A Taste of Evil (1971)

The movie kicks off with a little girl playing in her clubhouse while the adults are at a party. Someone comes in and there is a scream. Later it is confirmed that she was molested by a man, though she has blocked out the details and can’t identify him. That is some pretty heavy stuff for a television movie in the early seventies. Years later the little girl, Susan, has returned from Europe. She was in an asylum and while no longer catatonic still has no memory of what happened to her. Her doctor thinks it is best that she return home to hopefully jar her memory and complete her recovery.

This is where the movie picks up. In the years she was away Susan’s father has passed away and her mother has remarried a man named Harold. There is also the groundskeeper John and a few other household staff members. From the moment she arrives home it is clear that someone is shadowing Susan, scaring her at every opportunity. She also starts to see Harold, who left on a business trip, apparently dead. Though when she gets help the body is always gone. Is she losing her mind or is there something else going on? I won’t spoil this one by answering that question or by giving anymore details here.

I enjoyed the heck out of A Taste of Evil. The story had a cool gothic feel to it. The house is imposing, and you have the family/staff who may or may not want what is best for our main character. The woman in danger questioning her own sanity is also a trope of this sort of flick but is handled decently here. The creeping around the woods and the old house in the dark all adds to an atmosphere that helps to make this a bit spooky and very entertaining. There is a twist that I won’t spoil, but it also fits with the sort of story they are trying to tell here. It has a very Rebecca and/or The Uninvited feel that put a smile on my face. I love flicks like this. The shorter runtime of seventy three minutes also helps it to move along quickly and not linger on bits that could have killed the pacing. Here being a made for television flick helps it out quite a bit.

Have no fear Dr. McDowall is here!

I will acknowledge that the actress, Barbara Parkins, struggles a bit as Susan. There are times when she should be carrying the movie but is lost a bit in her scenes with the stronger supporting co-stars. Barbara Stanwyck (her mother), William Windom (Harold), and Roddy McDowall (the family doctor) all dominate their scenes with her. It might have been a big ask to get her to hold her own with such a great group of actors but that is what was needed, and it hurts the movie that she can’t. Though that didn’t spoil things for me, but it could have been better with a stronger actress in the lead role.

A Taste of Evil is a fun television movie that reminds me of being a kid and staying up to watch something I’d never heard of. I do remember this one making the rounds on the late show that used to start after the news on my local station. Luckily you don’t have to stay up to watch it as you can find the movie online to check out for free. Did I mention it has Roddy McDowall in it? He is awesome yet again. I recommend checking this one out.

 

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer

Sweet, Sweet Rachel (1971)

The made for television movies continue. This time around we have a supernatural story involving psychic behavior and a killer that uses their power to commit murder! The movie starts off with a man dealing tarot cards and trying to divine something from them. His name is Paul and suddenly he sees his lovely wife calling for him outside some French doors. He runs to her and ends up diving right out of the second story window. That seems odd. When his wife, the titular Rachel, comes home she is shocked to find him dead! Later she starts to hear voices, hallucinate, and gets a weird phone call. To ensure that she isn’t losing her mind she goes to see a special doctor, one who studies psychic phenomena. His name is Dr. Darrow. 

Darrow hypnotizes her and gets more details that she doesn’t necessarily remember otherwise. He is also attacked and almost jumps thru some glass himself. Along with his blind friend, who also possesses second sight, he starts digging. This leads him to Rachel’s creepy aunt Lillian and her family. They seem awfully protective of her so much so that they cut Rachel off from the help that she was searching for. This raises some red flags with Darrow who like a dog with a bone won’t let it go. Eventually another person dies, Rachel thinks she is responsible, and Darrow sorts it all out before the end credits roll. 

Before I start I need to warn you all that there will be some spoilers coming. I’ll try to keep them at a minimum, but I need to mention them to explain why I sort of liked this one. Sweet, Sweet Rachel is an interesting movie. I will warn you that it is a very slow burn and leans heavily into the late sixties and early seventies obsession with psychic powers. To that end the movie takes itself very seriously, which I’m not sure has aged well over the last fifty plus years. Still, I did enjoy the mystery that they create with the murders. At it’s core this movie is a who done it with a supernatural twist. That said we do find out later that one of the murders was an old fashioned poisoning. You also get an obvious suspect in Aunt Lillian, and I was locked in on her being the issue. But in a nice twist she is a murder victim which tosses the entire story into doubt. I dug that. 

