A Howling in the Woods

Tonight was a good night to revisit one of my favorite Made for TV Thrillers from the 70s, A Howling in the Woods (1971) starring Barbara Eden, Larry Hagman and John Rubinstein. Barbara Eden plays Liza Crocker, a woman who plans on leaving her husband, played by Larry Hagman, and returns to her hometown to get a divorce.

Upon arriving in Stainesville, NV on the shores of Lake Tahoe, she encounters the townspeople who she grew up with are cold and hostile toward her.  She makes it to her family's lodge, Staines Lodge, on the lake.  Her father is unexpectedly out of country but her step mother and step brother are there to greet her.

Liza soon learns that a child was found killed in the lake nearby and there is the eerie sound of a howling dog in the woods that everyone in town can hear.  Liza starts putting together the pieces of the mystery of her father who she can't reach, the murdered girl, the hostile townspeople and who attacked her in the woods on a stormy night while she took the shortcut from town. Liza's husband comes to the lodge to try to make things right and soon finds himself in the middle of the mystery.

I love this thriller from the 70s.  It's got the eerie music and the spectacular scenery of Lake Tahoe which contrasts with the general feeling of unease in the town and at the lodge.  It's full of mystery and atmosphere and some great acting, including a very young Tyne Daly.  I highly recommend this movie if you can find a copy or catch it on TV. 

Scream, Pretty Peggy

Scream, Pretty Peggy (1973) starring Ted Bessell, Bette Davis and Sian Barbara Allen is a made for TV thriller originally aired as part of ABC's Movie of the Week. A college student, Peggy (Allen), answers an ad for a job at an old mansion for light housekeeping.  A mother (Davis) and son (Bessell) live in the mansion and she is hired to help take care of the place.  She is warned not to go into the room above the garage.

After the mother has a fall and hurts her leg, Peggy convinces the son to let her move in and help take care of the mother.  The mother warns her she must leave now.  The mansion's architecture is heavy with iron gates and grills over the windows and doors which adds to a feeling of confinement in the large house.  There are several scenes on windy nights where someone or other is wandering around the estate investigating noises or spooky figures in the shadows.  All which adds to the creepy atmosphere of this film.

Bette Davis does an understated job acting as the mother - usually seen sipping her "coffee" from an ever present coffee cup in her hands.  Sian Allen plays Peggy as rather needy, looking for the approval of her role model, the son, who is a rather famous artist.

This is one of those made for TV movies that I grew up watching.  I remember watching these types of movies after the original airings usually on Saturday afternoons.  It always made for an enjoyable couple hours and so did this movie. 

Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow (1999) starring Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci and Miranda Richardson is director Tim Burton's retelling of the old American folk tale of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.  Constable Ichabod Crane is sent from New York to the tiny country village of Sleepy Hollow in the 1790s to investigate the decapitation of several townspeople.

Crane comes from the city with new investigative techniques and slowly learns that not every crime can be solved with science.  This movie is full of spooky atmosphere:  horse drawn carriage rides through the dark and eerie woods with pumpkin headed scarecrows observing; ever present fog and mist; deep dark woods full of gnarled trees, an almost Gothic looking little village and glowing jack-o-lanterns.  The headless horseman is extremely scary galloping out of the woods on his horse toward the growing list of victims that he decapitates.  This movie does have some blood and shows the decapitations but it's done in a way that is not too gory - it's just an integral part of the story. 

Johnny Depp does an excellent job playing the fussy Ichabod Crane and the movie definitely has an undercurrent of tongue in cheek humor amongst the horror story.   What an excellent movie that I know I will watch over many times.  I don't know what took me so long to find this gem!

The Presence

The Presence (2010) is a new ghost story starring Mira Sorvino, Shane West and Justin Kirk.  It takes place on a secluded island in Oregon.  The woman played by Mira Sorvino, returns to her family's rustic cabin to get away and work on some writing.  Little does she know that she isn't the only one there.  The ghost is always there, observing her.  He doesn't look like the usual transparent ghost, he looks flesh and blood but she can't see him.

