Le terrible secret

Early on in Crowhaven Farm, Maggie Porter is awakened from a deep sleep by the sounds of a little girl crying. The eerie sounds are coming from off in the forest somewhere. Concerned that someone, namely a child, might be hurt, Maggie makes her way out into the night in the direction of the sound. As she treks into the dark forest, the crying suddenly turns into a demonic cackle. The haunting laughter engulfs Maggie and she collapses in fright.

Working with a limited budget and the content-expurgate restrictions placed on made-for-television fare, director Walter Grauman is still able to construct a frightening movie in Crowhaven Farm. He does it by simply letting the viewers imagination fill in the blanks. The strange noises in the forest, the blurred images of pilgrims torturing a mother-to-be off in a nearby clearing. What do they mean? Grauman shows the audience something, fleetingly, and then forces them to use their own imagination to fill in what is missing. That is where the true horror lies within Crowhaven Farm.

When the original inheritor dies in a strange car accident, a young couple, Maggie(Lange) and Ben(Burke) inherit a large farm and hundreds of acres of forest land. Dogged by marital problems the couple are determined to make a fresh start in the new setting. Maggie senses something odd early on and her first inclination is to leave but Ben talks her out of it. The inclination turns out to be correct as Maggie begins hearing strange noises and seeing odd visions of people dressed in Seventeenth-century garb. When a young girl(Eilbacher) drifts into their life things quickly move from bizarre to down right terrifying. Maggie soon discovers a parallel between her problem and a two-hundred year old coven of witches who may have committed sacrifices on the very farm land she inhabits.

Crowhaven Farm elicits some great performances from its cast. Hope Lange is especially great. She offers a performance very reminiscent of Mia Farrow's panicky turn in Rosemary's Baby, as the woman who discovers all is not what it may seem. Cindy Eilbacher, Paul Burke and TV-movie regular Loyd Bochner are also very good in their roles. I particularly enjoyed John Carradine as the handyman.

Crowhaven Farm has the distinction of being one of those made-for-television films that stay with you long after you've seen it. Like Duel and Dark Night Of The Scarecrow, Farm represents what can be achieved with a little budget and a whole lot of imagination. I highly recommend this film, if you can find it. As of yet, the film has never been released to video.

I saw this movie as a child...i have always had a thing for witches..and there were many witchcraft related movies in the late 1960s /early 70s...i can not BELIEVE there are others who remember/ love this movie as i do! What i wouldnt do..for a VHS copy of the movie. That little girl was so beautiful and EERIE! Her eyes had that fairie-ish pale blue color...she was like a living (but evil) doll!I love that scene where "Maggie" runs into the night to hear voices on the wind...you can truly feel the spirit of ancient folk magic...in this dark and highly atmospheric movie! Anyone got a copy?

While Crowhaven Farm was not the BEST made-for-TV chiller of its era, it does rank up there with the dozen or so that tend to stand out in the minds of baby boomers raised during TV's golden age. Forget the special effects that seem so essential to the success of today's horror movies; this one forces you to rely strictly on your imagination (remember that thing in your head???) to understand its premise. This movie was made in 1970, during the final season of "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir", and, like several typecast actresses of the period, Hope Lange attempted to "break away" from her sitcom character much like Elizabeth Montgomery did in "The Victim" (remember THAT one???) and did it quite effectively. Crowhaven Farm is simply chilling, with the grainy film grade and squealing violins in the soundtrack adding to the unsettling feel of the film. This genre of film will probably never see a comeback, due to the all the computer-technology wars in horror films made today, but at least we'll always have them to look back on. EIGHT STARS.

1970's "Crowhaven Farm" was among the earliest TV movies that left its mark on impressionable viewers of those many decades ago. The prolific Aaron Spelling never lost his knack for producing entertaining television, and with the small screen unable to serve up much in the way of blood or violence, subtlety was the way they had to go. A tale of witchcraft in Massachusetts seems like old hat today, but in the wake of Roman Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby" it wasn't as overexposed as it is 50 years later. Hope Lange was clearly cast against type as Maggie Carey Porter, whose presence at rural Crowhaven Farm incites memories long suppressed from a past life, sparking great success for her artist husband Ben (Paul Burke) but dire consequences for herself. The two stars are easily overshadowed by the supporting cast, in particular 12 year old Cindy Eilbacher, alternately angelic yet strangely knowing, even alluring little girl taking more than a liking to the oblivious Ben. Cindy's career was just as busy as elder sister Lisa, both of whom appeared in another TV movie of great creepy repute, 1974's "Bad Ronald." Also on hand, all too briefly unfortunately, is veteran scene stealer John Carradine, in typical form playing handyman Nate Cheever, like the girl a not so innocent presence going about his daily duties with some fiendish purpose in mind (Aaron Spelling had first used the actor on his 1959 Western series JOHNNY RINGO). It may be more effective for those nostalgically inclined, but still holds up as one of the better examples of TV terror from its first and greatest decade.

I saw this movie when I was about 9 or 10 years old. I honestly don't remember much about it except that it scared me so badly that I had nightmares about it for years!!! I would love to see it again. I wonder if it is really as frightening as I remember.