Inhuman federal agents, who work for an unspecified government organization, kidnap a teenage boy, who possesses unspecified psychic powers, in order to channel his great potential toward unspecified ends. Clarity is not this movie's forte. It's especially confusing about the nature of the psychic phenomena and about the cinematic style appropriate to suggesting them. The bulk of the movie centers around the quest for the abducted boy by his vengeful father. The father's line when he finally finds the youth — the kid is floating eight feet off the floor at the time — is a classic: "What have they done to you?" The movie is very big on baroque camera movements; big on stunts that call for crashing through windows; and big on special effects in which blood flows like wine. The final zinger, which Pauline Kael has high-handedly judged "the greatest finish for any villain ever," has been done before (in Live and Let Die, for example), but probably not with the same degree of self-congratulation. Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, Carrie Snodgress, Amy Irving, and Andrew Stevens; directed by Brian DePalma. (1978) — Duncan Shepherd
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