This is a really unusual film as for the first third of the movie there is no dialog - just atmosphere, music and silence.  The cabin is so rustic there is no electricity so the lighting is from candle and lantern light.  The setting is spectacular in atmosphere:  dark secluded woods, foggy mountains and lake.  It's not until her boyfriend shows up that there is any dialog.

Well into the film a second ghost suddenly shows itself and this one whispers things into the woman's and man's ears trying to cause deep seated problems to come to the surface and cause their relationship harm.  The intro of the 2nd ghost was a bit strange at first but in the end fit well with the story.

The Presence is a really unique ghost story.  Filled with atmosphere and psychological thrills, it's a quiet ghost story that I haven't seen the likes of before.

Darkness

Darkness (2002) starring Anna Paquin, Lena Olin and Iain Glen is a haunted house movie from Spain.  A teenaged girl, Regina (a young Paquin) moves with her family (mother, father & younger brother) to an old house in Spain after the father had a breakdown in the U.S.

It doesn't take long after moving in that the brother begins encountering an eerie darkness under his bed and we see glimpses on the periphery of children running around the shadows of the house.  Regina also starts to see the father become more on edge and she tries to convince the mother who is in denial that he's headed for another breakdown.

There's a back story of 7 children being kidnapped 40 years before and taken to this house never to be found again.  Since no one will believe Regina, she seeks the help of her friend and they investigate the history of the house and soon find the real reason they are in this home on the eve of the next total eclipse of the sun.

This movie has a very eerie atmosphere throughout.  As its name implies there are a lot of scenes in the darkness and creepy ghosts and other creatures abound in this big old house.  The acting is not the best but that doesn't detract from a pretty good haunted house story with lots of scares and no gore.  Being able to see Anna Paquin (Sookie from True Blood) in one of her early roles is also a treat.

The Illustrated Man

The Illustrated Man (1969) starring Rod Steiger, Claire Bloom and Robert Drivas is based on the Ray Bradbury book.  While not technically a horror movie, it is filled with tension and is about a man (Steiger) who is haunted by the past when he let a former lover (Bloom) tattoo his entire body from his neck to his toes.

Steiger's character runs across a drifter (Drivas) off a back road near a lake where they camp out.  The Illustrated Man warns the drifter not to look too long at his skin illustrations ("don't call them tattoos!") because they come alive and tell you stories and you may see your future - even your death!  He also tells the drifter how he met the woman and how he let her do this to him.  He's now trying to find her so he can kill her but he says she may have gone back to the future.  Of course, in addition to listening to his story, the drifter does look at the illustrations and he & we see different stories all starring the same actors.

We see 3 different stories (all taking place in the future):  "The Veldt" takes place in a futuristic home where the children's nursery is like a Star Trek holodeck and much to the dismay of the parents (and mental health adviser) the children's inner thoughts are causing a menacing atmosphere including hungry lions and buzzards.  "The Long Rains" is about a rocket ship that crashes on a planet where there is constantly a downpour of rain.  The surviving astronauts have to survive long enough so they can make it to one of the "sun domes" scattered across the planet.  The pounding rain drives the astronauts to the edge of insanity and beyond.  "The Last Night of the World" takes place on a future Earth where only a handful of survivors live rather idyllic lives but suddenly all at once all have the same vision that the world will end on a certain day.  The world's male population meets and decides that the vision is true and in order to spare the children having to face the horrible end, they will put them to sleep.  When the man comes home and tells the wife this, she of course refuses to do it.  You'll have to see the movie (or read the book) to see what happens.

Ray Bradbury stories are always thoughtful and often blend creepiness and science fiction into an always interesting story.  This movie based on his work is no exception and Steiger brings an extra level of tension and menace to the story his illustrated body tells. 

The Ghost of Greville Lodge

While browsing around Amazon for movies with a good ghost story, The Ghost of Greville Lodge (2000) starring Jon Newman, Prunella Scales and Marc Danbury caught my eye.  I hadn't heard of this British movie but it looked like it might be a good ghost story with lots of atmosphere so I gave it a try. 

