Verdict
Summary
A lowbrow, semi-inspired spoof of The Exorcist that runs only 84 minutes, but literally starts with a THX-type logo that launches a fart in surround sound, Repossessed is PG-13, but feels like a hard “R” with a shocking amount of nudity (like a lot!), gore, sexual innuendo, and an overall sense of madcap insanity, throwing everything and the kitchen sink at the audience to see what gets a laugh. Is it funny? Well, sometimes?
Plot:
A housewife is possessed by the devil, and a disgraced exorcist is called back for a rematch.
Review:
Housewife Nancy (Linda Blair completing her infamous cycle of possession movies after playing Reagan in two Exorcist movies: Get it? Nancy / Reagan) is watching a televangelist broadcast with her husband and kids when the devil takes possession of her. It’s instant pea soup time! Her kids take bets on what they think is wrong with her (it ain’t PMS like they think), and when she goes to the ER to get checked out, it’s not a “case” of the flu like the flummoxed doctors assume, and so her case gets sent to the church, where an inarticulate priest (Anthony Starke) struggles to understand just what to do with her. He calls upon disgraced exorcist Father Mayii (Leslie Nielsen fresh from The Naked Gun) to assist in an exorcism, but Mayii is completely out of shape for such a task. He goes to the gym (in the movie’s most inspired scene he rides a stationary bike next to a paperboy), gets a workout, and then goes to work against the cackling devil, who controls Nancy like a puppet. Their rematch in front of a widely televised audience captures the eyes of hundreds of millions of at-home viewers, including the Dalai Lama, the Pope, and every other holy man in the world, who all drop what they’re doing to help Mayii get the devil out of Nancy.
A lowbrow, semi-inspired spoof of The Exorcist that runs only 84 minutes, but literally starts with a THX-type logo that launches a fart in surround sound, Repossessed is PG-13, but feels like a hard “R” with a shocking amount of nudity (like a lot!), gore, sexual innuendo, and an overall sense of madcap insanity, throwing everything and the kitchen sink at the audience to see what gets a laugh. Is it funny? Well, sometimes? I laughed a few times but found its sendup of televangelism and Christianity to be typically clichéd, and yet there’s a playful sense of innocence to its approach to spoofery. The nudity was surprising, and I can remember the video store days in the early ’90s and having a schoolmate telling me his family rented this and getting an unexpected eyeful of boobs and butts, which I never forgot … so he was right! Written and directed by Bob Logan, who didn’t quite have the inspired Zucker / Brooks touch or approach.
Repossessed is now on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber in a solid looking HD transfer, and it comes with an audio commentary by the director, the trailer, and a slipcover.
