TV-movie where a healer slides a lump under a woman's skin

May 14, 2009 1:59 PM

[TVMoviesFilter] Trying to remember an old, cheap-looking movie from a single rememberance: in a room full of rich people, a magician/healer slides a woman's neck tumor/lump through to her finger, at which point he cuts it off with a knife.

It's really foggy in my memory, I must have seen in (French) TV in the mid- to end-80's (so probably made earlier in for US TV, 70's?), and only this scene stuck in my head, nothing else. I'd but just curious to know more about this.

My rememberance of that scene starts with the magician/healer. He might have been performing in front of that rich audience earlier, or circled around them while performing, restaurant-style, not sure.

He spots a lump on an old lady's neck (or face or cheek, erm), and start to push under the skin, down to neck, over the bonnes, to the arm, and finally the finger. This takes a few minutes, all the while keeping the lump clearly visible under the skin.

That's when suddenly he reaches for a knife on the table, and quickly strikes the finger he is keeping in his other hand, wham. We don't see anything, 'cos a white flash serves as an opener to the next scene, where it gets blurrier in my mind - wether she's stunned at being healed this way, or men from the room grab the magician and take him away, or maybe even both...

Hivemind, does that strike a bell for you too?

Thanks a lot for any input! :)

posted by XiBe to media & arts (5 answers total)

Harlequin?
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:27 PM on May 14, 2009

Totally Harlequin. Your foggy memory serves you well with a note for note description of the scene!
posted by merocet at 8:27 PM on May 14, 2009

And here's the scene itself...
posted by merocet at 8:34 PM on May 14, 2009

Recently re-released in North America as Dark Forces.
posted by Bobby Bittman at 10:03 PM on May 14, 2009

That's exactly it, thanks a lot Tcitl for the answer, and Merocet for the video link. Somehow, my memory is fuzzy since:
- I forgot about the carrot trick;
- The sliding took much longer and we had a better view of it in my mind;
- The part with the woman in the bathroom totally went forgotten, until I saw this video.

All in all, thanks, good people - one more mystery solved! :)
posted by XiBe at 2:36 AM on May 15, 2009