As Possuídas do Diabo

This was a terrific mini-series with just the right mix of fantasy and horror. The reverence the people of this matriarchal town holds for its main crop, corn, is nearly as creepy as the out of control little girl who foresees things. Nice touches were the long sharp scissors Ms. Davis wore on a cord hanging from the belt of her long black dress, the shunning of the old couple and the suitable cluelessness of the menfolk.

This was an edge of your seat, can't wait to see what happens next movie. Anyone who missed it one its first run should try to get a copy--it's a truly excellent creepshow.

Stars like Bette Davis were not getting the big roles for the big screen that they were in the days of the big studio system so many like Davis turned to the small screen. One of her better choices was The Dark Secret Of Harvest Home where she actually went back to her New England roots to play the Matriarch in a special matriarchal society that has developed in an isolated corner of Connecticut.

David Ackroyd with wife Joanna Miles and daughter Rosanna Arquette think they've found this picturesque relic of a town where time seems to have stood still. Even the fact that they find a house in need of a bit of repair seems to be inviting them to stay. What they don't know is that the family is being auditioned by Davis known to one and all as the Widow Fortune who rules the roost there. In fact if this were a beehive Cornwell Coombe would have the men either as worker bees or worse drones.

The women acclimate quite quickly, but Ackroyd starts developing suspicions. Sad to say they prove to be right. These folks have their own kind of religion, Christianity with pagan fertility rites. There's one male among them who is the Prince of the Harvest and what perks come with John Calvin's office. But what a price he has to pay for them.

The kid who is scheduled to be Calvin's successor wants to commit the unpardonable heresy of leaving. Michael O'Keefe plays him and it's his story that makes Arquette start to question 'the ways'.

Bette Davis really was born to play the Widow Fortune, I cannot imagine another actress doing justice to the role. O'Keefe as the young man who thinks there just might be something more to this old world than a New England farming community that has some strange ways is very touching in his performance.

I'm not a big fan of these kind of horror novels and the films that come from them. But author Tom Tryon did a wonderful job in creating some real three dimensional characters, not just meat waiting to be slaughtered by some guy waving an ax.

The Dark Secret Of Harvest Home is more than horror film fans.

A Very good adaptation of the novel HARVEST HOME by Thomas Tryon. Bete Davis stars as The Widow Fortune. The seemingly kindly matriarchal leader of a quiet New England puritan-like village. Funny thing is they actually LIKE outsiders??? Joanna Miles, Bradford Dillman & Roseanna Arquette play the NEW folks in town. Rene Auberjonis gives a wonderful turn as the local JUNK dealer who may know TOO much. Just exactly WHy are these homely folk SO interested in NEW blood? Keep an eye out for the

Harvest Home Festival itself. And once it starts...HOLD ONTO YOUR SEATS!!! One word of advice...this was originally a four hour mini series for NBC. The videocassette version is a severly edited version that leaves out HUGE chunks of the original story. If you can catch it on the Sci-Fi channel they always show the entire mini series. It's worth the wait!

Say what you will about the translation of Tom Tryon's fine gothic chiller Harvest Home into this TV film, Bette Davis' performance here is riveting and really nails home the creepiness of the tale. Unlike her sad farewell in The Wicked Stepmother (1989) where she was clearly having trouble focusing on her acting, here she is a powerful presence that (goose)fleshes out this telefilm the way it should be.

Playing the Widow Fortune (a prophetic name if ever there was one), she is the matriarch of Cornwall Coombe, a small Connecticut village just on the other side of the Lost Whistle covered bridge where "the ways" hold sway over the villagers. What they do and how they do it is bound by tradition, one hundred percent, so when a city family comes to stay, culture clash is inevitable.

Of course we all know this is a gothic chiller standard--sophisticated city couple/family comes to small quiet village only to find it mired in evil and horror, et cetera. Too true. But Davis' character is spellbinding enough that the viewer can overlook this tried and true plot point and enjoy the proceedings. Additionally, aside from some minor outdated bits of dialogue here and there, the script is actually pretty intelligent; a low stupidity quotient in the dialogue helps tremendously.

Unfortunately the VHS release of this film was chopped considerably; the original five hour length was shown on TV but unless the viewer taped it (as I did), it's completely unavailable. High time for a DVD release.

This is a great way to spend an evening with a roaring snowstorm outside. And the ending really is a shocker.

A great mini series from the 70s which was Emmy nominated. Starring Bette Davis in one of her most diabolical characters. BUT! it has never been released on DVD or even replayed on Streaming channels or channels like Sci Fi channel. I wish someone woul re-release this one.