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.

Night Terror Movie Review

Trailer here.

Night Terror is a 1977 TV movie directed by E.W.Swackhamer and starring Valerie Harper, Richard Romanus, Michael Tolan and Nicholas Pryor.

The movie begins with a woman called Carol(Harper), who is moving house with her husband and children. She and her husband Walter(Tolan) are going on a road trip first. The kids are staying with Aunt Vera. Carol drives to a motel and she waits for Walter as they are going from there together. Walter gets stuck at work so she is alone. Vera calls her and tells her that her son is very sick and has to go to the hospital. Carol tries to book a flight to Denver but there aren't any, so she decides to drive there. She leaves a note at the motel for Walter and she sets off. Carol needs petrol so she looks for a gas station. The nearest one is closed so she drives along looking for another. She sees a police man who has pulled over an odd looking man(Romanus), who just happens to be a killer and a weirdo. She asks the cop where she can get gas but the killer uses the opportunity to shoot the cop dead. He aims the gun at Carol, but she is saved by the gun jamming. She jumps back into the car and takes off. He follows her.

Carol drives along and the killer follows her. She tries to flag down other drivers, but to no avail. She manages to lose the killer and she finds an emergency phone. She talks to someone but gets too worried to tell him her location. She knows that the killer isn't far behind her. She has to push the car to a gas station, which is also closed. This time, she breaks in and she gets the key to the pumps and fills the car. She meets a homeless guy who is sleeping in there at night. She leaves, as the killer is coming. That night, there is heavy rain and she has to stop. She sees a car with a man in it(Nicholas Pryor). He is drinking and he tells her that he can't go anywhere in the rain. She tells him about the killer but he thinks that she has imagined it. The killer has pulled up behind them. The guy goes out to talk to him and gets shot dead for his trouble. Carol takes his car and heads off. The next day, she runs out of petrol and has to knock on someone's door.

She speaks to an old man who tells her that the nearest phone is four miles away. He has a son, but he is working and he has the keys to his truck, so there is nothing he can do to help. Carol walks off. She sees an old truck and it pulls over to give her a lift. She doesn't realise that the driver is the killer. He is driving the old man's truck. She realises that the man doesn't have the keys and she knows who he is. They struggle and she falls out. She manages to grab his gun and she throws it at him and takes the truck. He shoots at her, but she runs him over. She sets the truck on fire, hoping that a helicopter might see her. The truck explodes into flames and she does get spotted by a helicopter in the area. The movie ends with Carol at the hospital with her son and husband.

I liked this film. It reminded me of Duel but it wasn't as good. I liked the premise and I liked the actors. Harper does a good job playing a woman who is relentlessly pursued by a psycho. We get to see the killer early on and we know what will happen to her if he catches up with her. It is a fun thriller with good tension. I recommend it. I will give it a 5/10.

Devil Dog :The Hound of Hell Movie Review

Trailer here.

Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell is a 1978 made for TV horror movie directed by Curtis Harrington and starring Richard Crenna, Yvette Mimieux, Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann.

At Lakeland Kennels, a lady looks for a dog. She has people with her. They want a female dog, ready for breeding. They pick one called Lady. They want the dog for a Satanic rite. They call up the devil and the dog is cursed. Cut to Mike Barry(Crenna) and his wife Betty(Mimieux). They have two children, Bonnie(Richards) and Charlie(Eisenmann). Their dog called Skipper gets knocked down by a car and killed. Bonnie is very upset. One day, Bonnie and Charlie are playing outside when they see a man with a truck. He has puppies in the back of it. The mother is the same dog who had some Satanic rites performed on it.  Bonnie wants a puppy and the man gives her one. He drives off. The family call the dog Lucky.

The housekeeper Maria doesn't like the dog. She talks to Mike about it. She tells him that the dog gives her the chills. She begs him to get rid of it. She ends up getting set on fire and that's the end of her. Mike is being snubbed by Lucky. He thinks that there is something different about the dog. The dog stares at him and tries to make him put his hand into the lawnmower blade. Mike resists it. He realises that the dog is evil. The dog leads the kids up to the attic. Afterwards, the kids change. Betty discovers blood and she asks them about it and they tell her to butt out. Betty calls Mike and she asks him to come home. She is scared of Lucky. The dog follows her around.