A teenaged orphan, James, is invited to stay with his long lost great uncle at the family estate, Greville Lodge.  Once a bustling English country manor, now mostly closed up and run with the help of Sarah the housekeeper.  James explores the large house and manor and starts having dreams of the past where he is the owner's son.  These dreams soon become waking dreams where a ghost from the past is trying to get James to right some unfinished business.

There was some good atmosphere: wandering around the manor, estate and village (including a graveyard down the road), although I would have liked to see more.  The story kept my interest trying to tie the past to the present but overall it won't be one which I will return to.  If you are looking for a kid friendly ghost story, this may be a DVD for you.

Where Have All the People Gone?

Where Have All the People Gone? (1974) is a made for TV movie starring Peter Graves, George O'Hanlon Jr. and Kathleen Quinlan.  While camping in the Sierra Nevadas, the Anders family discovers that everyone has evaporated into dust (very similar looking effect as in the later film Night of the Comet but no zombies here).  We discover later there has been a severe solar flare which caused everyone to catch a virus and die.  Only a few people were immune.  The explanation for the disappearances doesn't make a whole lot of sense but is only the backdrop for why the family is left alone to fend for themselves.  On the way home to find out if the mother has survived, the father, son and daughter find a couple of other people to bring with them.  There is not a lot going on in this movie.  Really, the family meets very little jeopardy on the journey home through the mostly deserted cities - wild dogs and someone who steals their car.  The story is mainly the family dynamics and discovering that they want to survive in this new world.  Peter Graves is good as usual as the father.

The Bermuda Depths

I had been wanting to see The Bermuda Depths (1978) and finally bought the DVD.  The made for TV movie stars Leigh McCloskey, Carl Weathers,   Burl Ives and Connie Sellecca.  The producers are Rankin and Bass the same that brought all the stop motion animated holiday shows such as Rudolf.  This movie is live action and takes place in Bermuda.

Magnus returns to the island he grew up on trying to find out more about the mysterious death of his father many years ago.  While on the beach he meets Jennie who he soon remembers is the same girl he was friends with as a child and who used to play with him on the beach with a turtle they found since it hatched from its egg.  Jennie mysteriously always shows up swimming from the sea and there is an entire island lore about her having drowned decades ago in a sinking boat after she made a deal with the devil to save her and keep her alive. No one else except Magnus ever sees her except those doomed to drown in the sea.

The special effects are clearly done with models and the giant turtle looks like something out of the Land of the Lost.  This is a very quirky movie - a mystery, a romance, an action adventure and a creature feature.  The underwater scenes are beautifully shot and the music adds to the mysterious atmosphere of this movie. While not a masterpiece of the telefilm genre, it is a movie to enjoy on a weekend afternoon.

The Stranger Within

On a rainy summer day it was nice to stay inside and watch an old made for TV movie called The Stranger Within (1974) starring  Barbara Eden, George Grizzard and Joyce Van Patten.  Ann and David are the happily married couple until Ann discovers she is pregnant even though David had previously had a vasectomy.  That fact and the escalating strangeness of Ann's behavior soon cause a rocky marriage.  Ann starts craving way too much salt and black coffee and keeps the house cold and a mess.  She also starts speed reading through every book she can get her hands on.  We soon discover that her unborn baby is causing her to do these things.  What the baby turns out to be you'll have to watch to see.

I always like watching Barbara Eden in movies and she did a fine job acting at times crazed, erratic, and bizarre in this movie.  The setting in the sunny California hills contrasts with the shadow cast over their marriage and the coolness that permeates the film.  This is not the best Barbara Eden film from that period (see 'A Howling in the Woods') but it is an enjoyable escape on a rainy afternoon.

The Woman in Black

I finally saw The Woman in Black (2012) starring Daniel Radcliffe, Janet McTeer and Ciarán Hinds.  This is a gothic horror movie that takes place in the early 1900s.  Daniel Radcliffe plays a young lawyer  named Arthur Kipps who travels to a small remote village to go through the papers of a recently deceased client.  The village is unfriendly and seemingly frightened of him. The house he needs to go to is an imposing mansion on a remote island in the swamp lands near the sea.  He keeps seeing a woman in black and once back in town he sees one accident after another of town children getting killed.   

