It was a modern means of keeping alive the old tradition of telling scary stories during the Christmas season. Although the series has been revived in recent years, the run spanning 1971- 1978 represents BBC's original strand of supernatural tales, starring classic actors such as Denholm Elliott and the directing talents of Lawrence Gordon Clark and bringing to life the works (chiefly) of M.R. James and Charles Dickens. It's BBC's Ghost Stories for Christmas, just in time for the holidays. On this episode, we explore the 1977 offering, STIGMA, starring Kate Binchy.
Wishing a very Happy Thanksgiving to all. We pick up the theme of pilgrims and witchery with Crowhaven Farm (1970), an Aaron Spelling Production, starring Hope Lange and Paul Burke as a childless couple who look for a fresh start in an ancestral farm house. Look for the venerable Cyril Delevanti (The Twilight Zone, Thriller, Night Gallery) as the elder town historian who tells us Crowhaven's dark past, a legacy that calls to its new inhabitants.
We take the occasion of Charles Manson's death to visit the docudrama, Helter Skelter, starring Steve Railsback. The murders that shocked a nation have reverberated for decades and so it is worth noting the death of the man who directed those senseless killings. This excellent telefilm was produced close in time to the actual events and tells the story without any sense of exploitation.
We take a look at the ill-fated Tales of the Unexpected from powerhouse producer, Quinn Martin. The feature-length Force of Evil (1977) stars Lloyd Bridges as a man who must protect his family from the vengeful ex-convict who is stalking them.
When David Banner gets an overdose of gamma radiation, it awakens an inner-monster who is triggered by rage, transforming the doctor into The Incredible Hulk. We take a look a the 1978 pilot telefilm by Kenneth Johnson, starring Bill Bixby and Susan Sullivan.
DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW ranks as a high watermark for the horror genre, not just in television, but in any medium. Directed by Frank DeFelitta (Audrey Rose, The Entity) from the script by J.D. Feigelson and starring Larry Drake and Charles Durning, it's a terrifying exercise in otherworldly justice.
Squeezing in a bonus show for October: HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL (1957-1963) was grounded in the real world of the Old West, but in the episode, EVERYMAN, Paladin draws the Tarot Death Card and experiences a brush with the supernatural. Richard Boone stars.
They're the most glamorous amateur sleuths going. We gather with the Harts in an old, dark house in search of hidden treasure....and murder. Hart to Hart was an extremely entertaining murder mystery show that ran for five seasons, beginning in 1979, starring Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers.
Hitch your wagon to episode 34 for a journey back to this nightmare on the prairie. This is one hardcore episode of Little House you won't want to miss this Halloween.
Things gets downright spooky in this episode from season 4 of The Andy Griffith Show. When Opie's baseball lands in the old Rimshaw place, it stirs up the heebie jeebies in Mayberry because this house is rumored to be haunted.
They're the spawn of Satan, dormant for centuries, but awakened once more to rival mankind. They are the GARGOYLES (1972). We take a look at this CBS Tuesday Night movie from the movie-of-the-week golden age, and fold our wings and bow are horns in honor of the recently departed Bernie Casey. Come fly with us.
TV TERROR shows up in the craziest places. This episode, it's marooned on a desert island with some spooked castaways. Join us for Ghost-A-Go-Go, from Gilligan's Island's second season.
Frank De Felitta gave us some great stuff: Audrey Rose, The Entity, and Dark Night of the Scarecrow. But did you know that he gave us James Brolin in a department store, hounded by killer dogs? It's TRAPPED from 1973, an ABC Movie of the Week.
We've lost Tobe Hooper. He made his mark on cinema, but also had a career on the small screen. We remember his lesser-known TV-film, I'M DANGEROUS TONIGHT (1990), starring Mädchen Amick and Anthony Perkins, all about an ancient cloak that corrupts anyone who touches it.
It was like CREEPSHOW for TV. It was George A. Romero's dark anthology series, TALES from the DARKSIDE, one of the best shows of its kind and a gift to eighties television.
As we anticipate the big-screen adaptation of Stephen King's IT, I thought I'd float a show about the 1990 mini-series (we all float down here). This one does many things well and scores high on the creep factor scale. Of course, we're all dying to see how the new Pennywise stacks up against Tim Curry's clown.
It's the TV TERROR Season One grand finale... Episode 24: Dan Curtis' DRACULA (1973)! Jack Palance wears the cape and Dan Curtis directs from a script by Richard Matheson. Visiting with me in the great green living room are special guests, Anthony D. P. Mann and Barry Yuen, both highly qualified to plumb the depths of one of the finest productions of its kind. Grab a wooden stake and join us, why don't you....
When waves of wounded arrive at the 4077, the sleep-deprived crew find no rest in their slumbers. They're plagued with nightmares as the horrors of war seep into their dreams.
It was the television event of the decade, traumatizing viewers the world over and influencing the most powerful leaders on earth. It was THE DAY AFTER (1983).
David Naughton (An American Werewolf in London) is a law student on the trail of a woman who stalks the night in search of blood in DESIRE, THE VAMPIRE (1982). Brad Dourif (Child's Play, Lord of the Rings) co-stars.
The Ouija board becomes a channel of malevolence for a murder witness played by Kathleen Beller in DEADLY MESSAGES (1985).
Forget Mary Ingalls, Melissa Sue Anderson is a witch on wheels in Midnight Offerings (1981).
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Pamela Sue Martin and Tim Matheson are a yuppie couple who chuck city life for a slower pace on bucolic Devlin Island, but all is not as it seems in the town they now call home. It's the NBC telefilm, BAY COVEN (1987).
You can find TV TERROR in the unlikeliest places, like this episode of The Brady Bunch, when the family jets to Hawaii, only to fall under the curse of an ancient idol. Vincent Price guest stars!
Dennis Weaver crosses lanes with a truck-wielding maniac in Steven Spielberg's first feature, the ABC Movie-of-the-Week, DUEL (1971).