(Streamed via Film Rabbits)
Dan (Dark Shadows) Curtis produced and directed this TV pilot that is sort of similar to The Night Stalker. It didn’t get picked up as a series, which is unfortunate. It has a clever enough hook, a great cast of guest stars, and some genuinely creepy moments.
The Invaders’ Roy Thinnes stars as a writer named Norliss who disappears while working on a book debunking the supernatural. The only thing he left behind was a series of cassette tapes documenting his experiences. His worried publisher plays his first tape, which finds him coming to the aid of a widow (Angie Dickinson) who shoots a midnight intruder. The problem is, the intruder was her husband… who happens to be already dead.
Curtis uses the detective story trope to string together a bunch of cool supernatural ingredients. These elements include a cursed Egyptian ring, fortune tellers, motorists drained of their blood, and zombies. Since the tapes are material for Thinnes’ book, the narration is a lot more descriptive than your average TV film, which helps to perfectly set the mood.
The opening really draws you in and once the tape is popped into the player, the momentum rarely lets up. Curtis also stages a first-rate zombie attack when Thinnes and Dickinson are menaced by her undead hubby in the rain. What makes this guy a memorable zombie is the fact he continues his sculpting hobby into the afterlife. Since he’s a maniacal ghoul, he likes to put his victims’ blood into his clay and makes red demon sculptures out of them. Really sick stuff. I love it. Curtis keeps the fun coming right along all the way through to the fiery finale, which contains a fine blend of genuine shocks and ‘70s Made for TV cheese. That is to say, it was very much my shit.
The film is anchored by a cool and confident performance by Thinnes. It’s a shame the series never got picked up because I would’ve loved to see him battling monsters on a weekly basis. Dickinson is excellent as the scared widow who is capable of blowing away zombie husbands at point blank range. We also have Claude Akins as (what else?) a sheriff, Soap’s Robert Mandan as Thinnes’ lawyer, and Vonetta (Blacula) McGee as a medium who dabbles in the occult, all of whom lend fine support.
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