-2.
- ^ Dillard, Clayton. "American Horror Project Vol. 1". Slant Magazine. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
- ^ "The Premonition (1976)". TerrorTrap.com. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
- ^ Gallman, Brett. "Horror Reviews - Premonition, The (1976)". Oh the Horror.com. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
- ^ Martin Connors and Jim Craddock, editors, Video Hound’s Golden Movie Retriever, Detroit: Visible Ink Press, 1998, p. 699
- ^ Coffel, Chris. "[Blu-ray Review] 'The American Horror Project - Vol 1' Sheds Light on Lesser Known American Horror -". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
- ^ "The Premonition - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings". TV Guide. Retrieved January 24, 2021.