Dramarama Spooky – The Exorcism of Amy: Stepping Into a Fever Dream Nightmare

The Exorcism of Amy (1983) was broadcast by ITV as part of the Spooky strand of the Dramarama anthology drama series, which was a precursor to the main Dramarama series that was broadcast between 1983 and 1989. Directed by Richard Handford and written by Paula Milne, it is truly terrifyingly malevolently creepy viewing. Watching it is the equivalent of a keyboard maestro playing a church organ who can hit all the right notes, but those notes are every childhood fear you can imagine. Dead parents? Check. Strange new home where they don’t really want you? Check. Monsters in the cupboard? Check. Terror that comes at night? Check. The monstrous bully who won’t leave you alone? Check. Etc etc. It is set in an oddly surreal, minimalist and almost abstract-seeming family home where nearly everything is completely white apart from a few grey and pink blush-coloured features, and the world outside can’t be seen through the windows apart from, at one point, an abstractly depicted glowing sun.…