The Possessed

"The Possessed" (1977) is a made for TV horror movie starring James Farentino, Claudette Nevins, Eugene Roche and Harrison Ford about demonic possession at an girls' school.

Sisters Ellen Sumner (Nevins) and Louise Gelson (Hackett) run Helen Page School for Girls in Salem. Graduation is nearing and things take a turn toward the bizarre.  Papers spontaneously combust in Ellen's hand.  Her daughter's dorm room inexplicably catches fire and the doors won't open from the inside so she and her roommate can get out.  One of the student's robe catches fire and she is sent to the hospital with third degree burns.

Louise fears her school will be ruined.  Ellen does some research and finds a defrocked Catholic minister, Kevin Leahy (Farentino) who arrives and believes there is a demonic possession.  He interviews students and teachers, including a very young Harrison Ford as Paul Winjam the hunky biology teacher.  Can he stop the possession before anyone else is hurt?

This film does a nice job of not revealing who is possessed until near the end of the film.  It keeps you guessing throughout.  It's a fun, old fashioned TV horror movie that you just don't see any more.