The Possessed (1977)

At a school for girls in Oregon, spontaneous fires begin out of nowhere. A teacher (Ann Dusenberry) sees a page in her typewriter suddenly burst into flame, a student (Claudette Nevins) witnesses the curtains in her room catch fire for no reason and a student (Diana Scarwid) has her graduation gown go up in flames while she's in it. Enter an ex-priest, now an exorcist (James Farentino). Directed by Jerry Thorpe (THE VENETIAN AFFAIR), this is a silly (almost laughable) horror movie with very little actual horror. Its plot makes no sense and while I understand that asking for logic in most horror movies is pretty useless, this film doesn't even attempt to provide it, however ludicrous. I felt embarrassed for poor Joan Hackett, an excellent actress but this is a career low point, as the school's headmistress being reduced to this drivel when she deserved great roles. I suppose some will consider it one of those "so bad it's good" flicks but I just think it's bad. With Harrison Ford as the school's biology teacher (who a few weeks later would become a star with the release of STAR WARS), P.J. Soles, Eugene Roche and Dinah Manoff.