Un urlo nelle tenebre

I had this movie for a long time in a Betamax tape bought by my father just after buying our first color TV (a Sony KV-2142R) and Betamax (Sony SL-8600) back in mid 1978. Dubbed to Spanish and re-titled "La Casa Embrujada" ("The Haunted House"), I consider it a promising movie with a really bad ending, but anyway I'd love to have that Spanish-dubbed version just for memories from when I was eleven. It was recorded from a Panamanian TV broadcast, commercials included. I used it a lot (specially Dr. Gillgreen's face) to adjust the TV's hue and color settings, at a time in which color TV broadcasts hadn't arrived to my country (Color TV was officially launched in Colombia on Saturday Dec. 1, 1979 at 7:00 PM GMT -5). The only worry in life back then was school...

While I can't comment too much on this movie in detail, I do remember it scared the hell out of me as a kid when I first saw it. The "headless" mannequin dummy and the eerie pounding is what I remember about it that was so scary. I also remember the ending, which I won't give away here of course. (Not that you'll ever get to see this movie.)

NO ONE, I mean NO ONE remembers this movie. The fact that I'm the only one with a comment here so far for this movie attests to this. This TV movie scared me as much as DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK and TRILOGY OF TERROR. Almost everyone remembers those though. I even saw DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK on video at my local Blockbuster, but NEVER this one ANYWHERE EVER.

I haven't seen it in at least twenty years. I'd like to see this again somehow and my searches turn up nothing. It's not even listed in Leonard Maltin's fat movie book. If anyone knows where this can be found on video. Please email me.

It's sort of funny and charming to browse through the user-comments on these early 70's made-for-TV chillers; also known as the notorious ABC movies of the Week. The only few and brief comments are customarily written by people who watched the original airings on TV, got terrified of what they saw and then for years unsuccessfully tried tracking down a copy of that one movie that left such a gigantic impression on them. Well, I hope all these devoted fans managed to found a copy in the meantime, but normally that shouldn't be a problem nowadays because thanks to new media canals and exchanging methods, such a thing like an obscure movie hardly exists anymore. Heck, I even came across a proper version of "The Strange and Deadly Occurrence" and I never fanatically searched for it. I do immediately understand, however, why this is such a loved and intensely remembered film among 70's TV-thriller fans. The basic plot of "The Strange and Deadly Occurrence" is rudimentary and straightforward, but the atmosphere is unceasingly tense and there are two or three exceptionally unsettling sequences that are guaranteed to make your entire body tremble. All the other reviews collectively babble on and on about the scene with a headless dummy and petrifying pounding sounds. Those particular sequences are indeed quite scary, although I do think they must have been at least a dozen times scarier back in the early 70's, when horror was merely suggestive and everything else was left to the imagination. The happy and harmonious Rhodes family has been living in their secluded but luxurious countryside mansion for a couple of months now, but lately the number of little problems increases dramatically. There are problems with the electricity and plumbing, the estate is infested with gophers, the 16-year-old daughter suffers from spooky vivid nightmares and the brand new family dog mysteriously dies in the horses' stable. Is the area haunted or does someone just really wants to chase the Rhodes family out of there, like the suspicious Dr. Gillgreen who offers to buy the house at all prices. As said, a very simplistic formula but one that is compelling enough to keep you interested and guessing along with the protagonists regarding the secret of the house. John Llewellyn Moxey, arguably the best TV-thriller director of the era with other highlights in his repertoire such as "Nightmare in Badham County", "Where have all the people gone" and "The Night Stalker", keeps the pace reasonably fast and perfectly knows how to uphold the atmosphere of mystery until the very end. Robert Stack and Vera Miles give adequate performances as the married couple and Margaret Willock is very cherubic as the teenage daughter. This definitely isn't the greatest TV-thriller you'll ever watch, but nevertheless a very decent one.

You bet, I remember this one. As a young lad back in the day, I really dug the cool story lines of these erstwhile "Movies of the Week". If the creepy teaser ad with the "headless dummy" didn't get you to tune in, nothing would! That, and the reliable Robert Stack in the offbeat role of the head of a family being menaced by the supernatural. Between the thumpings, howlings in the night, and the weird psychiatrist hanging around the neighborhood, my heart-rate was up there, for sure. The solution to the mystery may be a bit weak, but I loved the O. Henry-style final scene. What's really sad is that when I saw "Cold Creek Manor", which had an amazingly similar plot,a much bigger budget, bigger name-stars, bigger EVERYTHING--it still didn't hold a candle to "--Occurrence". If ever you find it in your local listings, watch and compare. Trust me. TRIVIA: I was surprised to see Sandor Stern in the writing credits! Very apropos, considering later he went on to adapt and direct "Pin", another suspense featuring a "menacing dummy"--one with an even NASTIER disposition.

I've seen "The Strange and Deadly Occurence" twice in my life; in 1983 and 1985. Both showings were late-night on a Friday and regrettably we did not own a VCR at the time.

It's quite an eerie film with a good build-up of suspense which unfortunately concludes rather ridiculously. A lot of those TVMs now languish in scheduling purgatory which is a pity. Some enterprising individual should release a bunch of them on VHS (some films just don't suit DVD)--e.g "Vanishing Act" with Elliott Gould and "One Of My Wives Is Missing" starring Jack Klugman.

If anyone has any of the above on VHS please mail me.

In summary then: Some parallels with "Caddyshack"