When Mike arrives home, Betty is acting strangely. A neighbour has a dog and Betty talks to him and tells him that she wants the dog gone because it is barking at Lucky. The neighbour refuses and coincidentally, the dog ends up dead. The neighbour thinks that it was Lucky. Mike tries to talk to him about it. Betty and the kids are against the neighbour and he ends up dead. A teacher from Charlie's school calls around the see Mike. He tells him that Charlie is not himself. He thinks that Charlie needs help. Unfortunately, this teacher gets hit by a car. What could be causing all of these accidents???

Surely it isn't Lucky the dog....

Mike finds Satanic stuff in the attic. He wonders what is going on. His family seem to be doing something strange in the attic. Mike goes to the doctor for a checkup. He tells Betty that Lucky needs to leave. She reacts badly. He takes Lucky off in his car and he brings his gun. Her drives it out into the middle of nowhere and he tries to kill it, but to no avail. He abandons it. When he arrives home, it is there!!!! Mike visits a woman who knows all about occult stuff and she tells him that the dog could be possessed by a demon. He has to destroy it. He goes to Ecuador to find a man who knows about the demon. The man tells him that a symbol painted on his hand should do the trick. The dog will be sent back to hell if he sees it.  Mike returns home and he shows the dog the symbol. It sends him back to hell. The family return to normal but they know that there are more devil dogs out there....

This was fun. I liked the idea of the devil dog. It is a TV movie, but it entertains all the same. There are no real scares here, of course. There aren't really any creepy moments. It is light on the horror, but it is enjoyable. I found it to be a decent watch and I think that it will pass away the time quite nicely. I will give it a 5/10.

Gargoyles Movie Review

Trailer here.

Gargoyles is a 1972 TV horror movie directed by Bill Norton and starring Cornel Wilde and Jennifer Salt. Scott Glenn also makes an appearance.

Dr. Mercer Boley(Wilde) and his daughter Diana(Salt) are in New Mexico. He is writing a book about demons. They go to visit a man who says that he has an unusual skeleton. His name is Uncle Willie(Woody Chambliss) and he has a desert museum. He shows the doctor his skeleton. Dr. Boley thinks that it is not real. Willie tells him that the place is called Devil's Crossing. He says that the Native Americans used to talk about it. Dr. Boley becomes more interested. Willie talks about a Native American ritual. He gets nervous as the day gets later. Something is outside and it tries to get in. Uncle Willie's museum is set on fire and Willie dies. Boley takes the skeleton's head and leaves. The place is totally destroyed. He and Diana drive off but something jumps on the car. It tries to get at them. They pull into a gas station and there is a motel next door. They go there. Mrs. Parks is the owner and they get a place to stay. A group of bikers, led by James Reeger(Glenn) look around the remains of Uncle Willie's place. The cops find them there and think that they burned the place down. They are arrested. Dr. Boley tries to tell them that the bikers didn't do it, but the cops don't listen.

During the night, Dr. Boley hears noises outside their room. There are gargoyles out there. They are looking for the skeleton head. One of them gets hit by a truck and it dies. Boley brings it into the motel room. Diana goes to the police and she says the the bikers are innocent. She tells Reeger about the gargoyles. He thinks that she is crazy. The gargoyles reappear, looking for their dead pal. Boley and Diana put it into their car. The gargoyles take Diana and they turn the car over. The big daddy gargoyle shows up and he looks at Diana. His minions take the dead gargoyle with them. Diana is brought to their lair. Dr. Boley tells the police about the gargoyles. They think that he is crazy. The biker gang don't and they offer their help to find Diana. They all go to search for her.

