The
film collection at the J.B. Speed Art Museum is named in honor of scrappy
Louisville exploitation filmmaker William Girdler, but it does not include any
of his films. Arguably, a good print of his “Blaxploitation Exorcist” would be a rarity worth
curating. Caught up in a studio copyright infringement case, it has only
circulated in rather distressed formats. Nevertheless, Anthology Film Archives
will make the best of what is available when they screen Girdler’s Abby as part of the Industrial Terror
film series.
Since
someone must necessarily get possessed, it makes sense that it would be Abby
Williams, a sunny, upbeat marriage counselor, who happens to be the wife and
daughter-in-law of ministers. Bishop Garnet Williams is a man of the cloth to
be reckoned with, but he inadvertently causes all the trouble when he
accidentally frees a spirit claiming to be Eshu, the demigod of lust, during a
research trip to Nigeria. Eshu wastes no time possessing Abby Williams, turning
her into a wanton harlot who constantly belittles her husband’s masculinity.
Fortunately, her brother Cass Potter is a cop who can cover for the Williamses
when she gets violent, but they will need the Bishop to perform the E word.
Rather
than try to match the profound dread of Friedkin’s classic, Abby picks up on the sucking-you-know-what-you-know-where
demonic dirty talk and runs with it. There is no question Eshu is evil and
corrupting, but it saves on the special effects and gets Williams into swinging
after hours clubs.
Actually,
the mumbo jumbo backstory is not bad, particularly when the commanding William
Marshall tells it. Cult famous as Blackula, Dr. Richard Daystrom in “The Ultimate
Computer” episode of the original Star
Trek, and at least half a dozen stage and television productions of Othello, Marshall has the authority and
presence we need in a modern day Van Helsing.
