She Cried Murder

I saw this made for TV movie when I was in grade school. It was a suspenseful cat-and-mouse story, and Savalas was very scary as the bad guy. I'm still trying to figure out why no one else in that busy subway station saw Savalas push that woman onto the tracks other than Ms. George. The murder that sets the story off is mean and horrific, even by today's standards. The fun is in watching Ms. George become more and more desperate as Savalas closes in on her. The final chase scene is a nail biter! As far as made for TV suspense flicks from the seventies go, this was one of the good ones. I wonder what ever happened to Lynda Day George? She was all over TV back in the day.

Anyone that knows and understands the Giallo subgenre of fright flicks will see right through this made for t.v., wants-to-be-a-giallo terror tale. Watered down telefilm has a 'Cat O' Nine Tails' plotted murder on a train and the identity of the killer as the catalyst of the female protagonist's dilemma. There is some style to spare in this film with a staircase scene in a restaurant that has the beautific visual style of Mario Bava and the camera movements of Dario Argento but alas THIS is the ONLY scene where any true workmanship is to be found. The makers of this little flick no doubt stayed up all night perusing older Giallo murder tapes to get this scene right. Otherwise this is routine yet watchable fare with Telly Savalas as the menace and Lynda Day George as the prey.

Telly Savalas is the only good thing about this film. Looked like a very bad "B" cop TV show. Acting is just a lame too, again minus Telly Savalas.

So this woman is looking out of a subway train - right at the very beginning of the film. She sees someone push a woman right in front of the train. Naturally the train stops, she gets off, and sees Brody (Savalas) and he sees her. Inspector Joe Brody walks on. She reports what see saw and tries for the rest of the movie to convince the police that Inspector Joe Brody is the man she saw pushing the woman. Of course no 1970s cop show is complete without a few action chase scenes.

I dislike these types of movies - even TV Movies filmed in this style. I am not a fan of action "B" police shows. I also dislike a boring story and this one is Bore-ring! 1/10

She Cried Murder (1973)

*** (out of 4)

Sarah Cornell (Lynda Day George) is riding the first cart of a subway when she sees a woman get pushed onto the tracks. The train comes to a stop and when she gets off she gets a very clear look at the man who pushed her. Later in the day she decides to call and tell the police but when they show up to get her story she's shocked to see that Inspector Joe Brody (Telly Savalas) is the one who pushed the lady. The rest of the film is the cat and mouse chase as he tries to kill her to keep her shut.

SHE CRIED MURDER is a good but at times frustrating made-for-television movie that manages to have a lot of good things going for but at the same time you're going to need to turn your brain off. I say this because there are so many logical issues that you've pretty much got to overlook including the fact that this woman is running miles and miles screaming and begging for help yet no one ever does. A quick call to the police at any moment probably would have helped. There is a sequence where the cops are involved but of course they don't believe anything she says. A slight bit of investigating on their part would have gone a long way.

As for the good, the film moves pretty quickly and really plays like a silent movie because there's not too much dialogue. The majority of the picture features George running while Savalas tries to catch her. There are some nice tense scenes throughout and director Herschel Daugherty certainly makes this fun throughout. Savalas is certainly good in the role of the psychopath and George is alright as well. SHE CRIED MURDER isn't the greatest film ever made but it's slight and quick entertainment.

With just over an hour's worth of movie time, this is a to-the-point thriller where a commercial actress witnesses a murder committed by a rogue cop. What results is a cat-and-mouse chase with some suspenseful police detective work mixed in. Not bad TV movie overall, with some entertaining moments. The acting was fine for the most part.

Grade B