Diana is in a cave with the gargoyle gang. She looks around the place. The head gargoyle has her fathers books and he wants her to teach him about what is in them. He can talk too!! The search party comb the area for Diana. The lead gargoyle tells Diana that humans have nothing to fear from them. There are gargoyle eggs in their cave. They are beginning to hatch. The gargoyles are aware that the search party is coming. They emerge from their cave and there is a battle. Some of them get shot. The head gargoyle takes Dr.Boley into his cave and tells him that they are going to destroy humans. Reeger sees the eggs, He douses them with gasoline and sets them on fire. Diana and her father are led to freedom by the female gargoyle. Dr. Boley damages the queens wings so that she can't leave. The lead gargoyle takes her off in his arms and they fly away to start breeding somewhere else.

This film was entertaining in its own way. The cast weren't too bad. The gargoyles were a bit silly but the lead one was decent. It was pretty good for a TV movie. It is obvious that this film is cheap, but it is actually enjoyable. I would certainly recommend it for some fun. I will give it a 5/10.

Invitation to Hell Movie Review

Invitation to Hell is a 1984 horror TV movie directed by Wes Craven and starring Robert Urich, Joanna Cassidy and Susan Lucci.

Matt Winslow(Urich) and his wife Pat(Cassidy) move to a new town with their two kids, Chrissy(Soleil Moon Frye) and Robert. Matt has a new job at a corporation. His friend Tom(Joe Regalbuto) is working at the company and he is delighted to have Matt there too. He tells him about this great country club that he and his family have joined. It is called Steaming Springs and everyone in the company seems to be in it. Matt is working on a special suit which is indestructible. The family meet Jessica Jones(Lucci) who is in charge of the country club. She wants them to join.

Matt has a receptionist, Grace who gives him a file to read which suggests that everything is not what it seems at the company. The next day, she has been replaced. Tom gets a promotion and he asks Matt to consider joining the club. Matt doesn't want to. Pat wants to join the club which annoys Matt. Matt asks the boss about Grace and what happened to her. The boss tells him that if he really wants, Grace will be back in two weeks. Jessica and Pat become friends and Jessica tells her that she and the children can join without Matt if they like. They are initiated into the club. They go into a special spring which seems to make people different.

Matt notices that his family are all different. His wife is trying to get rid of their dog as it knows that there is something wrong with them.Matt discovers that she took the dog to be put down and he knows that Pat is not herself. Matt discovers that Grace has been killed in a car crash and he wonders what is going on. The country club seems to be at the centre of it all. His family turn on him and he runs to work and grabs his special suit. Tom catches him and pulls a gun on him. They fight and Matt shoots Tom.

Matt crashes a party at the club and he breaks into the spring wearing his suit. Jessica follows him. He sees her but he can't kill her. He can hear his daughter calling him inside the spring. He sees his family. Jessica tells him that he has to submit. Matt looks at Pat but she can't see him. Jessica warns him that he will destroy his family he he tries to touch her. Matt wants his family back. Jessica tries to tempt him but it doesn't work. Matt talks to his wife and they hug. They get their kids and Jessica is destroyed by this. The place starts to fall apart. The family wake up in their house. They go outside and find out that the club is on fire and is being destroyed. All is well.

This was an entertaining, if a little tame movie. I liked the cast and the movie was interesting. I have to say that there is not much in the way of scares here. You would expect more from Craven, but this is more of a family drama than horror. It reminds me of The Stepford Wives because it is a similar plot. Urich is good in the lead and Lucci is good as the temptress. All in all, this is a TV movie with little horror in it. It is more suspense and mystery than horror. It is worth a look, though. I will give it a 5/10.

I Saw What You Did Movie Review 413

I Saw What You Did is a 1988 TV thriller movie directed by Fred Walton and starring Shawnee Smith, Tammy Lauren, Candace Cameron, Robert Carradine and David Carradine.

Lisa(Lauren) is asked to dinner at Kim(Smith)'s house for the evening. She accepts because she wants to meet her boyfriend in a parent free house. Kim's dad has gone away for the night and she is taking care of her sister Julia(Cameron). Cut to Adrian(Robert Carradine) who is with his girlfriend at his house. He is going to ask her to marry him. He has just lost his job and his girlfriend tells him that she wants to break up with him. Meanwhile, the girls decide to play a game. They decide to call people and tell them that 'I saw what you did and I know who you are'. They happen to choose Adrian's phone number. They call him and his girlfriend answers as Adrian is very upset. They tell her that they need to speak to Adrian so she goes to get him. He decides to murder her and the girls hear something on the line then hang up.

