Good Against Evil (1977)

Cast:

Dack Rambo is Andy Stuart
Elyssa Davalos is Jessica Gordon
Richard "" Lynch is Mr. Rimmin
Dan "The 'gung-ho iguana' from the Last Starfighter" O'Herlihy is Father Kemschler
Kim Cattral is Linday Isley
John Harkins is Father Wheatley

What the box says:

A young couple is forced to confront the ultimate horror whne Satan decides to claim the young woman as his own. The boyfriend consult with two priests in the hopes of getting guidance on his spiritual dilemma. The two priests in turn decide to perform an exorcism in order to rid the world of her possession. The boyfriend and the exorcists are pitted in a battle for the woman's soul with Satan and his clan of worshipers.

Plot:

In New York City, 1955, at a hospital, a pregnant lady is going into labor terrified that "they" will take her baby. Later, she tries to sneak off with her baby but is caught. She falls down a flight of stairs to her death.

At a cocktail party, Rimmin and other members of his coven want their plans to raise the baby exactly as theyplan ensure.

San Francisco 1977, Jessica Gordon is a fashion designer whose car gets bumped by Andy Stuart. He gets her car fixed and a whirlwind romance between the 2 ensues. Later, a horse almost runs over her but is saved by the watcher who is killed by the horse. She reveals to Andy that that was the third mysterious death around her. She tries to talk Andy into leave her but refuses.

Rimmin and his coven are chanting and continuing to prepare Jessica for the devil.

Andy and Jessica prepare for their wedding. Father Wheatley seems unnerved by something about Jessica. He tells Andy about his ideas that Jessica was touched by Astaroth, the devil. Well, Andy refuses Wheately automatically.

Rimmin isn't happy with how Jessica's boss has been handling Jessica's romance with Andy. He sicks a number of cats on her.

The next morning, Andy stops to pick up Jessica to get married but finds her gone. He stops by the church to find it defiled, and Wheatley dead.

Rimmin who has acted as Jessica's close uncle type takes her to New York City to be with Jessica's "aunt" that raised her.

Is this the kind of guy you'd trust to sell your car? Rimmin reveals to Jessica's aunt from the coven that he has wiped her memories of Andy. They still need to do something to eliminate Andy from searching for her.

Andy sees a newspaper with a human interest stary about about a sick girl and realizes it is his ex-girlfriend's daughter. He's unaware that Rimmin has cursed her. Andy heads to New Orleans to see about her. After arriving, Father Kemschler questions Andy and his ex-girlfriend, Linday. Kemschler is positive that the girl is possessed and must be exorcised to save her. He finally talks Linday into letting him perform the exorcism.

Andy and Linday wait outside while Kemschler starts incanting. A pillow starts trying to choke Kemschler. Andy rushes in to save him.

Rimmim has to move Jessica since Andy is still looking for her.

Kemschler tells Andy that Jessica was chosen to bear the Devil's child. Andy will keep looking for her. Kemschler leaves and offers to go with Andy to look for Jessica unaware that a black cat is watching them.

What I say:

This was meant to be the pilot for a TV series. With Andy riding off with Father Kemschler to search for Jessica who has been memory erased is almost an amnesiac- Fugitive byway of Highway to Heaven, I think it can safely be said that this series wasn't known as long-lasting great fantasy series especially since the pilot was the only breath of this attempted series which is more forgotten than the Gong Show.

First, Good Against Evil starts as some version of the Rosemary's Baby, a coven gives that vibe when they want a baby to raise for their evil intentions. However, an exorcism is needed about halfway through for the Exorcist vibe to complete the final 1970s occult movie.

Dan O'Herlihy starred in the Music Man but he may be remembered more as Grig. Yes, "the 'gung-ho iguana' from the Last Starfighter". (I don't get many times to use the phrase 'gung-ho iguana'.) However, he's just doing a worn-out retread of Max Von Sydow's version of Father Merrick from the Exorcist.

Kim Cattral may be known today for bad pseudo-butter commercials than movies like Big Trouble in Little China or as the skeevy Valeris on Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country. Considering she only is in the movie for a few minutes near the end, one can't expect much.

Richard Lynch is there when you can't get John Saxon. Lynch is one of the b-movie character actors that pop up as normally as the crooked cop in the tv-shows of the 1970s and 1980s or the commonly "hey, it's that guy from that movie...". If you are the head terrorist in Chuck Norris's epic Invasion USA, what else can you be called? He has an almost standard villain charisma.

Slow movies are hard to endure. The Sci Fi Channel original movies are more interesting than this tv-debut. I'm thinking once you get past the halfway DVD range of the 100 movie packs the bad things are going to ensue. Well, most 1977 tv-pilots aren't going to be thought of anywhere near Star Wars. Somehow, the TV Star Wars Holiday Special would be considered more entertaining than this thing.

Quotable Dialogue
"Repetition is a bore."
"The child is ours."
"In the second millennium, the child of the child shall inherit the earth, and havoc shall reign."
Morals of the Story
A nun's habit is part of a medical uniform.
Black cats are inherently evil.