The Possession of Joel Delaney is a 1972 supernatural horror film directed by Waris Hussein and starring Shirley MacLaine and Perry King. It is based on the 1970 novel of the same title by Ramona Stewart. The plot follows a wealthy New York City divorcee whose brother becomes possessed by a deceased serial killer who committed a series of gruesome murders in Spanish Harlem.

Plot

Norah Benson, an upperclass Manhattan divorcee, lives with her children, Peter and Carrie. She also has a younger adult brother, Joel Delaney, who has recently returned to New York after an extended visit to Tangier. She invites him to a reunion dinner at her home, but he fails to show. Concerned, Norah goes to Joel's East Village apartment, where she witnesses his being taken by police to the psychiatric ward of Bellevue Hospital. He has been accused of attacking his building superintendent. However, Joel is unable to recall the episode. At Norah's urging, Joel lies to the doctors, claiming he had taken hallucinogens. He is discharged on provision that he meet with a psychiatrist. Norah arranges an appointment for him with her friend Erika, who has actually known Joel most of his life. During their sessions, Joel recounts his close friendship with an ex-roommate named Tonio Perez. Meanwhile, Norah, having asked Joel to move in with her and the kids, observes his increasingly odd behavior: He asks Norah inappropriate questions about her sex life. Later, at his birthday party, he exhibits manic behavior, culminating in a series of crude insults to Norah's Puerto Rican maid, Veronica, which he relays in Spanish.