riverheadestelle

This was the pilot for the short-lived ABC series called 'The Sixth Sense'. By the time the series got under way, actor Gary Collins took over the part of Dr. Darrow. This character was primetime's first paranormal psychic investigator - way before another ABC favorite, 'The Night Stalker'. At any rate, the history of 'The Sixth Sense' is a very unhappy one. It's hard to get the original episodes of the series, if not impossible. It was chopped up and reedited into Rod Serling's 'Night Gallery', according to the accounts of many fans and people who know much more about the show's history.

The series was basically about Dr. Darrow getting to the origins of certain paranormal disturbances and hauntings in various places. It was a great show, from what I remember of it. Too bad the original episodes can't ever be seen again. All we are left with are the re-edited versions that were incorporated into 'The Night Gallery' series. Sometimes you have to wonder where Hollywood's mind is. They deliberately ruin good shows for reasons beyond our comprehension!

Another of those flicks inspired by the success of 'Rosemary's Baby'. When that movie came out, the nation developed an obsession or preoccupation with the devil or the whole concept of evil in general. I even remember seeing a '60 Minutes' segment at that tender age which reported that while many people were less religious or didn't believe in God, many others believed in the Devil. At least, that was the synopsis given by Mike Wallace's opening segment voice-over.

'Satan's School For Girls' is one of those ABC titles that can be easily found today compared to, say, 'The Screaming Woman'. Sometimes you pick up a bit of trivia by watching these old television movies. When I watched it a few years ago, I didn't realize that Kate Jackson and Cheryl Ladd, who was using her old surname of Stoppelmoor, had acted together before 'Charlie's Angels'.

Kate Jackson is superb in her role as the level-headed, innocent Roberta, who appears to be the only person Elizabeth can trust. I have a problem with the ending, though, which gives the viewer the impression that Roy Thinnes, as the cult leader, not only has special powers but isn't of this world at all. But hey, it's a movie about the devil, black magic, satanism and the disturbing reality that good doesn't always win - at least, not totally. That was another thing which became common in entertainment: allowing evil to win. I guess this was a product of the nation's loss of innocence and disillusionment with events like the Kennedy and King assassinations, Vietnam, and the Watergate scandal. We all sort of 'grew up fast' after those events.