The Victim

I saw The Victim starting Elizabeth Montgomery when I was 12 years old. I just watched it again on You Tube and really enjoyed it, 44 years later.

It's an old-fashioned woman in jeopardy suspense thriller and I wish there were more movies like this today.

Elizabeth Montgomery plays Kate, a well to do woman who is concerned about her sister Susan. Susan lives in an isolated house, sounds troubled when she talks to her sister on the phone and a terrible storm is coming. Kate calls her sister back, but the line is dead, which worries Kate. Kate decides to drive to her sister's home in the storm and arrives to find her missing. The storm is in full force, the phone's not working, the power goes out....as a 12 year old, this scared me to death. As a 56 year old, I still enjoyed it. Eileen Heckhart gives a terrific performance as the sister's creepy housekeeper and George Maharis is excellent as the missing sister's husband.

For baby boomers like myself who loved Elizabeth Montgomery on Bewitched and who adored watching The Movie of the Week (a precursor to Lifetime Movies), this one's for you. I truly wish all the old Movies of the Week would be released on DVD or at least as Amazon Prime videos. There's a real market out there among the baby boomers and most of the movies, like The Victim, are really good.

While the setup is good, The Victim does suffer from a predictable conclusion. Once you look at the opening credits and see a star's name, but said star doesn't show up until the last 10 minutes of the movie, you have a good feeling they might be the one causing all the mayhem. It's still got a nice, creepy rain-soaked atmosphere and anything with Eileen Heckhart and Elizabeth Montgomery sharing the screen together can't be all bad.

I first saw The Victim (aka Out Of Contention) well over 25 years ago when I was very young. Being a passionate fan of Bewitched since I was a child, I loved to watch anything that starred Elizabeth Montgomery. This movie was (and still is) a real treat - whether you are a fan of Miss Montgomery's work or not. Elizabeth always shines in her roles, such as her portrayal as the rape victim in A Case Of Rape and as the suspected murderess in The Legend Of Lizzie Borden. Her performance in The Victim as Kate, a terrified woman trapped in an isolated house during a storm, with a killer after her is brilliant. If you like exciting suspenseful thrillers than this is one movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat till the end. Another great performance well worth mentioning is that of Eileen Heckhart who plays the eerie and suspicious housekeeper. Unfortunately like most of Miss Montgomery's movies, The Victim is not available on DVD and I believe that although it was released on VHS some years ago, it is a rarity these days. I was lucky to have taped it when it was aired on television some ten years ago and so have a nice copy of this very good movie. A must see!

Elizabeth Montgomery (THE LEGEND OF LIZZIE BORDEN) is Kate wainwright, who goes to her sister, Susan's (Jess Walton) house, looking for her. Kate grows increasingly anxious, as time passes with no sign or word from her sister. Of course, the viewer has already been shown the terrible truth early on, but Kate must find out for herself, while not knowing that whatever happened to Susan, could very well happen to her!

This is Ms. Montgomery's show, from start to finish, and she pulls it off mightily! Other characters pop up throughout, but she carries the whole movie. THE VICTIM is another made-for-TV movie that deserves re-discovery.

Co-stars Eileen Heckart as the crabby housekeeper, Mrs. Hawkes, and George Maharis as Susan's husband, Ben Chapel...

I think Liz was a little tired of comedy and chose the first script she was presented. I am a huge fan of hers, but this movie lacks in the plot department. First mistake is showing the dead body of her sister right off the bat. We know she's dead and have a pretty good idea who killed her. The only suspense is seeing the talented Liz Montgomery roam around in various stages of darkness trying to find her sister. Furthermore, she has to deal with Eileen Heckhart as a housekeeper who obviously was a "Charm School Dropout". She gives new meaning to the word "Old Bat". Sue Anne Langdon basically has a cameo role as a friend of Liz's sister who is only seen on the telephone talking to Liz. One of those movies that scared you as a kid but as an adult you see all the plot holes. Still, kinda fun to see Liz terrified.