L'Été de la peur

After Wes Craven made the groundbreaking "Last House on the Left" and "Hills Have Eyes", he fell into a bit of a rut before finally finding his footing again with the 1984 classic "A Nightmare on Elm Street". "Summer of Fear", the film I will be looking at today, is Wes Craven's third directorial effort. It's an ambitious effort to say the least but how well does a made for TV horror movie stand up 30 years last?

The story is about a girl, Rachel Bryant (Linda Blair), who lives with her wealthy family in a nice house in the hills of Northern California. After her mother's sister, brother-in-law, and housekeeper die in a horrible car crash, the couple's daughter, Julia (Lee Purcell) comes to live with them. Julia seems a little shy if anything, but as time goes on, she begins to put an alluring spell over everyone she meets, pulling all of Rachel's family and friends away from her. After finding some odd things that belong to Julia (including a human tooth and burnt hair from Rachel's dog Trickle (for the movie the dog was changed to a horse due to Blair's love of horses and the name of the horse was Sundance instead of Trickle), Rachel begins to suspect that her cousin may be a practitioner of witchcraft, and she's hell-bent on turning Rachel's life upside down. Her open disbelieved suspicions caused her to become an outcast in front of her family.

Ahh..."Summer of Fear," what a strange movie. Wes directed this voodoo/jealously movie for ABC in the summer of 1978. Well, like I said it's a very, very weird movie. The plot has something to do with this evil girl from the south that is sent to live with Linda Blair and her family after her parents die in a car accident. Of course, she's the "cousin" that no one in the family has seen in years and that no one really seems to remember. I know, I know...predictable...but try to follow me. After she is sent to live with Linda, all hell breaks loose as this evil girl tries to take over Linda's body or something (this is never really made clear). The special effects are corny, the editing choppy, and the acting is mediocre at best (wait till you see Fran "The Nanny" Dresher as Linda Blair's nasally best friend) and yet I still kinda enjoyed this picture. It's solid, fun, campy horror that never takes itself seriously. Go into it expecting a run-of-the-mill teenage made-for-TV movie and I think you may be pleasantly surprised.

SUMMER OF FEAR opens with a literal bang, as an out of control car crashes and burns! Rachel Bryant (Linda Blair) has just lost her aunt and uncle in that explosion. When her mum and dad return from the funeral, they bring Rachel's country cousin, Julia (Lee Purcell) back with them. At first, it all goes swimmingly.

However, things take a bizarre turn when Julia and Rachel's friend, Carolyn (Fran Drescher) are attacked by Rachel's horse! Perhaps he was set off by Julia's new vest and hot pants ensemble with matching, mod hairdo! In no time, Julia has ingratiated herself with the family, and only Rachel seems to suspect that something might be amiss with their houseguest.

Oh no!

The "big dance" is imminent, and Rachel's face breaks out in what look like pepperonis! This allows Julia to go to the dance with Rachel's 12' tall boyfriend. In addition, Rachel's horse takes a terminal tumble!

Coincidence? Hmmm.

Now, with her towering boyfriend in the arms of Julia, and her horse reduced to dog chow, Julia is convinced that some genuine, Ozark mountain hoodoo might be going on. Luckily, an expert on the occult lives next door.

What are the odds? Hmmm.

Said expert helps Rachel prepare for a final showdown, when everything hits the fan! Can she possibly defeat her wretched relative?

This slab of made-for-TV cheddar is your basic supernatural yarn (cheeeze yarn?). Blair is great -as always- at being the wronged innocent, as is Purcell in her wicked role. Director Wes Craven did his best to make things suspenseful within the constraints of 1970's network television. Vintage fun for fans of tele-terror...

SUMMER OF FEAR started out as a 1978 made-for-TV movie, directed by LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT's Wes Craven and starring THE EXORCIST actress Linda Blair. Noting that it had performed surprisingly well in the schedules, the producers repackaged it as a theatrical movie, retitled it SUMMER OF FEAR, and released it in Europe.

How much you enjoy this one depends on your preference for American TV movies of the 1970s. I consider myself a huge fan, so I enjoyed this one, although the histrionic acting and cheesily dated nature of the production may be offputting to some; they were positives for me. The storyline is a straightforward 'cuckoo in the nest' type one, in which spoilt rich girl Linda Blair is put out of joint when her cousin joins the family after her parents are killed in a car accident.

It soon transpires that said cousin has been dabbling in witchcraft, something confirmed by a put-upon college professor (a welcome role for SHADOW OF A DOUBT's Macdonald Carey). It's one of those films where nobody believes Blair's character, forcing her to take matters into her own hands. You can hardly blame them: dressing in the frumpiest clothes imaginable and saddled with an appalling 'Afro' haircut, the Blair looks like an eyesore here and her character's a real whiner.

The supernatural elements of the narrative are limited, but there's some good stuff with spooked horses and an action-packed climax that involves car chases and cat-fights, all well handled on a low budget. The twist ending was inevitable after the release of CARRIE. Watch out for some SALEM'S LOT-style effects involving cool contact lenses. SUMMER OF FEAR may not be a great film but it sure is a fun one.

This 1978 TV movie, Wes Craven's third horror, was based on a novel by Lois Duncan ("I Know What You Did Last Summer"). Although it's predictable, Linda Blair is a charm and the whole atmosphere quite cozy, making it worth watching.

Seeing that this was from legendary horror director Wes Craven, and starring Linda Blair (who served as the demon-possessed girl, Regan, in "The Exorcist"), I decided to give "Summer of Fear" a chance. I wasn't expecting a TV movie (which was titled "Stranger In Our House" during it's television run), but I actually ended up enjoying it.

The film centers around a teenage girl named Rachel. Rachel lives on a semi-secluded family farm in Northern California with her wealthy parents and siblings. When her mother's sister and brother-in-law die in a horrible car crash, their daughter, Julia, comes to live with them permanently. Julia seems somewhat normal, if not a little bit shy and withdrawn, but as time progresses, she puts an alluring spell over everyone she meets, and pulls all of Rachel's family and friends away from her. She begins getting close with Rachel's friends and her family, even stealing Rachel's boyfriend. After finding some strange items around the house (including burnt matches and a human tooth), Rachel discovers that Julia may be a practitioner of black magic. Now she must stop the evil witch before she launches her final assault.

Okay, okay. I have to admit, some things in this movie were a bit laughable, mostly Linda Blair's poofy, frizzed out hairdo. The acting was alright, not great, but you can't expect a whole lot from it. Linda Blair's performance was decent, if not a little whiny at times, Lee Purcell pulled off the 'mysterious cousin' archetype, and Fran Drescher even had a small role as one of Rachel's friends. The film isn't scary at all, but I will say the finale was pretty well done, although by today's standards the effects may seem a bit cartoonish. I found it interesting to see Craven directing a film of this nature in his earlier years, considering he had just done brutal horror films such as "The Hills Have Eyes" and "Last House on the Left".

To sum things up, I have to give "Summer of Fear" some credit— being a campy TV movie from the '70s, it has some chops. Although it lacked any substantial shocks or scares (except near the ending), I still found it to be a fun little piece of '70s nostalgia. Give it a look if you enjoy campy '70s horror, or if you want to see some of Craven's earlier work, because it is quite different from the films that he is most known for. All around good television terror. 7/10.