The girls get a fright when they see a local guy called Randy who is selling mangoes. Adrian buries his girlfriend. When he gets back, his brother Steve(David Carradine) is there. He  and Kim going to stay for a while. Adrian does not want him there. The girls ring Adrian again. They tell him that they saw what he did. He is worried that they know about what he did. He tells Kim that he wants to meet her when she talks to him on the phone. Lisa and Kim decide to go and drive by his house. Kim ends up going up to his door and he opens it. She tells him that her car has broken down and he invites her in to use the phone. He starts acting a little strangely and Kim runs out when Steve comes in. She forgets her purse. Steve is suspicious of what happened to Adrian's girlfriend. He thinks that there is something weird going on. He tells Adrian that she had called him telling him that she was worried about him. Adrian has a history of mental problems.

Kim realises that she has lost her purse. Steve wants to help Adrian with his problems but he gets hit on the head by Adrian who heads off to Kim's to get rid of her. He realises that she was the girl on the phone who said that she knew about his crime. A cop stops Adrian and he manages to escape by crashing his car. The cops think that he died in the crash. He gets a lift to Kim's house and she finds him in her kitchen. She tells him that it was all a game and that she just picked his name out of the phone book. He realises that she knows nothing. She tries to call the cops but he cuts the phone line and then comes back for her. He sets a fire and Kim and Julia escape through a window. The cops come and Adrian comes out of the house on fire and dies. The movie ends with Steve calling Kim and telling her that she killed his brother and he will get her.

I liked this TV movie. It is a good thriller. It is very well made and I realised that it was directed by Fred Ward who also did When A Stranger Calls and April Fools Day , both of which I enjoyed. I liked the main characters in it. Robert Carradine was good as the unhinged Adrian and his real life brother David had a smaller part, but he was good too. The two lead girls played their parts well and the whole movie was entertaining and fun. Not much gore here, but that isn't a problem as there is enough here to keep you watching. Enjoyable. I will give it a 7/10.

 

The Surrogate Movie Review 399

The Surrogate is a 2013 TV thriller directed by Doug Campbell and starring Cameron Mathison,Annie Wersching and Amy Scott.

Famous author Jacob Kelly(Mathison) and his wife Allison(Wersching) are a married couple who desperately want a child. Allison can't have a child after having ovarian cancer so they are thinking of getting a surrogate to help them. Jacob works at a college and there is a young woman there called Kate(Scott) who has a huge crush on him and has fantasies about him. He is totally oblivious to her.
When she happens to overhear that he and his wife are looking for a surrogate and have found someone who is suitable, she finds the woman and kills her.She doesn't realise that the woman has a boyfriend who wants to find out what happened to his girlfriend.

Kate wants to be the surrogate for the Kellys and that way she can weasel her way into their lives. She has her eye on Jacob and she pretends to them that she just wants to help them be happy. They are delighted that she is going to help them and the process starts. When Kate gets pregnant, they are ecstatic. Kate and Allison become good friends. But Kate takes a photo of Jacob's credit card details and she orders roses and lingerie from him to her. She also gets his password for his work email and sends romantic emails from Jacob to her. She makes herself out to be innocent of any wrongdoing.
Everything seems to be going well when Kate shows up at the Kelly's house and pretends to be upset. She knows that Jacob is alone and that Allison is on the way home. She suddenly begins to get upset and act as if Jacob has done something to her as Allison arrives back.

Allison asks him what is going on and he doesn't know. She talks to Kate who is happy to tell her and show her the emails and the presents that he sent her. She thinks that he has been trying to come on to Kate and, as he had cheated before, she thinks that he wanted to have an affair. This causes a rift between the couple. Kate is confronted by the boyfriend of the woman that she killed. He is going to call the cops but she stabs him and kills him. She ruins Jacob's life which really makes me wonder how she expects him to fall in love with her. He is fired from his job after Kate says that he hit her.
Allison wants a divorce. He is at his wits end when he goes to visit Kate to confront her. Allison follows him and overhears that Kate is in love with him and obsessed with him. She realises that
Kate has framed her husband. She confronts Kate but Kate tells them that she will kill the baby if they call the police.

