A Howling in the Woods

I remember seeing this movie on TV in 1971 while in the 10th grade in high school and it was pretty good. [Most of the TV movies of that era were shown from 9:30 PM to 11:00 PM (EST) so they were only 1-hour-and-30-minutes in length, but this one was a full-two-hours!] I missed the ending because I had a paper route to deliver at 4:00 the next morning (actually, 2 of them) so I had to go to bed. Anyway, what I remember is: Barbara Eden inherits this old hotel when her uncle dies. Disheartened with her marriage, she goes to stay at the hotel with the idea of remodeling and then running it. Shortly after she arrives, the townspeople tell her to leave and at night, she hears a dog mournfully howling in the nearby woods. As she tries to solve the mystery of the howling dog, she was told that a six-year-old girl was found "accidentally drownded" in the nearby lake. [She was told this by the dead girl's six-year-old cousin Betsey (Lisa Gerritsen).] As Eden's character investigates the howling dog and the "accidental drowning," of the little girl, she become convinced that the two incidents are related.

It was about this point I had to go to bed so I could deliver the newspapers to my customers on my paper routes, so I don't know how the movie ends up. It would be really great if this movie were to be released on home video, so I could see the ending. I recently found a copy of the paperback novel on which this movie was based, so I know how the novel comes out, but I'd still like to see the movie so I can see how it comes out. (I suppose it is similar to the ending in the novel.) Anyway, I'm willing to pay whatever the price is for a VHS or DVD, so home video companies, here's your chance to make some more money off of me! How about it?

A woman from New York City (Barbara Eden) returns home to a small town by Lake Tahoe, but the townsfolk are strangely unfriendly. Larry Hagman plays her husband, Vera Miles her stepmother, John Rubinstein her stepbrother and Tyne Daly a young woman who has secrets to share.

"A Howling in the Woods" (1971) is a small town mystery with some thrills at the end. Despite being a television production, the cast is noteworthy and the rustic Lake Tahoe locations are exquisite. Unfortunately, the contrived story is too drawn out and would've worked better at 74 minutes.

It's a worthwhile movie for the highlights noted as long as you don't mind slow pacing and some artificial scripting, just don't expect any werewolves.

The movie runs around 1 hour, 35 minutes, and was shot at Tahoe City, Lake Tahoe and Universal Studios, Universal City, California.

GRADE: C+/B-

Most of the made-for-TV movies of the early '70s were junk. "A Howling in the Woods" is the one glorious exception, and should have been released to theatres. Two eerie plots eventually converge in an expertly plotted thriller. Always underrated as an actress, Barbara Eden is superb as the lady-in-distress who indeed, while staying in a remote rural locale, is literally jolted by the nocturnal sounds of a "howling in the woods." This nifty, scarifying thriller is always two steps ahead of the viewer in it's deliciously intricate plot turns and twists. Expertly directed by Daniel Petrie. A forgotten jewel, long overdue for restoration and a cable-TV or theatrical release. Utterly terrifying, and Miss Eden, never more breathtakingly beautiful and vulnerable, is at her peak. Forget "I Dream of Jeannie". Instead check out and shiver through this spellbinding mystery-suspense-thriller classic!

Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman definitely didn't end things on a sour note after I DREAM OF JEANNIE as the next year they starred as a married couple in a mystery-thriller that sounds like a werewolf-horror, the made-for-television A HOWLING IN THE WOODS. Then again, they're hardly on screen together at all. It's mostly Eden's ride, beginning three decades of TV movies...

Centers on a rich woman who returns to a woodsy small town where she's given the silent treatment by the locals. Expository from her mother-in-law Vera Miles's wimpy secret lover John Rubinstein teaches us the town's been broke since her currently out-of-town father sold a factory, and only he and his family got rich. Although Eden's character is no spoiled brat since she made her own money as a fashion designer in New York fashion designer while Hagman, a photographer of naked women, wants her to return home via random phone calls...

The townspeople want her gone too, which is most of the mystery involved without that many thrills. Eden, sans her cute smile, broods most of the time, trying to figure things out after the initial long-stretched shun...

Which is also the most entertaining aspect as she and the audience remains in the dark while various characters add up including Ruta Lee as a jovial diner waitress; Ford Rainey as the sheriff; Lisa Gerritsen as an abused little girl; and Tyne Daley as the only person willing to eventually speak up. After which Hagman earns half his paycheck and... almost helps out. At one point near the end, wanting to join her quest for the truth, his wife tells him, "You stay here... I'm better off alone."

Perhaps Eden was predicting her own solo TV-movie future following what would always be her signature role as the friendly Astronaut's gorgeous Jeannie. Meanwhile, Larry Hagman's lucrative television future hadn't yet begun: From this point it was no more Mr. Nice Guy.

A year after the cancellation of "I Dream of Jeannie", Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman reteamed for this made-for-TV movie that was as different from their series as night and day! It seems Ms. Eden is coming back to the house she grew up in to the surprise of her stepmother (Vera Miles) and new stepbrother (John Rubinstein). There's also a little girl (Lisa Gerritsen) who mentions another one her age who drowned in a nearby river. Not to mention a howling dog constantly bellowing...There's more but I don't want to spoil anymore of what happens. I will, however, mention that Hagman plays Ms. Eden's husband who's trying to reconcile with her after she abruptly left. Also, future "Cagney & Lacey" star Tyne Daly also makes a pivotal appearance. The suspense builds with each new revelation which is to the credit of director Daniel Petrie. So on that note, I recommend A Howling in the Woods.