An old medium mysteriously disappears without a trace. A young woman named Jennifer (Caroline Capers Powers) moves into her apartment at Christmastime and finds her automatic writing planchette. Before long, she’s receiving messages from beyond the grave from a ghost who wants her to avenge his death. Meanwhile, a killer is stalking the streets of New York and preying on prostitutes.
The Oracle was directed by Roberta Findlay, who had an interesting career. She went from making roughies in the ‘60s with her husband Michael to hardcore movies in the ‘70s to horror and exploitation in the ‘80s. If you dug this one, you should also check out Findlay’s Tenement and Blood Sisters, which were made around the same time.
This would make a great horror flick to watch around the holidays. There’s an effective scene where the killer cleans himself up after slaughtering a sex worker while an instrumental version of “Silent Night” plays on the soundtrack. We also get a fun bit when our heroine is attacked during the New Year’s Eve countdown. Findlay gives us some cool nighttime footage of 42nd Street in the ‘80s too.
The… shall we say… “identity” of the killer is obvious from the get-go, and while it probably wouldn’t fly today, it feels right at home in a skeevy ‘80s horror flick. Other oddball touches include the gnarly scene when the automatic writing board gives birth to creatures that look like a mutant version of those monster pencil toppers we used to have back in elementary school. There’s plenty of blood and gore too, including a knife in the eye, decapitation, and face melting, which means it’s almost always entertaining.
Powers is good as the hysterical woman haunted by spirits who dresses like a late 19th century candy store operator. Roger Neil is especially memorable as her asshole husband who constantly belittles and condescends to her. His beleaguered reactions to the supernatural shenanigans give the movie its biggest laughs. Chris Maria De Koron is also amusing as the ill-fated Greek maintenance man.
Apparently, Findlay wanted to use a Ouija board instead of the automatic writer, but Parker Brothers (who owned the copyright) wouldn’t let her!
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