THE ENTITY is a truly terrifying film. I can’t think of anything more frightening than being attacked at home in your most quiet intimate moments, by something that you cannot see, let alone stop. This film will shake you down to your very core and there are not many films that can do that.

Barbara Hershey brilliantly plays Carla Moran. She is a hardworking mother of three who is without the companionship of her traveling boyfriend (Alex Rocco). After coming home from her job, attending an adult education course at high school, Carla checks on her kids before retiring into her bedroom. It’s here where she gets attacked by an invisible force. She gets punched in the face, thrown on her bed and savagely raped. The way Hershey performs this scene and the other attacks throughout the movie; you can’t help but feel the abuse she sustains. Hershey never goes over the top and pulls off a gut wrenching emotional portrayal of a woman who continues to be abused but refuses to let fear control her and prevent her from living her life.

Sidney J. Furie constructs suspense by choosing low camera angles and wisely using silence and the skin crawling score by Charles Bernstein to maximum effect. You can’t help but feel shaken with terror after watching THE ENTITY.

Stephen H. Burum shines using his extensive talent for lighting and shooting THE ENTITY. His execution of Furie’s vision is one of the real factors in making THE ENTITY scary.

Stan Winston’s contribution to creating Hershey’s body during the rape scenes is beyond effective. You will be shocked and disturbed long after viewing this potent film.

I first saw the movie when it was released in the theaters back in 1983 and I remember how tense it was watching it on the big screen. Anchor Bay has given THE ENTITY a beautiful widescreen image and the DVD Dolby Surround 2.0, which brings out Charles Bernstein’s unnerving score. Bernstein’s score is in some ways a precursor to A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET with soft keyboard notes underlined with a high pitch note sustaining hair-raising tension. When the attacks strike, Bernstein creates massive pounding percussion that will beat terror into your consciousness forever.

The Entity Files features a 26-minute interview with UCLA parapsychologist Dr. Barry Taff who was one of the investigators of the real case on which the movie was loosely based. Taff tells how he was at a bookstore with a fellow parapsychologist and met the woman, who was with a friend trying to find a book to explain what was happening to her. This lead to Taff and his team checking out her house to find out if she was telling the truth. Taff admits that when she said she was being raped by three entities (two held her down while other large entity entered her) that he felt she really needed the help of a psychiatrist. Although he insists there were real psychic phenomena, including fist-sized green blobs flying around, the best evidence were the photos showing streaks of light. Anchor Bay supplement specialist Perry Martin directed this documentary and does another fine job producing high quality supplement material.

There are also stills, posters, a trailer and, as a DVD-ROM extra, the original script.