Verdict
Summary
Dan Curtis’ Late Night Mysteries collects these four pretty solid made-for-TV films, and it’s a good first start at bringing the huge catalogue of Wide World of Mystery to home video. With four audio commentaries and video introductions to each film, this two-disc set is worth owning for curious cult film collectors. It’s part of the “Kino Cult” series, numbered on the spine at #36.
Shadow of Fear (1974) Plot:
Detectives try to figure out who is stalking a woman, who thinks she’s going crazy.
Review:
Dana (Anjanette Comer) has an escort (played by Tom Selleck without a mustache) to a private function, and he’s nothing but a gentleman, but when she returns home, she’s shocked to find her home in complete disarray with everything in the house turned inside out by thugs or thieves. When police are called, the cops have difficulty figuring out what may have happened: Some things were stolen, but nothing of any real value, and what’s notable is that a lot of things were destroyed rather than taken. Her husband Martin (Jason Evers) shows up and answers questions, but nothing is really solved at that point. A seasoned ex-cop named Styran (Claude Akins) decides to take time out of his life to help Dana because he is attracted to her, but when it’s revealed that Dana used to me in a mental institution and had a breakdown before, suspicions turn to her as having some kind of psychosis or split personality. But Styran instead turns his focus on Martin as trying to provoke her to have another breakdown in order to take control of her assets, but the truth is more sinister than Styran realizes … until it’s almost too late.
A Wide World of Mystery feature, Shadow of Fear works pretty well as a stagey, all-set-indoors mystery with good performances. There’s no death, just “fear,” as it were, and the big reveal should come as no surprise if you’re paying attention. Selleck’s role is very minor, but it’s nice seeing him as a young stud, but the real star here is Akins, who looks pretty intimidating, though we see a softer side of him as a big ex cop who falls for the wrong gal. Directed by Herbert Kenwith.
The Invasion of Carol Enders (1974) Plot:
A woman suffering wounds to her eyes experiences a takeover of her body … that of a recently deceased woman who was taken to the same hospital just a few days before.
Review:
Blonde housewife Carol (Meredith Baxter) is attacked by a lurker in the woods, and she suffers wounds to her eyes. Recuperating in the hospital with bandages over her eyes, Carol immediately begin acting like someone else entirely, and she suddenly has memories and thoughts of another woman, that of a woman who was killed in a car wreck a few days ago, someone named Diana. Doctors and Carol’s close friends are completely baffled by Carol’s new completely formed alternate personality, but even more troubling is that she has the dead woman’s next of kin – her ex-husband Peter (Charles Aidman) completely convinced that Carol has the reincarnated spirit of his ex inhabiting her body. When Carol / Diana begins revealing clues as to her recent death and the suspicious circumstances surrounding it, she/they reveal that she was murdered … and she knows who did it!
With creepy imagery and an almost sleepwalking nightmare quality to it, The Invasion of Carol Danvers is a solid little weird mystery with a supernatural twist. I can definitely see housewives and their impressionable young children might have watched this one night and been spooked out by it. Star Baxter was very beautiful here, and she was able to convey a somewhat complex dual role with ease. From director Burt Brickerhoff and from producer Dan Curtis.
Come Die With Me (1974) Plot:
Blackmail turns to murder when a housekeeper’s obsession and jealousy becomes all-consuming.
Review:
Walter (played by George Maharis) asks his wealthy brother for a 20K loan to get him out of a bind, and when he’s refused, they have a scuffle and Walter’s brother is killed. It’s not exactly murder, but it’s certainly manslaughter, but he gets away with it and ends up inheriting his brother’s estate and fortune, which equals more than three-quarters of a million dollars. But then the curveball hits him: His brother’s housekeeper Mary (Eileen Brennan) blackmails him because she saw what happened. The blackmail isn’t about money, but about love and affection: She demands that Walter be at home and “love” her and treat her life a wife 24/7, which is pretty creepy, but she means it. Pretending to love her while also being her live-in slave, Walter is eventually able to fool her into leaving the house for a 10-day period, but being the obsessive woman that she is, Mary quickly figures out that she’s been duped (and dumped) by Walter. She tracks him down and make it very clear that he’ll never be able to escape her, but there’s a hint of irony when she realizes (too late) that he’s actually loyal to her in the end.
A strange and twisty little thriller / drama with a supremely creepy Brennan as a super controlling love master, Come Die With Me weaves an affecting spell on the audience. Who do we root for? Who should we hate? The movie offers you two (maybe three) options, and they’re all doomed options, so the outcome is never comfortable. Director Burt Brinckerhoff manages to do a lot with very little here, and this might be the gem of the four films in this collection.
Nightmare at 43 Hillcrest (1974) Plot:
A wrongful raid on a family’s home results in the revealing of corruption within the police department.
Review:
The Leydon family (Jim Hutton plays the patriarch, Emmaline Henry is the matriarch, and Linda Curtis is the daughter) have their lives crudely interrupted when all of a sudden police raid their home and find heroin stashed somewhere. Greg (Hutton) has no idea where or how this happened, but he’s in the hot seat with the police commissioner, who’s also running for office in the upcoming election, who is ready to declare this an open and shut case, which would ruin Greg’s – and his family’s lives – forever. Before that can happen, though, an investigator (played by Mariette Hartley) starts asking the tough questions, quickly revealing that there’s much more to this case than meets the eye.
Thrusting the viewer into the clearly innocent family that’s been accused of terrible crimes, Nightmare at 43 Hillcrest almost resembles a Twilight Zone episode, but much more reality-based, and it concludes with a wall of text explaining what happened to the characters after the events of the story play out, making it seem like it’s based on a true story, ripped straight from the headlines. That said, it’s my least favorite of the four titles included in this collection, if only because it’s very much a procedural rather than escapism. From director Lela Swift.
Dan Curtis’ Late Night Mysteries collects these four pretty solid made-for-TV films, and it’s a good first start at bringing the huge catalogue of Wide World of Mystery to home video. With four audio commentaries and video introductions to each film, this two-disc set is worth owning for curious cult film collectors. It’s part of the “Kino Cult” series, numbered on the spine at #36.
