Crowhaven Farm

There was some good stuff made for television during the seventies, and while Crowhaven Farm doesn't stand tall as one of the best horror films ever made, it's a very decent one that is certainly worth seeing. The plot doesn't really offer anything new, and simply follows the idea of a coven of witches, centred around the sinister Crowhaven Farm. The plot focuses on Ben and Maggie Porter, a couple that inherit the farm after the death of her father. Their marriage is tainted by the fact that Maggie cannot bear children, and the couple move to the farm in the hope that the change of scenery will help to pick up their relationship. Under the direction of experienced TV director Walter Grauman, a good cast gives way to a thoroughly interesting tale of witchcraft. Grauman does well with the atmosphere, and while most of the film is build up for the ending; things such as the haunting music score and numerous plot revelations ensure that the film never dries up. Of course, all this build up needs a good climax, and the film gets just that with an ending that definitely justifies getting there. Overall, this is obviously a little thin and it won't be winning any 'greatest horror film ever' awards...but it's good stuff and comes recommended.

1970's "Crowhaven Farm" was among the earliest TV movies that left its mark on impressionable viewers of those many decades ago. The prolific Aaron Spelling never lost his knack for producing entertaining television, and with the small screen unable to serve up much in the way of blood or violence, subtlety was the way they had to go. A tale of witchcraft in Massachusetts seems like old hat today, but in the wake of Roman Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby" it wasn't as overexposed as it is 50 years later. Hope Lange was clearly cast against type as Maggie Carey Porter, whose presence at rural Crowhaven Farm incites memories long suppressed from a past life, sparking great success for her artist husband Ben (Paul Burke) but dire consequences for herself. The two stars are easily overshadowed by the supporting cast, in particular 12 year old Cindy Eilbacher, alternately angelic yet strangely knowing, even alluring little girl taking more than a liking to the oblivious Ben. Cindy's career was just as busy as elder sister Lisa, both of whom appeared in another TV movie of great creepy repute, 1974's "Bad Ronald." Also on hand, all too briefly unfortunately, is veteran scene stealer John Carradine, in typical form playing handyman Nate Cheever, like the girl a not so innocent presence going about his daily duties with some fiendish purpose in mind (Aaron Spelling had first used the actor on his 1959 Western series JOHNNY RINGO). It may be more effective for those nostalgically inclined, but still holds up as one of the better examples of TV terror from its first and greatest decade.

I agree with everyone below who remembers this movie from their childhood as being very scary. There are a couple of vivid images - and story lines - that have stayed with me these 30-odd years. I've sometimes wondered if this is where Sting got the idea for the darker connotations of the song title "I'll Be Watching You"! Whew. The whole Salem thing; the whole story line in Salem; and the whole story line in the present, and how they inter-link. The resolution still chills me, even as I write this. Hope Lange of course is great in it; her husband and the girl on the road. Chilling performances. DOES ANYONE HAVE THIS ON TAPE / KNOW HOW TO GET IT ON TAPE?

I saw this movie when I was a kid and I never forgot about it! I have looked for it for years in stores, online, etc. I have never even met anyone who had heard of it until I got here and had a brainstorm. This movie was so well done, no special effects really, but like the other comments, the scene with the door and the rocks and that evil, evil teenage girl stayed with me for 30 years! This movie is a classic.

I also remember vividly, the policeman in the park at the end of the movie who looked like Hope's husband. I think back now and I realize it was a perfect set up for a sequel-in the days when there were no sequels!

I'm so glad other people have good memories of the horror films of the 60's, 70's. I sure enjoyed them

Someday, someone should write a book examining why TV movies of the late 60s and early 70s were often preoccupied with witchcraft and horror at a time when the cinema shied away from the subjects, except for B movies and the rare blockbuster ala "Rosemary's Baby." Even some of the sillier ones ("Satan's School for Girls" anyone?) worked up some genuine chills. But "Crowhaven Farm" has to be the best. From the opening scenes right through the surprising (and terrifying) climax, this little thriller puts "The Exorcist" and other, later, big-budget chillers to shame. It may have been the TV movie's lack of pretentiousness that worked to its advantage. Made quickly and economically, "Crowhaven Farm" had no time for high-fallutin' symbolic nonsense. It did what it set out to do - inspire nightmares - and did it very well.