The Oracle (1985)
6/10
Watchable junk.
4 October 2014
Jennifer (Caroline Capers Powers) is a young woman who moves with husband Ray (Roger Neil) into an apartment formerly occupied by a medium. She finds the womans' planchet and is able to make contact with a restless spirit. Naturally, this spirit wants to use her for vengeance' sake. Jennifer is able to see images of the people that killed the man, including a corpulent, demented, transvestite, lesbian killer for hire named Farkas (Pam La Testa). Jennifer then sets about trying to solve the man's murder.

This is about on a par with the other crude, cheese ball horror pictures that legendary exploitation director Roberta Findlay ("Tenement") made in the 1980s. It's kind of slow to get started, but around the 34 minute mark things start to pick up, as Pappas (Chris Maria De Koron), the building super, fools around with the planchet, and begins to see weird little creepy-crawlies all over him. Ultimately, the movie is garbage, but Findlay herself would be the first to admit it. Therefore, it does have a certain undeniable bad movie charm, at least if you totally dig this kind of thing to begin with.

Capers Powers is remarkably sincere in the lead, although she'll probably put off some viewers with the amount of screaming that she does. Neil plays the husband as such a jerk that one has to wonder why Jennifer ever married the guy. La Testa is great fun in her antagonistic role, especially in a scene that's probably just designed to show what kind of person Farkas is, as she slaughters a hooker in cold blood. The corpse effects and the gore are all wonderfully tacky. One of the best scenes occurs when Farkas tries to run Jennifer down with a car. Co-producer Walter E. Sear composed the decent music score.

An entertaining viewing for the undemanding.

Six out of 10.
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