The cast is decent. Stefanie Powers, a seventies television mainstay, is the lovely Rachel. She isn’t given much to do other than be distraught that is. Still, she does that very well and plays her part in moving the story along. John Hillerman of Magnum P.I. fame has a blink and you’ll miss it appearance as the medical examiner. There are also a lot of other familiar faces who mostly just worked in television but were working actors that much like Powers do their jobs and move things along. As a giant nerd for the movie Stanley, it was awesome to see Chris Robinson as the blind psychic Carey. This is another spoiler so be warned. The late great Pat Hingle (Maximum Overdrive) starts off as the put upon husband of Lillian but ends up being the villain which was a cool twist. 

This isn’t a perfect movie. Like I’ve already mentioned it does have some pacing issues. The obsession with psychic phenomenon as well as the big finale with a psychic showdown was a bit cheesy. It did remind me of that episode of South Park but with out all the goofy pew pew pew nana nana nana sounds. If you haven’t seen it, then check this out. That aside I think that Sweet, Sweet Rachel is worth a look. The movie is only an hour and eleven minutes long and is available on YouTube. 

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1972)

This bit of made for television fun is yet another adaptation of the classic Conan Doyle novel. This time around it was made as an ABC movie of the week and is heavy with familiar faces from sixties and seventies television. But before I go any further I suppose I should go over the plot, in case you haven’t ever read the novel or seen one of the other versions.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson miss a visitor to their accommodations on Baker Street, but a clue in the form of a cane was left behind. Holmes being Holmes figures out the likely owner and the pair go off to find Dr. Mortimer. He tells them that an old friend has died on the moors near his home due to an old family curse. Seems an ancestor was a bit of an ass and since then a supernatural hound has been hunting and murdering the male heir. With his father’s death Henry Baskerville is now coming home from Canada to take up residence at Baskerville Hall and Mortimer thinks he is in danger.

Of course the idea of an actual supernatural threat is ludicrous, but Holmes does volunteer that both he and Watson act as bodyguards. They travel to the estate and poke around a bit. Sherlock takes his leave to finish another case but in reality uses that to put the real villain at ease so he can poke around unexpectedly. Eventually the guilty party is located, the hound is shown to be a hoax of sorts, and all turns out well for the good guys.

I’m a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes having read everything that Doyle wrote. I’ve never been a huge fan of the book but some of the adaptations have been decent. Sadly, this isn’t one of them. I mean it isn’t terrible but cramming the story into the hour and fourteen minute run time forces them to make some shortcuts. Instead of cutting out some of the less needed things, like the typist and her marriage woes, they cut down the convicts in the swamps. This means a vital clue is deemphasized. One of the things that I love about mystery stories is being able to try and figure it out along the way with the detective. Despite my familiarity with this one or maybe because of it this omission bugged me.

The pacing and the dialogue are okay. I was also happy with the performances from the cast, with one glaring exception that I’ll mention later. Bernard Fox (Hogan’s Heroes, The Mummy) makes an excellent Dr. Watson. We also see Anthony Zerbe (The Omega Man, Star Trek: Insurrection), Alan Caillou (The Ice Pirates, The Devil’s Brigade), and everyone’s favorite William Shatner in supporting roles. These television movies are how a lot of actors kept themselves employed and I miss seeing this much talent and effort put into what are essentially low budget productions.

Shatner is looking dapper!

My only complaint is that the most important character, Sherlock Holmes, is poorly portrayed by Stewart Granger. He should be the most interesting person in every seen but is overshadowed by the actors in the supporting cast, especially Bernard Fox. When your Dr. Watson is more fun to watch than your Sherlock Holmes you have made a horrible mistake!

This being a period piece set in Victorian England the low budget of a made for television movie is painfully obvious. You get a very cheap looking model standing in for an old train. This might have been passable in the thirties, but it is so cheap in appearance that it was bothersome. Also the sets are limited to a couple of streets and a castle that is obviously on a soundstage. When the alien planets from Star Trek the original series look more realistic you know there are issues.

