The Devil's Daughter

"The Devil's Daughter" (1973) was an ABC Movie of the Week starring: Shelley Winters, Belinda Montgomery and Robert Foxworth.

A woman who had sold her soul to the devil and promised her unborn daughter to marry a demon, dies when the devil returns 21 years later.  Her daughter, Diane Shaw (Montgomery) returns to town for her mother's funeral and meets Lilith Malone (Winters) who says she was her mother's best friend and she would love to have Diane move in with her while she's getting settled back in town.

Lilith gives Diane a ring she says was her mother's and it has a strange symbol on it.  Diane starts seeing this symbol all around the house and Lilith is dismissive about it meaning anything.  We start to meet other friends of Lilith and they are all strange and turns out are part of the devil worshiping cult her mother used to be a part of.  The cult has evil plans for Diane as the "princess of darkness"and she is doing everything she can do not be any part of it.

Shelly Winters is delightfully evil as Lilith!  Robert Foxworth plays Diane's love interest. Jonathan Frid (Barnabas from "Dark Shadows") even guest stars as Lilith's mute manservant. And the ending has a nice twist.  This movie is pure scary fun!

Turn of the Screw

"Turn of the Screw" (1992) starring Patsy Kensit, Stéphane Audran, Marianne Faithfull and Julian Sands is another version of the classic ghost story by Henry James. 

Jenny (Kensit) applies to Mr. Cooper (Sands), absent guardian to two small children (Miles & Flora), to be their governess at his country house.  He wants her to be in charge and make all the decisions about the children.  She will be joining the housekeeper Mrs. Grose (Audran) at the remote country estate.

Shortly after arriving to the grand old house, Jenny receives a letter that Miles has been expelled from the boarding school and will be returning home.  Once they have established a routine, things start to fall apart for Jenny.  She starts seeing a man on the estate and in the house that she believes is Quint, a sinister former employee that used to hold sway over the household because he was the former governess' lover.  Both Quint and Miss Jessel are dead but Jenny can't get the details from Mrs. Grose.  Jenny also starts to see the ghost of Miss Jessel. With the children growing more erratic and more frequent visions of the ghosts, Jenny starts to lose her mind. 

This is actually a well done version of the classic story.  The story's narrative (Faithfull) is framed by someone in a group session telling the story of this as she recalls from a diary she found.  The setting of the house is wonderfully remote, beautiful and eerie. 

Sssssss

"SSSSSSS" (1973) is a horror movie starring Strother Martin, Dirk Benedict and Heather Menzies-Urich.

Dr. Carl Stoner (Martin) is a scientist who studies snakes.  He hires a college student, David Blake (Benedict) to be his assistant at the lab at his home.  Also at the house is the doctor's daughter, Kristina (Menzies) who assists her father with his research and helps him get funds by joining him at snake shows for the public.  She also has a love for snakes.

Shortly after arriving, Dr. Stoner starts giving David injections that are supposed to build his resistance to a deadly snake bite.  However, David starts having intense reactions to these ongoing injections.  He can't understand why his skin starts peeling and why his face is "breaking out" - into green scales!

What will happen to poor David?  We he end up like the snake man that the doctor sold to the local circus?  Will David and Kristina end up together?  If you get freaked out by snakes, you might not want to watch because this movie is filled with them!  This movie is good, creepy, fun!

Killer Bees

"Killer Bees" is an ABC Movie of the Week starring Edward Albert, Kate Jackson and Gloria Swanson that first aired 2/26/1974 and directed by Curtis Harrington.

Edward Van Bohlen (Albert) and his fiancee Victoria Wells (Jackson) return to Edward's family home after a four year estrangement. The Van Bohlen's run a winery in California and the nearby town is named after them.  Edward is reluctant to return but Victoria insists she needs to meet his family. When they get to town, the police are cleaning up an accident where a salesman had trespassed on the Van Bohlen land and a swarm of bees chased him away in his car to his death.

Upon their arrival, the family is very cold to Victoria.  They keep telling Edward in no uncertain terms that he should not have brought a stranger to the estate.  We meet Edward's father, two brothers and the grandmother (Swanson) that everyone calls Madame. We soon discover that the secret to the family wine is the bees their ancestors brought with them from South Africa.  As people that do the family wrong end of being killed, we see Madame gently caressing and talks to the bees as they cover her body.  Will Victoria discover the secret of the bees?  Will she make it out alive?  Tune in to find out.

