# Abby (1974 film)
**Abby** is a 1974 American blaxploitation (1970s genre of films made for and starring Black audiences) horror film directed by William Girdler, in which a pastor's wife (Carol Speed) is possessed by Eshu, a demon of the [Yoruba religion](https://www.edgepedia.org/yoruba-religion), and is exorcised by her father-in-law (William Marshall). Produced in [Louisville, Kentucky](https://www.edgepedia.org/louisville-kentucky), and distributed by [American International Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-international-pictures) (AIP), it earned over $4 million in its first month before a Warner Bros. copyright-infringement lawsuit over its similarity to *The Exorcist* (1973) forced it out of theaters, and the settlement has kept it largely unavailable ever since.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67480-ABBY) • [2](https://www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/cinema/2026/the-enigma-of-william-girdlers-abby-1974.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 25 December 1974, rated R, 91–92 minutes (AFI Catalog lists 89 minutes for some prints)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67480-ABBY) • [2](https://www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/cinema/2026/the-enigma-of-william-girdlers-abby-1974.html) |
| Director and writers | William Girdler; screenplay by G. Cornell Layne and Girdler[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67480-ABBY) |
| Principal cast | William Marshall, Terry Carter, Austin Stoker, Carol Speed, Juanita Moore[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67480-ABBY) • [3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/abby) |
| Production | Mid-America Pictures, a merger of David Sheldon of AIP and Girdler, based in Louisville, Kentucky; working title *Possess My Soul*[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67480-ABBY) |
| Box office | Budget approximately $200,000; over $4 million earned in the first month of release[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071095/trivia/) • [2](https://www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/cinema/2026/the-enigma-of-william-girdlers-abby-1974.html) |
| Legal outcome | Warner Bros.' 1975 lawsuit settled out of court for an undisclosed cash payment; the film cannot be reissued without Warner Bros. permission[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67480-ABBY) |
| Availability | No official home video release in the U.S.; almost all 35mm prints have disappeared from circulation[2](https://www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/cinema/2026/the-enigma-of-william-girdlers-abby-1974.html) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071095/trivia/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and cast
Reverend Garnet Williams (William Marshall), a theologist researching the Yoruba religion, unwittingly unleashes the demon Eshu while investigating a temple in Nigeria.[5](https://oh-the-horror.com/page.php?id=2517) • [6](https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/Abby) Back in Louisville, his son Emmett (Terry Carter), a pastor, moves into a new house with his wife Abby (Carol Speed), who begins to behave in foul-mouthed, sexually aggressive ways and displays powers such as moving objects with her mind.[5](https://oh-the-horror.com/page.php?id=2517) Emmett calls his father back, and the film climaxes with an exorcism not in a domestic setting but in a downtown Louisville bar.[5](https://oh-the-horror.com/page.php?id=2517) The cast also includes Austin Stoker as Detective Cass Potter and [Juanita Moore](https://www.edgepedia.org/juanita-moore) as "Momma" Potter.[3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/abby)
The African mythology was a deliberate distinguishing choice. Marshall, unhappy with the final script, successfully lobbied for the Nigerian mythos, which gives the film a personality distinct from *The Exorcist*'s Judeo-[Christian demonology](https://www.edgepedia.org/christian-demonology) and opens subtexts about identity and colonialism.[5](https://oh-the-horror.com/page.php?id=2517) [The gospel](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-gospel) song Abby sings in church, "My Soul Is a Witness," was written and performed by Carol Speed herself.[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071095/trivia/)
## Production
Girdler, a Louisville-based director who had cut his teeth on Navy films and local commercials, launched a scrappy studio in 1972 with the goal of turning out fast, cheap takes on horror and exploitation hits.[2](https://www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/cinema/2026/the-enigma-of-william-girdlers-abby-1974.html) *Abby* was his fourth feature.[5](https://oh-the-horror.com/page.php?id=2517) The production company, Mid-America Pictures, represented a merger between David Sheldon of American International Pictures and Girdler himself, and was also based in Louisville.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67480-ABBY) Trade papers announced principal photography under the title *Possess My Soul* for March 1974, and the film was shot on location in Louisville.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67480-ABBY) Although *Box* reported an autumn 1974 release date, the film did not reach theaters until Christmas Day.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67480-ABBY)
