The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre

I can remember this being shown on Melbourne TV a few times in the 60's, and the 70's; always very late at night. It was the most effective ghost story I can ever remember seeing: it scared me stupid as a kid. Surely this still exists in someones "vault" of movies. I hope it one day sees the light of day on DVD. If Martin Landau does have a copy perhaps a copy can be made of this, then it can be digitally restored for us all to enjoy. At the very least it would make an excellent addition to a "decent" classic Outer Limits DVD set (presently they have no extras at all) as a tribute to Joseph Stefano. A few years ago I contacted TV stations, particularly our ABC in Australia but sadly no memory of this film exists with anyone now.

This film was produced by Joseph Stephano after he left the Outer Limits series. It was apparently intended as a pilot for a new TV series.

I first found out about the film when many years ago I read a limited edition book about TV pilots, it may be "Unsold TV Pilots: The Almost Complete Guide to Everything You Never Saw on TV 1955-1990" or not. The book belonged to a friend. Regardless the description of the pilot features a colorful comment by Martin Landau who describes the network executives at the first screening soiling their garments. He also says it was one of the best things he had worked on ever.

The pilot may have been re-edited for a theatrical release but it apparently never was shown in the United States outside that network executive screening. If "INCUBUS" was found, somebody should dig this one up

In the mid 1960s, a pilot titled 'The Haunted' was shot in the hopes of launching a new series that would be something like 'The Twilight Zone' and 'The Outer Limits', but would concentrate more on flat-out horror. The series was not picked up, so what we now have is a stand-alone TV movie that is good and interesting, and a notable entry into genre television. (There also exists the version 'The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre', which includes some additional scenes, and which this reviewer will be referring to.) Robert Stevens, a veteran of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' and TZ, started directing, but fell very ill, and directing chores were then turned over to writer-producer Joseph Stefano, who of course had adapted Robert Blochs' novel "Psycho" for Hitchcock.

Martin Landau stars as Nelson Orion (a neat name, that), an architect who fights for the preservation of historical buildings. He also dabbles in the supernatural, because it's an interesting subject for him. He investigates hauntings, yet doesn't automatically reach for the most outlandish explanation. He grants that a good number of them can be no more than pranks, or otherwise have a reasonable explanation. He comes to the aid of blind rich man Henry Mandore (episodic TV veteran Tom Simcox), who thinks he's being haunted by his late mother. The plot thickens in intriguing ways, as Nelson meets Henry's wife Vivia (the pretty Diane Baker, "Strait-Jacket") and mysterious housekeeper Paulina (Dame Judith Anderson, "Rebecca").

'The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre' can legitimately claim to be genuinely spooky. It has the kind of wonderful atmosphere that the best "old dark house" movies possess. Two of the people responsible for its great look are the renowned cinematographers Conrad L. Hall ("Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid") and William A. Fraker ("Rosemary's Baby"). (The latter was the camera operator here.) And Dominic Frontiere did the shuddery score.

The movie doesn't miss opportunities for humour, considering the relationship that Nelson has with his witty housekeeper, Mary Finch (Nellie Burt, another TV veteran). She professes not to believe in the supernatural, while he prefers to be open to all possibilities. This leads to an interesting conversation between the two of them.

This is sort of done in the tradition of great black & white horror like "The Haunting" (1963), except that this time we do get to see the spirit, and it's a pretty good effect for a TV movie shot over 50 years ago. It's appropriately gnarly-looking.

More people should be made aware of this one. At the least, it's a good candidate for a cult favourite.

Eight out of 10.

In '64 or '65 my father ,who was working at CBS brought home a 16mm print of this film which had been screened at the network as a potential pilot,but was rejected because the network (CBS) felt it was too scary for television audiences. I was 7 years old at the time& my Brother was 9 when we first watched this film, and it was the most frightening thing we had ever seen."The Bleeding Ghost" as we referred to it gave us both nightmares for many years to follow,but we still watched it over &over again.When I was 18 my families house burned completely to the ground & the 16mm print was lost in the fire with everything else.I am now 47 and images & sounds from this film still linger in my mind.My father, my brother & I would all very much like to find a copy,in any form, of this classic work of horror. Any leads would be greatly appreciated.

Nice ghost story, directed by Joseph Stefano and starring Martin Landau as architect and paranormal investigator, Nelson Orion. He agrees to look into the case of a man apparently receiving phone calls from beyond the grave - but things soon take another turn. Tom Simcox plays the blind client, Diane Baker his wife, and the new housekeeper is Judith Anderson (the sinister Mrs Danvers in Alfred Hitchcock's version of Rebecca). The performances are good - especially from Landau and Anderson - and despite some of the effects looking a bit hokey today, it's pretty atmospheric with some great seafront and clifftop locations. This was originally intended as a pilot for a proposed TV series called The Haunted (the whole thing has a distinctly Dan Curtis feel to it). In the end the series wasn't picked up, so additional scenes were filmed and it was released as a standalone feature. Very enjoyable - should be better known. 7/10.