The Devil's Gift
| The Devil's Gift | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Kenneth J. Berton |
| Produced by | Kenneth J. Berton José Vergelin |
| Written by | Kenneth J. Berton José Vergelin Hayden O'Harra |
| Starring |
Bob Mendelsohn Struan Robertson |
| Music by | Todd Hayen |
| Cinematography |
Karil Daniels Caris Palm |
| Edited by | Kenneth J. Berton José Vergelin |
| Distributed by | Zenith International Pictures |
|
Running time
|
112 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Devil's Gift is a 1984 horror film directed by Kenneth J. Berton. The film's plot is similar to that of the Stephen King short story "The Monkey", leading some to believe that the filmmakers plagiarized the story.
An elderly woman, Elmira Johnson, uses a Ouija board to communicate with a dead spirit. When a spirit becomes angry, it manifests itself into a cymbal-banging monkey toy. The monkey's eyes glow red and uses its cymbals to cause lightning to strike the old woman's house, presumably killing her.
Some time later, David Andrews, a suburban single father, celebrates their young son Michael's ninth birthday. The child receives the monkey from David's girlfriend Susan, who purchased it at an antiques store. The monkey strikes its cymbals on its own accord. Soon after the party, David awakens screaming from a nightmare in which he found Michael dead in the bathtub. After the household plants die, and the family's dog mysteriously dies after smoke inhalation after a fire in their garage, David suspects the monkey of being behind the events.
David hires Adrienne, a fortune teller, to perform an exorcism on his home, but does not inform her about the monkey. Adrienne asks him if he has any statues or idols, explaining that demons often possess objects that are seemingly harmless, but use them as an outlet for their satanic activity. David realizes that the monkey is such an item, and is certain that a demon is in their home. He wants Adrienne to come and do an exorcism immediately. She tells him that she would need to find out more about his situation before she can intervene. She tells him that if it is a demon, she may not be able to help.
David returns to the antiques store and the clerk tells him an odd man brought it to the store the previous week after finding it in the ruins of the old woman's house; the monkey showed no signs of fire damage, causing the clerk to disbelieve the story. Despite this, the clerk tells David about Elmira Johnson's recent death by fire. David doesn't think anything of this. When he arrives home, he finds that Susan has become possessed by the monkey and is trying to drown Michael in the bathtub. He grabs Susan and throws her out of his home, which causes her to sustain a head injury. A neighbor witnesses the incident and calls an ambulance.
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