Repossessed (1990) Seven Arts/Comedy-Horror RT: 84 minutes Rated PG-13 (crude sexual humor, nudity, language, comic violence) Director: Bob Logan Screenplay: Bob Logan Music: Charles Fox Cinematography: Michael D. Margulies Release date: September 14, 1990 (US) Cast: Linda Blair, Ned Beatty, Leslie Nielsen, Anthony Starke, Lana Schwab, Thom J. Sharp, Benj Thall, Dove Dellos, Jacquelyn Masche, Melissa Moore, Willie Garson, Jesse Ventura, Gene Okerlund. Box Office: $1.4M (US)
Rating: **
Although its official release date is given as 14 September 1990, I didn’t see the Exorcist spoof Repossessed until a friend loaned me a VHS screener copy in January ’91. It didn’t open in any cinemas here in Philadelphia. I would have gone to see it. At that time, I saw every single movie that played in theaters. Such is the life and psychological pathology of a movie geek.
My opinion of Repossessed hasn’t changed at all between then and now. I still think it’s just okay. It’s a mildly amusing takeoff that actually serves as a quasi-pseudo-sequel to the 1973 horror classic. Linda Blair reprises her role as the possessee only this time her character is named Nancy instead of Regan (get it, get it?). She was possessed by the devil as a child, but survived the ordeal thanks to Father Mayii (Nielsen, The Naked Gun) who conducted the exorcism.
17 years later, the devil comes back and repossesses Nancy who now has a family of her own. Mayii refuses to do another exorcism as he barely survived the last one. This time, it’s on young, inexperienced Father Brophy (Starke, Licence to Kill) to cast out the evil demon. After getting the go-ahead from the Supreme Council for Exorcism Granting which consists of four priests named Crosby, Still, Nash and Young (ha ha), he finds out the exorcism will be televised nationally as the behest of televangelist Ernest Weller (Beatty, Exorcist II: The Heretic) and his wife Fanny Ray (Schwab, The Silence of the Hams). They need the money and the Catholic Church needs the converts.
Predictably, Father Mayii steps in at the last minute to combat his old foe in a big grudge match with play-by-play commentary by wrestlers “Mean Gene” Okerlund and Jesse “The Body” Ventura. Did I mention Repossessed is framed as a lecture Mayii is giving to a college theology class? The nerdy student with glasses is played by the late Willie Garson who would go on to greater fame in Sex and the City and White Collar. Also, the female student who flashes her boobs to Mayii is played by Melissa Moore of Samurai Cop and Sorority Massacre II.
Team ZAZ set an insurmountable level of excellence with their classic spoofs Airplane and The Naked Gun. Repossessed doesn’t even come close. It has a few amusing moments scattered throughout, but most of the jokes fall flat. To its credit, it’s nowhere near as unfunny as any of the spoofs concocted by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer- e.g. Date Movie, Epic Movie and Disaster Movie. For all its faults, Repossessed is at least competent.
One thing Repossessed definitely has going for it is the cast. They actually look like they’re having fun, especially Linda Blair. In an interview, she talked about how stressful it was making The Exorcist and how she appreciated getting to spoof it. Call it a delayed catharsis. It turns out Blair has a hidden gift for comedy. She showed it in the cheap Police Academy knock-off Night Patrol and does so again here. Nielsen, the undisputed King of Spoofs in the 80s and 90s, just does his thing in Repossessed. He hadn’t yet reached the point where he was on autopilot. He gets off a good line or two. Beatty doesn’t do too badly either as a character clearly modeled after disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker. Schwab is slightly better as the Tammy Faye character. Starke does okay as the hapless priest taking on a far more powerful force.
Written and directed by Bob Logan (Up Your Alley, Meatballs 4), Repossessed is definitely a product of its time with dated references and jokes to trash TV talk show host Morton Downey Jr., actor Rob Lowe’s infamous sex tape and Sean Penn’s tumultuous relationship with paparazzi. A lot of it would fly right over the head of young people not familiar with late-80s pop culture. It’s also filled with corny jokes and amusing sight gags in addition to all the nods to its original source- e.g. pea soup, projectile vomiting and cleaned-up variations of Blair’s profane tirades. The finale features cast members rocking out to “Devil with a Blue Dress On”. It’s fun even if the song choice is too obvious. Guess what color dress Blair’s character wears through the whole ordeal?
Repossessed is a very mediocre comedy that might tickle your funny bone in a silly state of mind. It’s not as bad as some spoofs, but it’s in no way, shape or form a classic of the subgenre. It’s the kind of goofy comedy I would have watched many times on cable as a teen much like I did with Pandemonium (1982), the Friday the 13th takeoff with Tom Smothers, Carol Kane and Paul Reubens. I’ve seen Repossessed twice now and I think that ought to do it for me.
