Another case of a "lost" film that's become an
extremely sought-after item among horror buffs but,
now that it's finally been unearthed, turns out to be
a disappointment.  Sure, ABBY deserves credit for
being one of the few all-black horror films to take
itself and its viewers seriously, but that doesn't
change the fact that it just isn't very good.

The Package

Although its supporters would have you believe that
ABBY (1974), about a black woman possessed by a demon, was not a blatant rip-off of THE EXORCIST, and that the two films only share a few "surface details", it
IS very clearly "inspired" by the earlier film.  For
proof, there are the words of ABBY'S own director
William Girdler, who has confessed it was made "to
come in on the shirttail" of the other. 

ABBY was released on the drive-in circuit by the
ever-exploiting American International Pictures, who
initially wanted to change its title to THE
BLACKORCIST (to make it fit in with other
"blaxploitation" horror flicks BLACULA and
BLACKENSTEIN), and who pulled it from release when Warner Brothers threatened to sue them for
plagiarizing THE EXORCIST.  Thus ABBY vanished from circulation for nearly thirty years until being
released on DVD in 2003 by an outfit called Cine Fear
Releasing.  It contains what may be the single worst
audio-visual transfer I've ever encountered on an
official release DVD--consider yourself warned!

The Story

Abby is a young black woman living in domestic bliss
with her husband Emmett, a dedicated minister.  Her
father-in-law Garnet is on an archeological expedition
in a cave in Nigeria, where he inadvertently unleashes
an ancient African deity called Eshu.  The demon isn't
content to stay in Africa, however--it travels back to
America and takes over Abby's body, causing her do
outrageous and profane things that shock her devout
hubbie.

Emmett takes Abby to a doctor, who gives her a CAT
scan.  Nothing is found to be wrong with Abby's mind,
yet her behavior only grows wilder.  Eventually Garnet
returns from Nigeria; learning what has happened, he
determines that Abby is a victim of demonic possession
and an exorcism must be performed before the night is
through.  But first he and Emmett will have to find
Abby--the horny demon inside her has embarked on a sex rampage, going from bar to bar and picking up guys.
Eventually the men track Abby down at a sleazy bar and
there perform the exorcism.  Long-story-short: Eshu is
driven out and all live happily ever after.

The Direction

I don't mean to speak ill of the dead, but the late
William Girdler (killed in a helicopter accident in
1978, at age thirty) was never much of a director.
His films--GRIZZLY, DAY OF THE ANIMALS, THE
MANITOU--may have been moneymakers in their day, but that doesn't disguise the fact that none of them are
very good, and neither is ABBY.  It suffers from much
noticeable padding: shots tend to be held for
interminable periods of time and there's at least one
pointless montage showcasing the "local color" of the
black scene, not to mention a couple silly dance
numbers that are allowed to drag on far too long.
None of this does anything to hide the fact that the
script is painfully thin and unimaginative, content to
dutifully follow in the footsteps of THE EXORCIST
while offering little that's new or interesting.  I
suppose the idea of holding an exorcism in a dingy bar
is inspired, but the execution is thoroughly
pedestrian.

At times Girdler opts for pretension, with a number
of abrupt fade outs (anticipating arty auteurs like
Jim Jarmusch and Aki Kaurismaki) and quick,
near-subliminal intercuts of a demonic face during
Abby's freak-outs, but they fail to liven things up.
What does give the film the little spark it has are
the performances of William Marshall and Carol Speed.
Marshall had already proven himself a formidable
talent as BLACULA, and once again demonstrates a
unique and imposing screen presence, while Speed, best
known for her role in THE MACK, is appropriately
uninhibited and at times even a mite scary in the
title role.  Bob Holt also deserves credit, as he
voices the demonic Eshu, sounding like nothing so much
as a ghetto-ized Mercedes McCambridge.

Vital Statistics

ABBY
American International Pictures
Director: William Girdler
Producers: William Girdler, Mike Henry, G. Cornell
Layne
Screenplay: G. Cornell Lane
(Story by William Girdler, G. Cornell Lane)
Cinematography: William Asman
Editing: Henry Asman, Corky Ehlers
Cast: William Marshall, Terry Carter, Austin Stoker,
Carol Speed, Juanita Moore, Charles Kissinger, Elliott
Moffitt, Nathan Cook, Nancy Lee Owens, William P.
Bradford, Joann Holcomb, Claude Fulkerson, Bill
Wilson, Chuck Broadus, Don Henderson, John Miller,
Joan Ray, George Robinson