The movie takes a ridiculous turn when Allison and Jacob come up with a plan. Jacob tells Kate that he will move in with her as Allison has left him. She tells him that they can go to a mansion that she has in the middle on nowhere and she takes his phone. She has a shrine to him in the house and she tells him that he can write his new novel and she will proof read it for him. He passes notes to his wife through a wall and we find out that Allison has taken a house beside them and it is all a plan to get the baby. Kate finds out and she chains Jacob up even though she has gone into labour!!Figure that one out!!!!The movie ends with Kate trying to run away just after she has the baby. The Kellys call the Sheriff and take the baby and Kate is taken into custody. This movie was a bit silly but entertaining all the same. It is a TV movie so you can't expect too much but it kept me watching and it wasn't too bad. The hilarious ending where a woman in labour manages to shackle a big guy to a post while getting a rifle and shooting at the wife is priceless! I will give it a 4/10.

Bates Motel Movie Review 398

Bates Motel is a 1987 horror/thriller directed by Richard Rothstein and starring Bud Cort and Lori Petty.It was intended to be a pilot for a Psycho themed TV show, but it was never picked up.

The movie begins with Norman Bates being taken away to an institution. There is a young boy there who has some problems and the doctor thinks that Norman might be able to connect with him. The young boy is called Alex(Cort) and he and Norman hit it off and become best friends. Norman dies and Alex is very sad about it as Norman was his best pal. He makes a moving speech at his funeral. His doctor thinks that he can be released from the institution. Alex is reluctant as he doesn't fit in there anymore. Alex is surprised when Norman leaves his motel to him. He decides that he will go and make the motel into a success again as a tribute to Norman. He goes to Fairville to find the motel.
He meets a guy called Henry(Moses Gunn) who used to work at the Bates Motel. He drives Alex there. The motel is in ruins. He looks around. The place is spooky.

Alex decides to apply for a loan to redo the place. He meets with Tom Fuller(Gregg Henry) at the back and talks to him about it. Tom tells him that the land he has is worth a lot of money and he thinks that Alex should sell it. Alex tells him that he wants to reopen Bates Motel and Tom thinks that he is crazy to do it, but they work out something. Alex goes back to the motel and runs into a woman called Willy(Petty) who was been living in the place for three months. She doesn't want to leave it.
She tells him that she will stay on at the motel to help him out. Alex wants to do it on his own. Alex gets an architect and they discuss the plans for the motel. The architect wants to modernise the place, but Alex is happy enough with it as it is. Willy turns up and helps Alex to get things done. Alex talks to Henry and offers him a job as the foreman at the motel.

Bad things happen on the job and they uncover a body at the motel. It is Mrs Bates. Alex sees someone in black at the funeral of Mrs Bates. No one else has seen her. Willy wants to be a chef in the new cafe at the motel. She falls out with Alex and leaves the motel again. Alex meets Tom who tells him that weird things happened at the motel. The workers find another body and they think that it is Norman's father, Jake who disappeared years ago. Alex sees the neon sign come on at the motel by itself and he sees a figure in black at the window. He runs up to the house but there is nobody there. He sees a dead body and thinks that he is crazy. Willy shows up and he tells her what happened. Willy thinks that someone might be trying to scare him away from the motel. He calls the cops but they find nothing suspicious. Willy decides to stay and the motel gets done.

Finally,everything is ready. Alex is nervous about opening night as he has to pay the bank by the next day. They get one customer and things start looking up. Cars full of kids show up and the place is buzzing. One of the guests is called Barbara Peters(Kerrie Keane) and she is going to kill herself in one of the rooms. She is depressed as she is no longer as young as she was and she feels old. She is just about to do it when she is stopped by a young girl Sally(Khrystyne Haje) who talks her into dressing up and going to a party. She meets a young man called Tony(Jason Bateman) and they have a connection immediately. They dance and he goes back to her room. She tells him that he is too young for her. She goes back to her room and she is visited by Sally once more. She discovers that Sally and her friends are all ghosts who killed themselves when they were alive. Barbara is horrified but it makes her see sense.