Let's Kill Uncle

"Let's Kill Uncle" (1966) starring Nigel Green, Mary Badham, Linda Lawson, Robert Pickering and Pat Cardi is one of William Castle's rarely seen movies.  This is a child centered story about a 12 year old boy named Barnaby (Cardi) who recently lost his father in an accident and being newly orphaned is being shipped off to his uncle's home on a remote and sparsely populated island in the tropics.  He is being escorted by Sgt. Frank Travis (Pickering).  On the ship to the island Barnaby meets similarly aged girl named Chrissie (Badham) who is going to visit her aunt Justine (Lawson). Barnaby and Chrissie have a tumultuous relationship to say the least with their every present bickering but they soon become friends since they are the only kids on the island. We learn that the island is "cursed" after the sharks inhabited the waters around the island and that is why most people left it.

Barnaby meets his uncle, Major Kevin Harrison (Green) who is an old war hero and he lives in a big house on the island.  Shortly after arriving, Uncle takes Barnaby out on an adventure and ends up hypnotizing him and directing him to walk off a cliff!  Justine ends up finding him before he goes over the cliff.  Barnaby is convinced Uncle wants to kill him which Uncle later confirms by stating he wants the $4 million dollar inheritance that the boy is getting.  Uncle sets out the rules of the game and says whoever kills the other will win.  Of course Barnaby can't convince Frank or Justine but does convince Chrissie who ends up trying to help him kill Uncle.  

This is a fun little thriller!  We have the two kids roaming around an almost deserted island - hanging out in the graveyard, exploring the old deserted hotel which even has an algae covered swimming pool that has a shark in it!  There's a legless man that scoots around the island on a board with wheels.  And there's a cat and mouse game of the uncle trying to kill the kids and the kids trying to kill the uncle.  From this description it wouldn't sound like a fun story but it actually is and like Castle's "I Saw What You Did!" movie that had children as the main stars, this movie is also rather lighthearted.  It's actually a great adventure / thriller for kids.  This movie has never been released on DVD.  

 

Trilogy of Terror Double Feature!

"Trilogy of Terror" (1975) is a made for TV movie starring Karen Black, Robert Burton and John Karlen.  "Trilogy of Terror II" (1996) is also made for TV movie starring Lysette Anthony, Geraint Wyn Davies and Matt Clark.  Both are directed by Dan Curtis of Dark Shadows fame.  Both movies have three stories that don't have anything to do with each other except for the fact that the same actress portrays a different role in each story.  

In the first Trilogy, Karen Black is the star in all three stories. Ms. Black does a great job playing the three different characters.  She was also in Curtis' "Burnt Offerings" horror movie.  It's just too bad she can't embrace her part in horror movie history because now she tells everyone that she never starred in horror movies - they were science fiction!  Anyway, back to the stories. Story 1: "Julie" is about a college professor whose tryst with one of her students ends in blackmail and a twist at the end.  Story 2: "Millicent & Therese" is about twin sisters.  Millicent believes Therese is using voodoo to try to kill her.  It doesn't turn out that way!  Story 3: "Amelia" really uses Black's talents.  She buys a Zuni fetish doll for her boyfriend and it comes alive with its sharp knife and chases her throughout the apartment trying to kill her.  This last story is the one that everyone remembers about the movie and it is by far the most fun to watch!

In the second trilogy, Lysette Anthony is the actress that plays the three characters in the three stories.  I didn't even know there was a sequel until I happened upon it on TV.  This sequel was made over 20 years from the first but in my opinion is equal to or better than the original.  Story 1: "Graveyard Rats" is about a woman married to a horrible old rich man and she's having an affair with one of his employees.  They decide to kill him and almost get away with it but then discover he took to the grave the codes to access the Swiss bank accounts.  Going to the graveyard to dig him up will be a big mistake!  Story 2: "Bobby" is about a boy who drowns in the ocean outside of this large seaside mansion on a cliff. The mother is so upset of his death, she resorts to satanic rituals to try to bring him back to life.  During an intense thunderstorm, he comes back but he's not the same sweet Bobby.  My favorite line from this story is when Bobby calls out, "Bobby's coming to get you Mommy!"  Story 3: "He Who Kills" brings back everybody's favorite Zuni doll who after murdering 2 women is brought to Dr. Simpson at the local museum by the police.  Of course the doll comes alive and is at its best running around the museum trying to kill everyone!  I was very impressed with this sequel and was glad to discover it!

 

Gremlins

"Gremlins" (1984) starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates and Hoyt Axton is a comedy horror movie i haven't seen since I was a child but just watched again when it was on cable.

