Weekend of Terror

WEEKEND OF TERROR is about a pair of kidnappers named Eddie and Larry (Robert Conrad and Lee Majors). After botching their abduction -Eddie's a bit homicidal- the two scramble for a way to get the ransom money, even though their abductee is dead! Their solution? Why, grab a trio of nuns (Jane Wyatt, Carol Lynley, and Lois Nettleton) of course!

The brilliant plan is to pawn one of them off as their former victim. While this may sound like the setup for a screwball comedy, it's actually a made-for-TV suspense thriller. As such, it's not a bad movie. This is mostly due to the "decent crook" / "crazy, eeevil crook" dynamic, between the two assailants.

Majors plays his role as the more sedate Larry with laid-back ease, and Conrad's Eddie is dangerous, always about an inch away from his next maniacal rampage!

A little more worldly than her Sisters, Ellen (Nettleton) benefits from her less naive nature. Can she use this against these men, before it's too late?

A flashback to a time when movies like this seemed to be on every night! A fun way to spend an evening. Watch for Gregory Sierra in an early role as a cop...

This starts with a man chasing a woman and it's filmed in slow motion . Amazingly one of the names featured in the credits is Lee Majors who isn't actually either of the characters running in slow motion . This sets up the story that is equally slow motion . This is a pity because there's all sorts of potential in this TVM but of course being a TVM there's rules involved , as in no sex , violence , bad language , blasphemy or anything else that will alienate a family audience

It's a very bland tale where two criminals have an intricate if not implausible plan and they need a hostage and they've just lost their original hostage which means they need a plan B and low and behold a miracle happens because three nuns just happen to suffer a car breakdown on a remote desert highway . Obviously the Gods were on the side of the baddies at this point

Did I mention how bland this TVM was ? As I said it goes out of its way to offend absolutely no one . The victims are nuns but there is absolutely no reason why they should be nuns they could be some really hot cheerleaders and it would have not made the slightest piece of difference to the telling of the story except to perhaps manipulate the audience in to feeling sorry for them . There's no need because they're women held at gunpoint and that should be enough

What an excitement for me to have here the two heroes - at least Robert Conrad as Jim West, for WILD WILD WEST - from my childhood TOGETHER and in villains roles. When I watched SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, I was actually not a child anymore but a young teen, but it's not important...I would have liked so much so see Majors in a COLUMBO episode, playing a wealthy crime mastermind.... In this very good suspense yarn, I am totally satisfied with with my younger years TV heroes playing bad guys. Jud Taylor was a prolific TV stuff provider and this one here proves his efficiency in terms of directing skills. However, I admit it could have been a bit better on some points...For instance the ending.

Handsomely-produced TV-movie from Paramount has two desperate men, holed up in an abandoned house in California's High Desert, hastily rearranging their kidnap-for-ransom plan after their female captive suffers a fall and dies; they decide to kidnap another woman to take the dead girl's place, but end up with three nuns in the bargain (two in robes and habits, one in civilian clothes: a pleated mini-skirt and go-go boots!). Fairly entertaining yarn, written by Lionel E. Siegel with tongue slightly in-cheek, begins well but unravels completely by the third act. This holy trio of Sisters (Lois Nettleton, Jane Wyatt and Carol Lynley) is quite an unlikely group--as are Robert Conrad and Lee Majors as the kidnappers! The characters are not fleshed out by the writing, therefore we never fear for their safety. Lynley has a big dramatic sequence late in the film which Siegel squashes merely so he can continue along with his formula (this may not have been his fault, however, as most television dramas from this era were not made to be surprising or provocative--just routine). However, Jud Taylor's competent direction and the interesting rural locales manage to hold interest for most of this "Weekend".

The film is about a couple of kidnappers who's captive died and the 2 men decided to get another woman to pretend to be the woman that died so they can get the ransom money. They didn't bargain for 3 nuns but that is what they got. The nuns end up with a case of Stockholm Syndrome.

Pretty good crime-thriller, suspenseful enough to keep me interested. Well acted out. There a small handful of flaws but overall it's not a bad TV film of the 1970s.

The film is about 1 hour 15 minutes but feels like a longer film. Not so much because it's boring but just feels like a 2 hour movie.

Worth watching on a boring afternoon.

8/10.