Alex sees the figure in the window and he runs into the house to see who it is. The figure comes down the stairs with a knife telling him to get out. Henry tackles the ghost and they discover that it is Tom who was trying to scare Alex out of the place so he would sell it to developers. Willy is dressed as Mrs Bates and she scared a confession out of Tom which she tapes. They blackmail him into coming to a more reasonable settlement with Alex about the motel. Sally leaves the motel the next day and she is very happy and full of life again. The movie ends with Alex saying goodbye. It was meant to be the start of a TV series so that makes sense. I enjoyed this movie even if it was a bit
simple plot wise. I think that it would have made a good TV show and I would have watched it. Some of the acting is a little ropey in parts, but all in all, this is an enjoyable TV movie. I will give it a 5/10.

The Babysitter Movie Review 269

The Babysitter is a 1980 TV movie thriller directed by Peter Medak who also directed The Changeling and The Krays. It stars Patty Duke, William Shatner and Stephanie Zimbalist.

Dr.Jeff Benedict(Shatner) lives with his wife Liz(Duke) and daughter Tara in a large house.Jeff suggests that Liz needs some help around the house. Tara is playing outside when she spots a young woman who runs away. Tara chases her and they start to chat. The young woman is called Joanna Redwine(Zimbalist) and she is eighteen years of age. She is in the middle of the road when Liz is driving along and causes her to crash her car. She helps her and gets a doctor for Liz. Liz is grateful and finds out that Joanna was a live in housekeeper for another family. She decides to hire her. Jeff isn't so sure that Joanna is the best person for the job at first. He comes around when he sees how efficient she is. She gets along very well with Tara and she seems to fit into their family very well.

Their neighbour, Dr.Lindquist(John Houseman) is suspicious of Joanna. He thinks that she is not who she says she is. He thinks that there is something strange about her stories of looking after another family and he tries to find out all he can about her. She senses that he does not trust her and she tries to make  him think that she isn't dodgy but he sees through her facade. Meanwhile, Liz seems to breaking down. It turns out that she is an alcoholic and that Jeff moved her and Tara to this house to help her get over her
last battle with alcohol. She is  not happy and Joanna encourages her drinking. She becomes her confidant and she tries to come between Jeff and Liz. Liz begins to act strangely and she becomes drunk a lot. This makes Jeff angry and they fight all the time. Joanna tries to come on to Jeff, but he isn't interested in her.

Dr. Lindquist finds someone who knew Joanna and he finds out that she is dangerous. He tells Jeff and Liz about it, but Liz doesn't believe him. Joanna begins to turn on Tara too and Tara sees a nasty side to her former friend. Joanna encourages Liz to leave Jeff for a few days to teach him a lesson after he argues with her again. Joanna tries to take over the role of Liz and Tara is upset. She and Joanna go out with a friend and Tara sees Joanna cause him to have an accident and die. Liz returns home worse than ever. Jeff and Joanna chat about Liz and her condition. They share a kiss. Dr. Lindquist tries to tell the cops about Joanna but they won't help him. Joanna keeps Liz sedated and everyone just thinks that she is tired because of her drinking. Jeff turns on Joanna and tells her to get out. Dr. Lindquist finds the house of the family that Joanna was taking care of before and they have all been murdered. Joanna attacks Jeff and knocks him out. She tries to kill Liz and Tara. Dr. Lindquist has called the police and they catch her.
She breaks down and she is taken away by the cops.

This was a decent TV thriller. It is entertaining and the cast is pretty good. I would recommend it. It is definitely worth a watch. I am giving it a 6/10.

The Strange and Deadly Occurrence Movie Review 268

The Strange and Deadly Occurrence is a 1974 TV movie directed by John Llewellyn Moxley and starring Robert Stack(Unsolved Mysteries) and Vera Miles(Psycho).

