La malédiction de la veuve noire

ABC produced some entertraining, fast paced monster movies in the late 70's. This movie wastes no time getting to the action. Since it was made for TV and premiered on a Friday night, it had to be action filled before every commercial break to keep you tuned in. The twist at the end was neat. It's also interesting to see some TV star veterans who you might recognize from popular shows of the 60's, 70's and 80's, like Donna Mills from Knots Landing, June Lockhart from Lost in Space, and Rob Kelly who was one of two actresses that played Pinky Tuscadero on Happy Days.

If you enjoyed this movie, a couple other hidden gems that were ABC made for TV films are The Bermuda Depths starring Carl Weathers and Connie Seleca, about a legendary woman who turns into a giant sea turtle, and Cruise into Terror starring Dirk Benedict and John Forsythe about a cursed Egyptian mummy sarcophagus being transported on a cruise ship. These films won't win any Emmys, and some of the stars were embarrassed to be in them, but nevertheless they are memorable because they were so schlocky and yet well-cast with TV all-stars, and broadcast in an age of television where there were only three networks to choose from.

Take Patty Duke, Donna Mills, June Allyson and June Lockhart. Add schizophrenia, were-spiders (similar to -wolves, but with eight legs), 1977 Los Angeles and Dan Curtis. Sprinkle with a bit of nepotism (Tracy Curtis, daughter of director Dan, has 15 seconds showing off on a balance beam that's grafted on like a third arm), add a pinch of bad cinematography and annoying commercial fade-outs, and bake well for what seems like forever.

Garnish with stereotypical "Injuns", gay morgue directors and sassy streetwalkers, then soak in brine for two hours. Prop dialogue firmly on stilts and spit in its eye. That's this movie. I loved it.

Right down to the meaty, slappable smile of the implausible leading man, every detail seemed just a bit ... off. And happily so. If this one doesn't generate derisive howls of laughter at your next homocockail soiree, sweetie, you need to redecorate or something.

In the late 1970s, you had to buy a movie ticket to see this many stars humiliate themselves, I.e., The Swarm, Hurricane, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, etc.

This is just bad. It is bad in a fun way though. You might wince seeing such a great talent like Patty Duke being so awful but you'll forget the more you start laughing.

I'm not going to bother explaining the pmit. Its really irrelevant.

CURSE OF THE BLACK WIDOW opens with the violent death of a man by what appears to be a monster. It turns out that several such incidents have occurred recently.

Private investigator, Mark Higbie (Tony Franciosa) is drawn into the case while investigating the disappearance of a woman's (Donna Mills) husband. Her name is Leigh Lockwood, and her family might just have some connection to all of this.

Police officers Conti (Vic Morrow) and Ragsdale (Max "Wojo" Gail) are also on the bizarre case. It is discovered that in all of the deaths, the victims were totally drained of blood, and injected with some sort of venom. It seems that a mysterious woman named Valerie Stephen is somehow involved. Could the crazy theories and first-hand accounts that Higbie has been hearing, actually be true? What, if anything does this have to do with Leigh and her family?

COTBW is another of Director Dan Curtis' made-for-TV horror creations. Sporting an intriguing creature and an all-star cast, it's enjoyable, though formulaic, following a similar pattern as Curtis' THE NORLISS TAPES, THE NIGHT STALKER, etc.

Franciosa is quite believable in his role. Co-stars the inimitable Patty Duke as Laura Lockwood. June Lockhart makes a brief, though exciting cameo as Mrs. Lockwood. Also, watch for June Allyson in a tiny, but memorable role as Olga.

P.S.- The title beast doesn't look too bad at the end, as long as you don't look too close!

P.P.S.- It's interesting that the family members are listed as "Lockwood", but are called "Lockridge" in the movie...

After all the movies I have seen, some of the most enjoyable, are those turned out for ABC's Tuesday Night at the Movies in the 1970's. They were B-movies in all their glory. The Curse of the Black Window is one such movie. Filled with good character actors, a fast plot and cheesy special effects, it filled a void for genre movies on tv. Other genre movies created in this time were-The Cat Creature, Black Noon, Dual and the great Night Staker(One of the great Vampire movies.).It was not just horror movies, but detective, war, love and comedies that entertained the viewers. The tv movies of the today are mostly teen flicks, love stories or social pronouncements. I do wish for a good old fashion cheapie horror tv movie.

Just keep your eyes open(0n cable,dvd or video)for the giant black spider of Dan Curtis mind.