Dying Room Only

A favorite t.v. movie from the 70's. Again, Richard Matheson creates atmosphere and suspense out of almost nothing as a couple stops at a remote diner/motel and the husband never returns from the bathroom. From the bathroom? Who writes a suspense movie where the husband apparently falls in the toilet? The man who brought you the vindictive 16 wheeler of "Duel." Unlike that clever but overpraised feature, "D.R.O." (What's up with that title? It can't be a play on "S.R.O." can it? You don't buy tickets for the toilet?) stays close to realistic scale, and the less than apocalyptic climax is a face-off by two determined middle-aged women. Complain all you want - it worked for me then, it works for me now.

Apparently there was enough interest in "Dying Room Only" that made Warner Bros. release this on DVD on 1/19/10. Its on a web-site called www.warnerarchive.com. This is also a re-mastered print which isn't too common for made-for-TV-movies. I just ordered mine and it is definitely worth the investment. TV airings of this movie have all since passed and probably won't get the time of day any longer, so the DVD is worth it's weight in gold. ($19.99) It is crystal clear and the movie is un-cut. There aren't any extras or special features but it is still a treat. Kudos to Warner Bros!! (who has the Lorimar Productions library of movies).

Not many movies give great thrills/suspense like Dying Room Only or Steven Spielberg's Duel. A couple makes a stop in the Arizona desert at the Arroyo Motel, a shabby diner-like place with two hostile locals: a cook (Ross Martin) and a customer (Ned Beatty). When Cloris Leachman comes back from the toilet her husband (Dabney Coleman) has disappeared. Now she's on her own and does her best acting ever. A lady at the motel (Louise Latham) and the local sheriff (Dana Elcar) aren't much help either and no contact with home can be made. So Cloris must search the place herself... Eerie atmosphere and great suspense should teach modern movie makers how to save on budgets and do some real entertaining. The big mystery: why doesn't a great thriller like this one get reruns or gets out on DVD? Only crappy overpriced VHS tapes in the net can be found... ABC please please please spread this movie.

I just saw "Dying Room Only" for the first time in over 30 years, and this is a typically great 70's TV-movie thriller. A couple (Cloris Leachman looking pretty good, and hubby Dabney Coleman) stop at a lonely desert cafe (in the daytime, not the nighttime as the summary here states) and the husband disappears as the wife is in the ladies room. The only two possible witnesses (the cafe cook and customer Ned Beatty, in a great sleazy role) are saying nothing. What happened? Where did the husband go? The movie then takes off to have Cloris Leachman trying to figure it out, since she is getting almost no help at all from anyone. Is even the local cop in on it, whatever "it" may be? Everyone is suspect. Nighttime comes, and danger looms....

I do agree with the reviewer that stated this film could have been better in the second half. The first half is amazing - very suspenseful and thrilling. The second half kind of veers into "typical" fare but is still decent.

A bunch of familiar 70's faces round out the small cast. Especially since the film is fairly short at about 1:13 (most TV-movies back then were 90 minutes with the commercials) this is definitely a fun watch.

You've read the plot for this television film on this page. What can I add? A married couple pulls up to a seedy diner on the way home from vacation. They are smack in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in the desert.

They encounter a nasty cook and a goof-ball customer. Both enter the bathrooms to wash up. She comes out, but he does not. She knocks on the door calling to him. No answer.

The fun begins. Kind of spooky at times. Good entertainment. Cloris Leachman is very good in this film. So are Ross Martin and Ned Beatty. And Dana Elcar does a good job as the sheriff. Oh, and the husband is a very young Dabney Coleman.

I would love to see this one again.