A Howling in the Woods Movie Review

A Howling in the Woods is a 1971 thriller directed by Daniel Petrie and starring Barbara Eden, Larry Hagman and Vera Miles.

A woman called Liza(Eden) is taking a break from her husband Eddie(Hagman) by going for a break to the town of Stainesville. She drives into the town where she grew up, but there is hostile welcome for her. A man called Mr. Henshaw(Ford Rainey) appears and she talks to him. His son Lonnie is there also. She doesn't really like him. She goes to see her stepmother, Rose(Miles). She discovers that her father has gone away and she can't reach him. Liza wants to divorce Eddie(Hagman), her husband. She discovers that the maid is rude to her and doesn't seem to want her there either. Rose has a son called Justin(John Rubenstein) and he is living with her. Liza asks him why the locals are behaving so hostile. Justin tells her that they are bitter because of the local mine shutting down. They lost their jobs and they blame the family for that.

Justin keeps an eye on Liza. Rose isn't too happy about it. Liza hears a howling in the woods at night. Eddie calls her and tells her he wants her back but she tells him she wants a divorce. Eddie is upset. Liza meets a local who is trying to shoot a dog which is wandering in the woods. Liza meets a little girl called Betsy Ann. She tells her that her mother doesn't want Liza there. Betsy tells her about her cousin Melanie who drowned. It's all very mysterious. The locals chat about Liza. A local girl called Sally(Tyne Daly) wants to see Liza. Her brother Lonnie tells her not to talk to Liza. Rose tells Liza that the little girl was just telling stories. When Liza sees her the next time, she won't talk to her. She has a bruise on her face. Liza hears the howling once again and she goes to the local store to look for some scraps of meat to feed the dog. She talks to it and gives it some food. It goes off crying. She follows it and it leads her to a grave. She tells the Sheriff, Henshaw.

Henshaw tells her that there was just a deer in the grave. Liza worries abiut her father. She isn't able to contact him and she thinks that something is wrong. She is going to go and visit him. Rose types out a message from Liza's father and arranges to have it delivered. Eddie arrives in town. Liza tells him what is going on. Justin is jealous of Eddie. He wants Liza. He is sleeping with his so called mother, Rose.

Eddie tries to get Liza to change her mind, but she won't. He decides to leave. Rose is getting worried that Liza will discover the truth. Sally asks Liza to come and see her. Eddie decides that he won't leave as she thinks something odd is going on. Sally tells Liza she wants to leave town. She shows her an annymous letter which says that a man in a green car killed Melanie. She tells Liza that the only man they knew with a green car was Mr. Spangler. He also had a dog. He came to town every so often.

She showed the letter to her father, Henshaw and the townsfolk took the law into their own hands.

They killed Spangler.

The town covered it up and then discovered that Spangler was innocent as he was somewhere else when Melanie died. The dog has been in the woods crying for his owner. The locals kill him. Liza wants to know who sent the letter. Eddie meets Liza and tells her that he thinks Rose wants her out. Eddie hears Justin and Rose arguing. Liza visits Sally again and she gives her the money to leave and get away from the town. Liza and Sally find a broken doll that Melanie had with her when she died. Liza says that the dolls was hers. She looks around in her father's basement and she is followed by Justin. She is afraid of him. She finds a part of Melanie's doll and she realises that Justin is the killer.  Justin attacks her. They struggle. There is a fight. Rose has a gun and she stops him from killing Liza. She confesses that she and Justin killed the dad.Justin killed Melanie. Rose doesn't want any more killing. She shoots Justin. Eddie arrives and he stops Rose from taking her own life. Rose is the one who sent the note about Spangler. He was a bad man. The police come and Eddie leaves. Liza decides to follow him and they get back together.

This is a fun film. I can't hek=lp but think of I Dream of Jeannie as Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman starred in that together also. They both do a good job here and it is an enjoyable TV movie. It is quite tame so don't expect blood or scares. All in all, you could do a lot worse than this film. I recommend it. I will give it a 5/10.