How do you survive when a killer wants to kill you with his mind? The Power is a schlocky science-fiction horror film about a man facing a mystery villain with telekinetic powers that pose as a scary threat, as he tries to stay one step ahead of inanimate objects around him turning into weapons and his colleagues dying one by one. The tagline is especially juicy: "You feel it until you can't feel anything at all!"
Adapted from a science-fiction novel by Frank M. Robinson, The Power movie is directed by Byron Haskin, best known as the director of sci-fi bouts like the first War of the World movie and Robinson Crusoe on Mars. Compared to those high concept spectacles, The Power is an obscure schlock, but it's by no means less entertaining. The premise, of telekinetic supermen posing danger, is something that's highly influential to later (and admittedly better) films like Scanners, but with its 60's mod frame, it's got a psychedelic feel to it that rises it above the typical supernatural thriller.
The Power kicks off the strangeness right away, setting it in a Space Program lab designed to test the limits of human endurance (a very space age idea). It's one of those "only in movies" labs where the test subjects are helpfully experimented on in front of glass displays, so anyone walking down the main hallway can viddy the various tests going on as if they're in a science zoo. The mystery kicks in when a committee meeting reveals that one among them possesses "the power." He or she has jumped 1,000 generations of evolutionary process and grown supreme intellect that comes with psychic perks. But who is it? Professor Tanner (George Hamilton) didn't set out to find out, but when other members of the committee are found grisly murdered, he's off to find one man who may be the clue.
In Hitchcock fashion, Tanner is accused of the murders and finds himself ostracized because his academic records mysterious disappeared, making him look like a fraud. As he chases down the killer, he too is being chased by him. I love the various threats that follow Tanner, which makes up the film's most interesting and entertaining parts. Scenes like a traffic light ominously morphing from "Don't Walk" to "Don't Run," or a funhouse carousel trying to kill Tanner with centrifuge. If you've never seen a man clinging to life while literally clinging on a brightly colored ceramic pony, here's your movie.
B-movie as it obviously is, it's not without its share of goofy stuff. A set piece where Tanner is dropped in the middle of a test site and has to outrun exploding jet fighter missiles is bonkers in both concept and execution. Haskin also makes some very odd directorial choices, like actually showing a shot of a cymbal being hit when we hear the "danger" theme playing. This leads to a hilarious moment where Tanner the theme plays and Tanner expects danger lurking, only to be relieved when it's just coming from a hotel lobby band. I can't be sure, but it may be the first time a character in a movie actually reacts to the movie's soundtrack. It's like if Roy Scheider in Jaws jumps into action because he hears a "du dun, du dun."
And yet, these only add to the madcap feel of the movie, living up to the weirdness promised by its Sterankoesque poster.
The Power is available on a barebones DVD from Warner Bros' Archive Collection, meaning it is only made on demand instead of being available on retail. To see it, order a copy of one here.
Watch Out! is a feature on JustPressPlay where Arya Ponto showcases lesser-known, lesser-appreciated and often bizarre small films that are cool and deserve to get some attention. Venture here to see all previous entries.
