THE 31 DAYS OF HORROR-WEEN: PRIME EVIL: BAFFLED! (1973) **

Mr. Spock stars as a race car driver who has bizarre visions in the middle of a race, causing him to crash.  Susan Hampshire is a reporter specializing in psychic phenomenon who thinks his visions are of a murder yet to take place.  Together, they travel to England, piece together the clues from Spock’s brain, and try to prevent the murder before it can occur. 

The chintzy opening credits contain footage of what we’re about to see.  This isn’t a play on Spock’s psychic premonitions, but rather a dead giveaway this isn’t really a movie, but a failed TV pilot.  Despite the okay set-up and premise, like most ‘70s TV movies, there’s a lot of filler in the middle section that needlessly drags things out and get in the way of the fun.

Some of you may wonder why I included Baffled! as part of The 31 Days of Horror-Ween as it’s a watered-down TV movie.  Trust me, there’s enough genre clichés here for it to qualify.  There’s an elaborate murder plot, psychic battles, and a cult that may or may not be draining victims of their youth to keep their members eternally young.

The real reason I watched it was to see Mr. Spock badly miscast as a cavalier race car driver with psychic powers.  Yes, the horror elements are not what you would call overt, but how could I turn down an opportunity to see:   

1)    Mr. Spock drive a race car courtesy of some hilariously bad rear-screen projection. 

2)    Mr. Spock locked in a psychic battle of wills with a little girl. 

3)    Mr. Spock doing the old Austin Powers “That’s not your mother, it’s a man, baby!” routine.

4)    Mr. Spock having trippy psychic visions that make him look like he’s going through pon farr on LSD. 

5)    Mr. Spock telling someone, “Don’t be so emotional!”

The chemistry and banter between Spock and the prim and proper Hampshire is agreeable, if slight.  Their characters are really nothing more than a thin variation on the typical though durable Mismatched Detectives trope commonly found on TV.  Baffled! isn’t bad exactly, but it’s easy to see why it wasn’t picked up as a series.