The movie opens with the Rhodes family who have moved into a house in the country after leaving the city. They are having some small problems in the house. The power cuts out and their horses are acting very strangely. Someone is watching the house.Michael (Stack) is the father and Chrissie(Miles) is the mother. Their daughter is Melissa(Margaret Willock) and she screams in the middle of the night when she thinks that someone has been in her room. Her parents tell her that it was just her imagination. They find out that the last owner died in mysterious circumstances. A weird guy called Dr. Gillgreen(Ted Gehring) comes around and he wants to buy the house from them. They don't want to sell.

Their house becomes overrun with gophers and they call an exterminator. Melissa has another scare as she thinks she sees someone in her room. They bring in the local police but the cops seem to think that they are just city slickers and they don't help much. Dr. Gillgreen comes back again and he wants to buy the house. Michael tells him no way. They find their guard dog dead and Michael wonders if it is Gillgreen who is doing all of the strange things around the house to get them to sell. He tells this to the cops,but gets no satisfaction. He buys a hand gun. Michael runs a check on the doctor and finds out that he was working as a doctor in a prison. Meanwhile, Chrissie nearly dies in the steam room when someone locks her in. The cops still think that they are imagining all of it.

That night, Dr Gillgreen is outside the house when he is attacked by someone. The lights go out inside and Michael, Melissa and Chrissie are in the bedroom. Michael gets his gun and he is going to go outside to confront whoever it is but Chrissie won't let him. They try the phone, but that is cut off. They hear moaning outside and the sounds of someone in pain. They wait until the next morning and when they go outside, they find the body of Dr. Gillgreen in their swimming pool. The cops come and they agree that it was probably him who was terrorizing them. They think that it is all over, but they are wrong. Michael finds out that Gillgreen was working in prison and he talked to a prisoner who told him that he had buried a lot of money in the yard of the house. Unfortunately, Melissa and Chrissie come face to face with another criminal who knows about the money and he takes them hostage. Michael arrives back and he meets the guy who is called Pratt(Bill McKinney). He wants them to dig for the money. He holds a gun on them. Chrissie manages to hit him and he falls then Michael fights with him. Chrissie grabs his gun when it falls and she shoots him dead. The movie ends with the exterminator finding the gopher nest and inside it is the eaten remnants of the buried cash!

This was an entertaining TV movies with some creepy scenes. I enjoyed it and it was a surprise as I had never heard much about it. It's not full of gore or that scary but it is worth a watch anyway. I am giving it 
6/10.

Bay Coven a.k.a. Bay Cove Movie Review 243

Bay Coven is a 1987 TV thriller starring Pamela Sue Martin and Tim Matheson along with Woody Harrelson. It is directed by Carl Schenkel.

Linda(Martin) and her husband Jerry(Matheson) are young professionals working in Boston. Linda has just gotten a promotion in the law firm where she works and things are going well for her. Jerry is fed up of the city and he wants to get away. They meet a couple, Josh(Jeff Conaway) and his wife Debbie(Susan Ruttan) and they tell Linda and Jerry about a place called Bay Cove where there are houses for sale. They decide to go and see the house. Bay Cove is a small village and there isn't much happening there. Jerry sees the house and loves it.They meet the owner of the house. She is called Beatrice(Barbara Billingsley) and she shows them around inside. They decide to buy the house. Linda sees some old man across in the next house and he is shaking his head at her.

They move and meet the rest of the community. Linda has a dog and they all seem to hate it.  Linda talks to Debbie about the weirdness of the neighbours and they read a book about witches which they found. They look around the cove with their husbands and Linda's dog disappears. Their friend Slater(Harrelson) comes down to Bay Cove to see them and he thinks that there is something wrong with the place. He decides to investigate. Meanwhile, Jerry is acting strangely. He seems different since they moved to the bay. Slater is killed in a freak accident and Linda gets suspicious. Jerry is going off the rails and Linda wants to get out and go back to Boston. Linda goes into the house and talks to the old man who tells her that there are witches here and there is a coven. Jerry thinks that she has gone mad. The locals are all witches and they want Jerry to join their coven. He kills himself and tells her to go to the church to hide from them. She hides in the church and it explodes. She is last seen in a boat rowing away from Bay Cove.

An average thriller with very little scares. There is enough to keep you watching but once it is over, you will forget it. It is a watchable TV movie, but nothing special. It gets a 4/10.