In the end I’ve seen this story told much better elsewhere and because of that I can’t recommend this one. If you do want to check out a much better version may I suggest the adaptation from the late fifties starring Peter Cushing as Holmes. Even better yet is the made for television version from the Sherlock Holmes series starring Jeremy Brett. Either of those are worth a watch.

 

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer

The Dead Don’t Die (1975)

This made for television movie completely surprised me and was a real find. The story is set in the thirties where we see a man named Don Drake visiting his brother in prison. It is the night before he is to be executed and Don has just made it back in town. His brother convinces him of his innocence and while they can’t stop what is about to happen asks him to prove it. This leads Don to Chicago where his brother lived and where he meets the various characters in his life.

Up until this point The Dead Don’t Die plays very much like a film noir. It is a murder mystery where the cops have already punished the man they think is responsible for the killing. Here is where things get interesting thought. When Don starts to dig he is approached by a mysterious woman named Vera who warns him to leave town. Almost immediately after that he chases a man that looks just like his dead brother into a nearby antique shop and accidentally kills the proprietor in a scuffle. He wakes up in Vera’s apartment and starts to piece together the mystery. Turns out it was his brother, who is now a zombie, and that there is a zombie master plying his craft in the city! Yeah, it went from mystery to horror just like that. All of this leads to a big finale where Don faces the man who framed his brother and has been trying to kill him.

I can’t say much more than I have without spoiling things. I loved this movie, so I really don’t want to do that. The story is quick paced clocking in with a seventy four minute runtime that was typical of made for television projects like this. There isn’t a wasted scene as we start with the brothers in the jail cell and quickly move to Chicago and the zombie plot line. Characters pop in and out of the story but none seem throwaway and all move things along. This is a well written script, which considering it was from the legendary Robert Bloch isn’t that surprising. When you have Psycho and The House that Dripped Blood I guess you know what you are doing.

Creepy zombie

The way that they present the undead is very simple with some old school makeup (dark circles under the eyes) and acting (shuffling with moaning dialogue) but it is effective. This isn’t a gorefest, but instead an old school voodoo inspired take on zombies. Overall I got a very Val Lewton vibe from not only how they were brought to the screen but also with the reliance on camerawork and lighting to set a spooky mood. I’m a huge fan of old school horror like Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie so this movie checked a lot of boxes for me. Damn I really need to cover those for the site.

Finally the cast is excellent. Our main character is the always reliable George Hamilton who we just saw in The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver. Here he is solid as the brother trying to unravel the mystery of his brother’s framing for murder. The filmmakers double down with an excellent supporting cast as well. Ray Milland (The Uninvited) is helpful dance hall owner and ally Jim Moss. The always welcome to see Ralph Meeker (The Food of the Gods, Without Warning) is the local policeman. Hollywood legend Joan Blondell and genre favorite Yvette Vickers (Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, Attack of the Giant Leeches) have supporting roles. We even get a pre-Kurt Barlow Reggie Nadler. There is a lot of talent in front of as well as behind the camera.

I could keep gushing but is it necessary? This is why I love these made for television flicks. They allowed creative folks to cast old school actors and because they had to work within limited budgets and under the watchful eye of television censors, they had to lean into quality writing and acting. I highly recommend The Dead Don’t Die.

 

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer

Pray for the Wildcats (1974)

One of the best things about made for television movies is that if you had a couple of familiar faces the network would pretty much let you make whatever movie you wanted to if you stayed within the budget. Pray for the Wildcats is a prime example of this, but more on that later. 

There is an AD agency trying to sell a powerful and rich business owner on their latest campaign to sell his heavy equipment (think tractors and bulldozers) by shooting it in Baja Mexico. This is because that is the most inhospitable terrain in the world, at least according to the movie. He manipulates the top three guys at the agency into going on a dirt bike ride thru the desert with him because he can approve the campaign unless he sees where they want to shoot it. Because he is so powerful and rich they have to agree and he knows it. 

