Deadly Blessing was a transitional film for Craven. He had a few quickie exploitation (and one awful made-for-TV movie) under his belt and he was about to dive into the world of studio filmmaking with Swamp Thing. Set in Amish Country, the film tells the story of an ancient evil manifesting itself in contemporary culture. It's a decent enough film, but lacks the structure of other Craven efforts. The story gets muddled at times and the final twenty minutes are just all over the place. That's not to take away from the interesting imagery, Ernest Borgnine's insane OTT performance or James Horner's score. There's also a turn by a young Sharon Stone, who reportedly had a real spider dropped into her mouth for one scene. This isn't Craven's best work, but there's enough silliness and fun to be found here.
