Il triangolo di Satana

The seventies was probably the best time for made for TV horror and many of the horror films made for TV during the decade are excellent films; Scream Pretty Peggy, Summer of Fear and Dying Room Only being among the best that I've seen. Satan's Triangle is a spooky little thriller that focuses on one of the world's greatest wonders; that being the Bermuda Triangle. The plot focuses on the only female survivor of a shipwreck and two helicopter pilots who go out to rescue her and find themselves stranded inside the dreaded triangle. The film creates a good atmosphere and this is complimented by the mysterious plot that never really reveals itself until the ending. Director Sutton Roley succeeds in creating suspense throughout and the movie always has enough to keep the viewer interested. Kim Novak is the lead actress and stands out among a small but talented cast. The film is only short, running at just over sixty minutes, and as such; there isn't really time for it to build into anything too spectacular, but Satan's Triangle provides the mystery and suspense for the duration and it's worth seeing if you can get hold of it.

Positively terrifying supernatural mystery is set in the foreboding waters of the Bermuda Triangle, where a small pleasure craft is found adrift with its crew dead, save for one female. She educes the details of the seemingly impossible situation which gave rise to this tragedy, but there may be a ring of deceit to her story. Is Satan himself a Bermuda Triangle resident, possessing the bodies of the dead in an evil quest to lure more and more fresh souls to their watery graves?

Good performances by Novak and McClure, a highly effective score, and a terrifying story propel this one above the average for its type. Too, the at-sea setting effects an eerie atmosphere of helplessness and impending doom.

A spine-tingling gem that is recalled fondly by those that saw it in the day(many still have nightmares of the closing moment's ghastly freeze-frame image), but it now seems sadly lost to oblivion along with a great many other "Movie of the Week" entries. Perhaps a smart-thinking' distributor will start turning out these forgotten little jewels on DVD. Anyone listening?

7/10

I remember when this was second run (it was part of some weekly TV-movie series, similar to the NBC Mystery Movie but without the recurring characters). I missed the original running, but a lot of kids at school were talking about it the next morning, so when reruns came around (maybe 6 months later), I made sure to watch it.

I remember that it was eerie (not really frightening, but more suspenseful), especially the twist at the end (won't give it away). Probably not the best movie for a nine-year-or-so-old kid to see on his own (thanks to my parents having friends over to play bridge or something, I got to see it on colour TV instead of my dad's old b/w) but at least I had something to talk about the next day at school, with all the other kids who missed it the first time! Had no idea who the actors were at the time, but Doug McClure's acting was the best. Everyone else's wasn't terrific, but good enough for TV, and the writing was stellar - too bad they churn out such junk and charge you $8 or whatever it is now, when you used to see good stuff for "free" (you just had to put up with commercials).

Would like to see it again, because the rerun (1976?) was the last time I saw it.

Forget that this is a TV movie filmed on a small budget, and that it doesn't have a gigantic ocean-liner like "Ghost Ship" or "Lost Voyage". This is definitely the scariest "derelict ship" movie that Hollywood has ever made. (So naturally, you almost NEVER see this movie on TV. But that's another issue, for another time.)

Rescue pilot Doug McClure and his companion, Michael Conrad, are sent to answer an SOS call from a small yacht at sea. Conrad is leery because the location is at the center of the Bermuda Triangle, but McClure dismisses his fears.

However, when McClure gets to the ship, he finds a lone woman survivor, Kim Novak. Malfunctions force Conrad to return to base, leaving McClure and Novak on board the yacht. She tells him of a mysterious force in the triangle that killed everyone else on board. However, McClure's practical nature allows him to look for, and find, plausible explanations for everything that happened.

When Conrad comes back to pick them up the next morning, the movie takes an entirely different turn. I won't tell you what it is, but it's one of the most terrific shockers I've ever seen in a film. What a great ending! It still creeps me out thinking about it.

God bless the late William Read Woodfield, who penned the script. He was one of Hollywood's most prolific -- and QUALITY -- TV writers. Director Sutton Roley was also used to filming Things That Go Bump In The Night, having lensed such shows as "The Sixth Sense", "Lost in Space" and "The Invaders", so he's clearly in his element here. Leonard South's beautiful yet disorienting camera work and Johnny Pate's eerie music add to the atmosphere. The only "bad" part of this movie is the first thirty seconds, which contain a rather cheesy opening title and narrative defining what the Bermuda Triangle is for the audience. After that, the movie generates plenty of creeps and scares.

This movie is extremely hard to find, so if you see it scheduled on TV, CATCH IT. It has a beauty and simplicity that's lacking in the bigger-budget features that followed, and it's got a helluva surprise at the end.

I'm finding Satan's Triangle a difficult one to summarize without giving too much away. The story involves a botched rescue attempt on a yacht in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. The sole survivor, Eva (Kim Novak), spends the night relaying the mystery and horror of what happened to her fellow passengers to Coast Guardsman Lt Haig (Doug McClure). Haig believes he has a rational explanation for everything, but is he right or are there evil forces at work?

Man, do I ever love these 70s made-for-TV movies! Satan's Triangle might not be the best of the bunch, but it's a good one. It's one of those movies, though, that you have to stick with. The middle part can get a bit dry. I was half-tempted to turn it off, but decided to stick it out. And what a good choice that was! The payoff at the end is fantastic. The twist in the final few minutes completely caught me off guard and made the whole thing a memorable and rewarding experience. It's a haunting, surprising, and amazing finale that sticks with you long after you've finished watching.

Even though I've described much of Satan's Triangle as "dry", Kim Novak really does a good job in these scenes with what she has to work with. Her somber recollections are chilling. When she says, "there's no way off this damn boat", you believe her. It's just so delightfully creepy. I also very much enjoyed Alehandro Rey as the priest in Eva's story. Rey's acting range throughout the film is impressive.

6/10