## The Exorcist lawsuit
*Abby* arrived one year after Warner Bros.' *The Exorcist*, and contemporaries saw the resemblance immediately. A *Box* review of 23 December 1974 wrote that the film replicated *The Exorcist* "down to the camera angles," while noting that it changed the formula by making the possessed character an adult woman rather than a child, allowing a more sexually explicit narrative.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67480-ABBY) Warner Bros. filed suit in 1975 against Mid-America Pictures and American International Pictures, claiming *Abby* was "substantially similar to its own picture" and that the studio suffered damages from its release.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67480-ABBY)
The financial stakes were concrete. AIP made over $4 million on the film in a single month before the lawsuit forced it out of theaters.[2](https://www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/cinema/2026/the-enigma-of-william-girdlers-abby-1974.html) According to the *Hollywood Reporter*, the case was settled out of court for an undisclosed cash payment, with the stipulation that *Abby* could not be reissued without Warner Bros. permission.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67480-ABBY) Girdler never saw any of the profits; the settlement came shortly before his death in a 1978 helicopter accident while scouting locations, at a point when he had directed nine features.[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071095/trivia/) • [2](https://www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/cinema/2026/the-enigma-of-william-girdlers-abby-1974.html)
## Availability and reputation
Because of the settlement, the film has been difficult to see for decades: it has never had an official home video release in the United States, and almost all 35mm prints have vanished from circulation.[2](https://www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/cinema/2026/the-enigma-of-william-girdlers-abby-1974.html) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071095/trivia/) This scarcity has made it one of the notable "film maudits" of grindhouse cinema, screened occasionally from surviving 16mm prints.[2](https://www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/cinema/2026/the-enigma-of-william-girdlers-abby-1974.html)
Critical opinion has split along predictable lines. Some reviewers treat it as a step-by-step imitation of *The Exorcist*;[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/abby) others argue it should not be dismissed as plagiarism, pointing to Carol Speed's physical performance and the film's substitution of Gospel and Yoruba mythology for the original's Catholic framework.[8](https://www.filmbooster.com.au/film/167609-abby/) • [9](https://moriareviews.com/horror/abby-1974.htm) Marshall, a Shakespearean-trained actor already famous to blaxploitation audiences as Blacula, is widely credited with holding the climactic exorcism together through sheer presence.[9](https://moriareviews.com/horror/abby-1974.htm) The film was even nominated for "The Worst Blaxploitation Film Ever Made" in *The Golden Turkey Awards* (1980), a distinction its defenders attribute more to its closeness to *The Exorcist* than to its own quality.[9](https://moriareviews.com/horror/abby-1974.htm) Among scholars and fans of 1970s [Black horror](https://www.edgepedia.org/black-horror), it now sits alongside *Blacula*, *[Ganja & Hess](https://www.edgepedia.org/ganja-and-hess)*, and *Sugar Hill* as a touchstone of the blaxploitation horror cycle.[10](https://blackamericaweb.com/2016/09/09/little-known-black-history-fact-abby/)
## References
1. [Abby (1974), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67480-ABBY)
2. [The Enigma of William Girdler's ABBY (1974), Block Museum, Northwestern University](https://www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/cinema/2026/the-enigma-of-william-girdlers-abby-1974.html)
3. [Abby (1974), JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/abby)
4. [Abby (1974) Trivia, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071095/trivia/)
5. [Horror Reviews: Abby (1974), Oh, the Horror!](https://oh-the-horror.com/page.php?id=2517)
6. [Abby, The Grindhouse Cinema Database](https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/Abby)
7. [Abby, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/abby)
8. [Abby (1974), FilmBooster](https://www.filmbooster.com.au/film/167609-abby/)
9. [Abby (1974), Moria: The Science Fiction Horror and Fantasy Film Review](https://moriareviews.com/horror/abby-1974.htm)
10. [Little Known Black History Fact: 'Abby', BlackAmericaWeb](https://blackamericaweb.com/2016/09/09/little-known-black-history-fact-abby/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Horror films (individual works) › Religious and demonic horror films*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license