''The Unseen'' is a 1980 American

slasher film A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a ...

directed and written by

Danny Steinmann Danny Steinmann (January 7, 1942 – December 18, 2012) was an American film director. Steinmann made his debut as both writer and director with the hardcore porno picture ''High Rise'' (1973), on which he used the alias Danny Stone. Steinman ...

and starring

Stephen Furst Stephen Furst (born Stephen Nelson Feuerstein; May 8, 1954 – June 16, 2017) was an American actor, director and producer. After gaining attention with his featured role as Kent "Flounder" Dorfman in the comedy film ''National Lampoon's An ...

Barbara Bach Barbara Bach, Lady Starkey (born Barbara Goldbach in 1947) is an American actress and model. She played the Bond girl Anya Amasova in ''The Spy Who Loved Me''. She is married to former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr. Early life Bach is a nat ...

Sydney Lassick Sydney Lassick (July 23, 1922 – April 12, 2003) was an American character actor perhaps best known for his role as Charlie Cheswick in the feature film '' One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest''. Lassick's first name was sometimes spelled ''Sidney' ...

, and

Lelia Goldoni Lelia Goldoni (born Lelia Vita Rizzuto; October 1, 1936) is an American actress who appeared in a number of motion pictures and television shows starting in the late 1940s, including uncredited cameo roles in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's ''House of S ...

. Its plot follows three female news reporters who arrive in

Solvang, California Solvang (; ) is a city in Santa Barbara County, California. It is located in the Santa Ynez Valley. The population was 6,126 at the 2020 census, up from 5,245 at the 2010 census. Solvang was founded in 1911 and incorporated as a city on May ...

to cover the town's annual Danish festival, and end up staying in the Victorian home of a middle-aged couple harboring a dark secret in their basement. The film originally began with a screenplay by Michael Viner and

Kim Henkel Kim David Henkel (born January 19, 1946) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and actor. He is best known as the co-writer of Tobe Hooper's horror film ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre''. Early life Henkel was born in Virginia and g ...

, which was significantly altered and rewritten by Steinmann and Michael L. Grace.

Plot

After a hotel reservation mix up, two sisters Karen and Jennifer, and their friend Vicki Thompson, meet a friendly but shady character named Ernest Keller, the owner of a small town museum near

. Ernest convinces the three women into accepting an invitation for cheap room and board at his large farmhouse outside of town, where he lives with his wife Virginia. Once there, Jennifer and Karen leave for the Danish cultural festival which Jennifer is completing a story on. At the festival, Jennifer is met by her estranged boyfriend, Tony, who gets her to stay behind to talk about their relationship. Meanwhile, back at the house, Vicki prepares to take a nap in her room, but is attacked by an unseen figure. The figure eventually begins to pull Vicki into a floor vent; when she tries to escape, the grate of the vent slams down on her neck, killing her. At the parade, Karen leaves Jennifer and Tony to talk, and makes her way back to the house alone, where she too is then attacked and killed by the unseen, as it attempts to pull her by her scarf through a vent into the basement. Virginia, who had been in the barn slaughtering a chicken, soon after comes inside to find the bodies of both Vicki and Karen, and is distraught. When Ernest arrives back at the house, he finds Virginia in shock over the murders. It is revealed that Virginia and Ernest are, in fact, brother and sister, and that Ernest had murdered his own sadistic father over 20 years ago in order to maintain his incestuous relationship with Virginia. They keep their inbred son named "Junior" locked up in the basement, where he is often viciously beaten by Ernest. Ernest convinces the subservient Virginia that Jennifer must be killed upon her return, in order to keep everything under cover. When Jennifer gets back that evening, she is lured into the basement by Ernest, who locks her inside. She wanders around looking for a way out, only to stumble upon Karen and Vicki's dead bodies. In a panic, she is confronted by Junior, an intellectually disabled and infantile grown man. Junior attempts to play with Jennifer, but she is frightened by his rough behavior. Ernest comes into the basement to kill Jennifer, but Virginia, having had a change of heart, attempts to stop him. Ernest attacks Virginia, but Junior, enraged by the sight, intervenes to protect his mother. Ernest kills Junior by stabbing him in the head. Jennifer escapes the basement, pursued by Ernest. Tony, who has returned to try to rekindle his relationship with Jennifer, tries to intervene but stumbles due to his leg injury. As Ernest is about to kill Jennifer, Virginia shoots him to death. She then returns to the basement to hold Junior's corpse.

Cast

as "Junior" Keller (The Unseen) *

as Jennifer Fast *

as Ernest Keller *

Karen Lamm Karen Lamm (June 21, 1952 – June 29, 2001) was an American character actress and producer. She was known for ''Thunderbolt and Lightfoot'' (1974), '' The Unseen'' (1980) and '' Trackdown'' (1976). She was married to musicians Dennis Wilson an ...

as Karen Fast *

as Virginia Keller *

Douglas Barr Douglas Barr (born May 1, 1949), also credited as Doug Barr, is an American actor, writer, and director. He has starred in movies and on television. Barr was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. His big role came in the American Broadcasting Company, ...

as Tony Ross *Lois Young as Vicki Thompson *Maida Severn as Solvang Lady

Production

Festival footage was shot on location in

in September 1979, while

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began in Solvang and

Altadena Altadena () ("Alta", Spanish for "Upper", and "dena" from Pasadena) is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in the Verdugo Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, approximately 14 miles (23 km) from the downtown ...

on November 16, 1979. Filming officially completed on January 10, 1980.

Release

''The Unseen'' was released theatrically in the United States by World Northal in June 1981, first showing in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. It subsequently opened in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on October 23, 1981.

Home media

The film was released for the first time on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

by Prism on September 3, 2001. It was released on September 5th, the following year by Digital Entertainment. It was later released as a two-disk by Code Red on July 15, 2008. Scorpion Records later released the film for the first time on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

on August 20, 2013. The company would also release the film on DVD the same day.

Reception

''The Unseen'' received little attention from mainstream critics; existing reviews of the film have been mixed. ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' awarded the film 2/4 stars, calling it "a vile and perverse horror film that manages to be interesting and compelling nonetheless". Donald Guarisco from

AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...

gave the film a positive review, commending its creepy atmosphere, direction, and performances of Furst, Goldoni, and Lassick. Concluding his review on the film, Guarisco wrote, "''The Unseen'' is a nice surprise for horror fans and well worth rediscovering." ''Hysteria Lives!'' awarded the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, calling it "a genuine oddity".

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Unseen, The 1980 films 1980 horror films 1980 independent films 1980 thriller films 1980s English-language films 1980s horror thriller films 1980s slasher films American horror thriller films American independent films American slasher films Films about child abuse Films directed by Danny Steinmann Films shot in California Incest in film 1980s American films