Weekend of Terror

What an excitement for me to have here the two heroes - at least Robert Conrad as Jim West, for WILD WILD WEST - from my childhood TOGETHER and in villains roles. When I watched SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, I was actually not a child anymore but a young teen, but it's not important...I would have liked so much so see Majors in a COLUMBO episode, playing a wealthy crime mastermind.... In this very good suspense yarn, I am totally satisfied with with my younger years TV heroes playing bad guys. Jud Taylor was a prolific TV stuff provider and this one here proves his efficiency in terms of directing skills. However, I admit it could have been a bit better on some points...For instance the ending.

I thought it was a bit like Hitch-Hike or Last house on the Left movie. This movie was dry and very boring. Only good thing about it was the acting skill. Therefore i give the movie a weak 3 out of 10. I must say the plot was extremely weak and it' starts with two guys who kidnapping a young pretty lady for ransom money and one of the kidnapper chasing her and she accidentally trips and die. Then they must find a new pretty lady. And one of the men goes out to find someone. It end up with a good looking lady and two nun. And of course they have no money but still they keeping them as hostage. One of the kidnapper want to kill them, but the other companion won't. This movie could have been a lot better, but it went downhill early on.

One reviewer describes this as 'a pretty lame movie' and I am in total agreement. The film often makes little sense and you could certainly do better.

When the film begins, one of two kidnappers accidentally kills the lady they kidnapped. So they come up with a plan that makes absolutely no sense--to kidnap some poor lady and somehow convince the rich guy that the substitute is his daughter. Instead, the idiot kidnaps three nuns and what they do after that makes even less sense. But one of the kidnappers (Lee Majors) balks at his partner (Robert Conrad) when he plans on murdering two of the three nuns. Why only 2 of the 3? I have no idea.

There is nothing about this film that is good or excellent. It often makes little sense and the nuns occasionally behave like morons (especially when they are hiding and one betrays their hiding place by crying out!). Overall, a sloppy, silly movie that rarely does more than pass time.

Handsomely-produced TV-movie from Paramount has two desperate men, holed up in an abandoned house in California's High Desert, hastily rearranging their kidnap-for-ransom plan after their female captive suffers a fall and dies; they decide to kidnap another woman to take the dead girl's place, but end up with three nuns in the bargain (two in robes and habits, one in civilian clothes: a pleated mini-skirt and go-go boots!). Fairly entertaining yarn, written by Lionel E. Siegel with tongue slightly in-cheek, begins well but unravels completely by the third act. This holy trio of Sisters (Lois Nettleton, Jane Wyatt and Carol Lynley) is quite an unlikely group--as are Robert Conrad and Lee Majors as the kidnappers! The characters are not fleshed out by the writing, therefore we never fear for their safety. Lynley has a big dramatic sequence late in the film which Siegel squashes merely so he can continue along with his formula (this may not have been his fault, however, as most television dramas from this era were not made to be surprising or provocative--just routine). However, Jud Taylor's competent direction and the interesting rural locales manage to hold interest for most of this "Weekend".

This starts with a man chasing a woman and it's filmed in slow motion . Amazingly one of the names featured in the credits is Lee Majors who isn't actually either of the characters running in slow motion . This sets up the story that is equally slow motion . This is a pity because there's all sorts of potential in this TVM but of course being a TVM there's rules involved , as in no sex , violence , bad language , blasphemy or anything else that will alienate a family audience

It's a very bland tale where two criminals have an intricate if not implausible plan and they need a hostage and they've just lost their original hostage which means they need a plan B and low and behold a miracle happens because three nuns just happen to suffer a car breakdown on a remote desert highway . Obviously the Gods were on the side of the baddies at this point

Did I mention how bland this TVM was ? As I said it goes out of its way to offend absolutely no one . The victims are nuns but there is absolutely no reason why they should be nuns they could be some really hot cheerleaders and it would have not made the slightest piece of difference to the telling of the story except to perhaps manipulate the audience in to feeling sorry for them . There's no need because they're women held at gunpoint and that should be enough