So off they go but not before we find out that Warren, one of the AD guys, is in the process of being forced out of the agency and is trying to land this one last account. Or that is what he wants everyone to think as it becomes obvious that he is setting up his own suicide to look like an accident so his family can cash in his fat new insurance policy. Warren was also having an affair with Paul’s wife. The evil businessman, Farragut, gets into trouble almost immediately by getting fresh with a hippy girl and then causing both her and her boyfriend to die by stranding them in the middle of nowhere when he is rebuffed. Warren insists on telling the police, but the other guys are worried more about the account. Shenanigans ensue as the previously suicidal Warren is now ironically fighting for his life just to see justice done. 

Now that you have heard the plot let me tell you who the cast is. The two cowardly AD men are played by seventies mainstay Marjoe Gortner (H.G. Wells Food of the Gods) and television dad Robert Reed (The Brady Bunch). Our hero is everyone’s favorite William Shatner! Here he oddly enough is playing the part subdued and without his signature over the top line delivery. We also get Angie Dickinson and Lorraine Gary of Jaws fame as a couple of the AD men’s wives. But the craziest bit of casting must be for Farragut our murderous rich guy who likes to manhandle the ladies. Somewhere someone read this script and said to themselves “We should get Andy Griffith to play this.” What the actual Hell!

What a cast!

The reason that I started by talking about the cast rather then the story is because much of my issue with the plot has to do with the cast. Shatner is actually quite good in his role as the tortured Warren. He just wants his family to be taken care of and has to deal with his guilt over the affair. Despite his flaws when he sees the girl and boy die because of Farragut all his plans go out the window to see that they get justice. That is a decent character arc and is probably the most interesting part of the movie. 

Where things go off the rails for me is Griffith trying to play the heavy. Maybe with better material or direction he might have pulled it off. But here his natural charisma and overall kindly persona makes for a dichotomy between the characters actions and the performance bringing it to the screen that I just can’t get past. He is horribly miscast in the role and without a good antagonist Pray for the Wildcats doesn’t work. Toss in some horrible pacing where we watch them dirt bike across the desert for long stretches and the unnecessary drama with the wives back home for a tedious hour and forty minute runtime. 

I wanted to like this movie both because of the cast and my overall love of made for television movies. But this is a flawed movie that basically misfires and isn’t worth the time to watch. I can’t recommend it but will continue to dig for that next classic made for the small screen. Until then maybe go watch A Cold Night’s Death or The Possessed.

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer

Featured Post - July is made for Television!

Since the launching of the site I've done a slasher marathon every June or July. I suppose it was inspired by the whole summer camp thing or maybe I just watch a lot of slashers this time of the year. Regardless I've done that for the last six summers. Sadly I'm running out of flicks to cover. I know that I've not covered them all but most of what I wish to sit thru have been done. I have a few Friday's and the Hatchet series to get to yet (and I will do so) but have decided to skip the slasher flicks this summer. 

What shall I do then? Well I have been on a bit of a kick with the made for television stuff lately so I figured I'd drop some reviews of these lesser known and in many cases fun little bits of genre goodness from the old boob tube. I hope you all dig it. 

If you are interested in my first one of these marathons you can find that list and links to those reviews here. 

Movie 1 - The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver. Karen Black and George Hamilton starring in a mystery that might also involve some ghostly possession and a bit of murder. Sign me up. Full review is here. 

Movie 2 - Pray for the Wildcats. What a cast in this one! William Shatner, Robert Reed (The Brady Bunch), and Marjorie Gortner all star! The villain is played by... Andy Griffith. Check out the review here. 

Movie 3 - The Dead Don't Die - This is a fun mashup of film noir and classic zombie movie. Ray Miland, and George Hamilton star in this creepy bit of made for television fun. The full review is here. 

Movie 4 - The Hound of the Baskervilles - I'm surprised that they didn't mine more Sherlock Holmes stories for the movie of the week format. Then again after watching this I can maybe see why not. The highlight of this is William Shatner in a supporting role. Check out the review here. 

Movie 5 - Sweet, Sweet Rachel - This was a fun movie. A bit uneven but it has a great cast with Stephanie Powers in the lead as Rachel. I also thought it was fun to see my favorite drive-in snake handler Chris Robinson from Stanley. Full review here. 