It's Christmas time and Randall Peltzer (Axton) an amateur inventor is looking for a gift for his son Billy (Galligan) and finds an antique shop in Chinatown that has a very special gift.  It is a Mogwai, a cute little teddy bear like creature with big ears.  The man at the shop tells the dad there are three rules for the Mogwai named Gizmo: don't expose it to bright light, never get it wet & never feed it after midnight.

Billy loves his new pet but soon the rules get broken and after being fed after midnight and getting wet, Gizmo starts multiplying into creepy, scaly, little green creatures that love mischief and get into everything and make it go haywire.

So, on Christmas Eve, one of the Gremlins falls into the swimming pool and multiplies into thousands that wreak havoc on the small town - causing much destruction and death.

I had forgotten how crazy these little creatures were.  

From Time to Time

"From Time to Time" (2009) is a ghost story that takes place in 1944 and 1805 starring Alex Etel, Timothy Spall, Pauline Collins, Hugh Bonneville and Maggie Smith .  It is based on children's novel The Chimneys of Green Knowe.  It is directed by Julian Fellows who also directs "Downton Abbey" and has some of the same actors and grandness.

Near the end of World War II, Tolly goes to visit his grandmother, Mrs. Oldknow (Smith), for Christmas.  His grandmother lives in the old family mansion and she is just hanging on financially and may have to sell soon.  Tolly's father is missing in action and he makes sure everyone knows he is only missing and not dead.  Tolly explores the grand estate and mansion, trying to discover all its secrets.  He also listens to Granny's stories as well as those of the housekeeper, Mrs. Tweedle (Collins) and Boggis (Spall) the handyman.

Shortly after arriving, Tolly sees a ghost of a girl who he finds out from Granny is Susan, their ancestor from the early 1800s. Soon thereafter, Tolly is also pulled into 1805 and is seen by some as a ghost in that time.  As days go by, Tolly is pulled more and more into that time of his family's history and is even able to assist some of the people there.  Can Tolly discover the secrets of the mansion and his family and find out what happened to the family jewels and silver?

This is a wonderful ghost story, mystery, period piece and film that the entire family will enjoy. 

Wait Until Dark

"Wait Until Dark" starring Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Jack Weston, Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and Richard Crenna is a psychological thriller from 1967.

Susy Hendrix (Hepburn) is a blind lady who lives with her photographer husband Sam (Zimbalist Jr) in a New York basement apartment.  At the airport, Sam unwittingly agrees to take a doll from a beautiful woman, Lisa.  He brings it back to his apartment not knowing it is filled with heroin and that a group of thugs is after it.

It doesn't take long before Lisa shows up dead in the Hendrix's apartment and the thugs arrive to try to find the doll.  The criminals that are after the doll are Roat (Arkin), Mike (Crenna) & Carlino (Westin).  They form an uneasy alliance and a complicated plan to try to trick Susy into showing them where the doll is.  Sam is called away on business and of course Susy is left to deal with this while he is gone with only the help of Gloria the girl upstairs.  Plus she mistakenly believes the police may think Sam was involved in the murder so she doesn't immediately involve the police.

Audrey Hepburn does a great job playing the recently blinded woman who uses her blindness and the darkness to her advantage to deal with the intruders.  While the plot is quite contrived, it does have its suspenseful moments.

Death Cruise

"Death Cruise" (1974) is a TV movie that aired as an ABC Movie of the Week.  It starred Richard Long, Polly Bergen, Kate Jackson, Celeste Holm, Tom Bosley, Michael Constantine and Edward Albert.

Three couples win a three week vacation on a cruise from an unknown company.  Jerry and Sylvia Carter have a troubled marriage because Jerry likes to sleep around.  James and Mary Radney are young and enjoy life but Mary wants to have children and James doesn't.  Elizabeth and David Mason have grown children and are trying to remember how to be a couple and not just parents.  Each couple has issues they are working through.  Dr. Burke is temporarily filling in a ship's doctor.

During the first evening at dinner, the couples start talking and discover they all won the trip.  Jerry says he thinks the others look familiar, from 1970 Atlanta but he can't remember why.  None of the others remember having met.

One of the characters disappears and it appears he could have fallen overboard.  Then the others from that group start showing up dead and it definitely isn't accidental.  Dr. Burke tries to find out what they all have in common and tries to solve the mystery.

This is a fun murder mystery at sea.  It's almost like a modern day And Then There Were None. Watch this anti love boat and set a course for murder!