This movie harkens back to a time when movies didn't have to show lots of blood to scare you.  It's filled with spooky atmosphere of graveyards, ghosts, foggy causeways, dark candlelit hallways and dusty old rooms.   There are plenty of scares in this movie and an ending that you may not be expecting.  I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and found it an equal, if not improvement over the older version.  I have added this movie to my favorite haunted house movies although it would also fit nicely on my atmospheric horror list.

Dark Shadows

Last night was movie night at one of the few remaining drive-in theaters in the area.  We went and saw director  Tim Burton 's Dark Shadows (2012) starring Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter and Eva Green.

I never watched the original Dark Shadows TV series but I am a fan of the revival series from 1991.  Tim Burton's version has vampire Barnabas Collins awakened after two hundred years imprisoned in a coffin.  The time is 1972 and he rejoins his descendants in their now run down mansion, Collinwood.  Barnabas tries to help his family regain some of the importance they once held in the town that holds their family name.  His awakening also stirs up the family's archenemy, Angelique, the witch who is still alive and trying to get Barnabas to love her or else she will destroy him and his family.

The previews made this out to be an ultra campy, almost purely comedic movie.  While the actual movie  includes the comedy, camp and liberal use of 70's music, it also includes the atmosphere of the Dark Shadows series as well as the Collins family dynamics and all the other supernatural creatures such as vampires, ghosts, witches and werewolves.  The actors did a great job with their characters, including Johnny Depp as Barnabas, Michelle Pfeiffer as the family matriarch Elizabeth and a very delightful and colorful Helena Bonham Carter as Dr. Julia Hoffman.  The romance between Barnabas and Victoria Winters seemed almost like an afterthought though.

As a whole,  I liked this version of Dark Shadows.  It's a good addition to the ongoing Dark Shadows saga and I look forward to owning it when it is released on DVD/Blu-ray.

Death at Love House

Death at Love House is a made for TV move from 1976 starring Robert Wagner, Kate Jackson and Sylvia Sidney in an Aaron Spelling production.  Joel and Donna Gregory, husband and wife writing team move into the old mansion of dead Hollywood star Lorna Love so they can research and write a book about her and Joel's father who had a long affair together.

Stormy nights on the old estate add atmosphere to the other mysterious things going on on this estate: an unknown women in white who wanders around the estate, the dead star's body enshrined in a glass tomb, a man in black cloak who is up to evil and Joel suddenly starting to lose his grip on reality as he immerses himself into the memories of the house.  Donna has to get her husband to see that there is something wrong here and get them both out alive.

This is one of those made for TV movies that's perfect to watch on a Saturday afternoon.

Cat People Double Feature

I just watched a Cat People Double Feature.   Cat People (1942) starring  Simone Simon, Tom Conway and Kent Smith.  Based on tales from her homeland in Serbia, a woman fears she will turn into a cat woman if she becomes intimate with her American husband.  This film's use of light and shadow make for an eerie tale of suspense.  The scenes of the walk through the park at night and in the swimming pool are beautifully shot.  The main character of Irena is entrancing as she struggles to keep the inner cat contained while still trying to live a normal life.  This is a very enjoyable chiller from the past.

The Curse of the Cat People (1944) starring Simone Simon, Kent Smith and Jane Randolph is the sequel about Oliver and Alice's lonely daughter whose imaginary friend is Irena, the cat person from the first movie.  Although not as good as the original, the shadows and chills continue now in a small town instead of the big city of the first film.

The Amazing Mr. X

Today I watched an old movie from 1948 called "The Amazing Mr. X" (AKA "The Spiritualist").  It stars Turhan Bey, Lynn Bari and Cathy O'Donnell.  Some have called this movie a gothic noir film.  The main character believes she is being haunted by her dead husband in her mansion on a cliff overlooking the ocean.  But in fact we learn that she is being conned by her spiritualist who is out to get her money. We later discover that he's not the only one putting on a show.

This movie is filled with mystery, eeriness and lots of atmosphere.  It was an entertaining film to watch.