Movie 6 - A Taste of Evil - This is a fun thriller with some gothic vibes to it. A woman is tortured by the events of her childhood which are magnified when she returns home from years of treatment at hospitals in Europe. Her local doctor is played by the great Roddy McDowall! I dig this movie a lot. The review is posted here. 

Movie 7 - Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park - Okay it was bound to happen. How could I not talk about this oddity when doing a Made for Television marathon? At least I waited until the second one before covering this odd bit of rock-n-roll cross marketing. Check out my review here. 

Movie 8 - You'll Never See Me Again - This is probably the worst of the movies that I have watched so for for this marathon. They do try and do something interesting but it ends up being a boring and tedious melodrama. If you must have more details you can check out my review here. 

Movie 9 - She Waits - This movie had an excellent cast with Patty Duke and David McCallum in the lead roles. We even get a plot where a beautiful young wife is seemingly possessed by the ghost of her husbands previous lady. But sadly this is about as much fun as watching paint dry. You can check out more here. 

Movie 10 - The Devil and Miss Sarah - This was an odd mashup between Western and Horror... sort of. You aren't ever really sure if there is supernatural shenanigans going on or if the bad guy is the devil or if he is just an evil guy. If you want more then check out the full review here. 

Movie 11 - The UFO Incident - I've run into some real stinkers in this marathon. I had hope for this one that stars James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons. Based on a "true story" of an "actual alien abduction" it basically is just boring and tedious. My full review is here. 

Movie 12 - The Immortal - I accidentally ended this marathon with a pretty decent flick. Christopher George stars as a man who while isn't technically immortal is likely going to live a very long and healthy life. Though the wealthy folks realize this and want to lock him up as their own personal fountain of youth. Full review is here. 

That is it for July. I hopefully will have at least one more slasher movie marathon in me so stay tuned for that next summer. I also will have many more made for television flicks to talk about soonish... maybe in a few months. There are a lot on my to watch pile and I plan on getting to them. Hope you had as much fun with these as I did. 

- John

The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver (1977)

This made for television movie starts off with a bang. We see a house on fire before hearing a woman screaming. Then it transitions to a couple attending a funeral. We find out that they are the Olivers, played by George Hamilton and Karen Black. Though that turns out to be a nightmare as Miriam (Black’s character) wakes up. We then go on to find out that they are trying for a baby and that he doesn’t want her to go back to work or school as that may get in the way. She is restless and starts to have waking dreams or flashbacks about a blonde woman.

This leads her to changing the way she dresses and getting a wig. Eventually she even rents a beach house and meets the locals. These folks seem to recognize her and say she must be another woman who disappeared five years earlier named Sandy. This is the woman that has been haunting her. Is it a ghost that is trying to possess her? Maybe she is losing her mind and taking on a second personality? Or maybe she is just bored and looking for some excitement? In the end the mystery is revealed, and everything is okay.

Obviously, I’m not going to spoil the movie here because I rather enjoyed The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver. It is a well written story with enough twists and turns to keep your attention for the entire seventy two minute runtime. I honestly didn’t see the ending coming but it works nicely. That shouldn’t be a surprise as it was written by the legendary Richard Matheson. This guy knew how to write for a budget as well as the censorship applied to these made for television flicks.

Sandy getting her groove on!

The cast is solid as well with George Hamilton in what is basically a supporting role as the husband. We also get a brief appearance from Bill Kerwin who most of us will recognize from his time in H.G. Lewis flicks. Though there is no doubt that this is the Karen Black show. She has the most screentime and is called on to carry the narrative. There are several scenes where it is just her reacting with confusion to the memories she is experiencing. We even get a cool scene where she is trying to convince herself that she is Miriam while talking to her husband. I think that people forget how great an actress she was and that is a damn shame.

I miss these made for T.V. productions. Yeah, a lot of them weren’t the best, but many of them were. Plus, it gave writers like Matheson and actresses like Black a place to get some work done. There is even a scene in a mall where we get to see a vintage seventies Footlocker in the background. The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver has something for everyone! I recommend checking this one out. As of the writing of this review it is on YouTube so there isn’t any excuse.

 

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer