The Fury starts in the 'Mid East 1977' where the head of a secret shadowy Government agency named Ben Childress (John Cassavetes) stages a fake terrorist attack so he can kidnap a teenage boy with powerful psychic abilities named Robin Sandza (Andrew Stevens) & leave his Father Peter (Kirk Douglas) dead. Half the plan works & Robin is whisked away but Peter manages to escape, he vows to find Childress & his son. Cut to 'Chicago 1978' & Dr. Jim McKeever (Charles Durning) is running the Paragon Institute for Childress, an institute that studies psychic abilities & tries to uncover people with these powers. Teenage girl Gillian Bellaver (Amy Irving) has been developing such powers & her Mother (Joyce Easton) agrees for her to spend some time in the institute in an attempt to help her. Meanwhile Peter is in Chicago & hot on the trail of Childress who becomes aware of Gillian & her powers which match Robins, Peter also knows about Gillian & the fact that she can help lead him to his son Robin. However Gillian & Robin start to suffer as they're powers grow stronger, it becomes almost impossible to control them...<br /><br />Directed by Brian De Palma I thought The Fury was a decent watch but nothing that special. The script by John Farris based on his own 1976 novel of the same name, which I have not read so I cannot compare the two although it's said that the film is considerably condensed, plays more like a thriller than horror for the first half, it sets up it's secret Government agency, the bad guy, the good guy, it has a few chases & even a bit of comedy relief in the shape of two bumbling cops & a new car. Then the film switches to more horror orientated territory with visions to sinister past events & psychic powers being used for evil & the two story elements come together at the end as Peter finds his son & Childress in a final confrontation type cliché. I thought the film dragged a little in places, too many elements just came & went too quickly & it ignores various aspects of it's story for long periods before going back to them which gave me the impression that it was was very inconsistent & at times a bit incoherent & confusing. It's never made clear as to why Childress is so interested in people with psychic abilities or what Government agency he works for. The story is complex, it's fairly engaging & gripping but at the same time it's rather dull & drawn out, I liked it for sure but I don't think I'd be in any hurry to watch it again.<br /><br />Director De Palma does a good job as you would expect from an accomplished director such as he. The Fury reminds heavily of Carrie (1976) with it's troubled teenage psychics which, by co-incidence or not, was the film De Palma made directly before The Fury. There is one sequence that inspired a few unintentional laughs though, the bit where Gillian breaks out of the Paragon Institute is played out in slow motion without any sound effects only some really awful & inappropriate music, it feels like it goes on forever. There's not much gore except for a cool bit at the end that looks like it belongs in David Cronenberg's Scanners (1981) when someone explodes all over the place, it's replayed several times in slow motion & from various different camera angles as well.<br /><br />With a supposed budget of about $5,500,000 The Fury is a very well made film & certainly has that Hollywood polish about it. One area where the film suffers from is that it has dated badly, the cars, the interiors, all the sharp suits & the latest 70's fashions tell it's own story. The acting was OK, I didn't think Irving was that good as Gillian but Douglas manages to bring a certain likability to his role.<br /><br />The Fury is a good watch, it's a bit long & a bit inconsistent but it entertains & tries to tell a thoughtful story. Definitely worth a watch if you have a couple of hours to spare.