L'Été de la peur

Lois Duncan's young-adult mystery novel "Summer of Fear" gets a fine, if low-budget, television treatment, capably directed by Wes Craven. Intriguing story features an appealing Linda Blair playing popular young woman and horse-rider whose family takes in her orphaned cousin--a perplexing girl who harbors secret evil powers. Craven's pacing is careful and sneaky, drawing the viewer in while mounting Blair's suspicions with just the right touch of creepy delicacy. Lee Purcell is excellent as cousin Julia, pulling off a showy role without lapsing into camp (although the make-up and special effects near the finish are somewhat cartoonish by today's standards). A compact thriller, very well done, and Blair--as always--is charming and makes her character easily identifiable to viewers.

This film is based on one of my favorite books from when i was younger. "Summer of Fear", which was written by Lois Duncan, who wrote many teen horror novels in the 70's. It involves a young girl (like most of Duncan's books) who finds herself confronted by the possibility that her 'dear' cousin is actually a witch hell bent on destroying her family and small circle of friends. The main reason im writing this comment is because im having a very tough time finding this film ANYWHERE. If you should happen across this review, and perhaps KNOW where i might find a copy, PLEASE...send up a smoke signal.

Linda Blair is this film's main draw today, but Lee Purcell is the real star of the show: at first I wasn't too sure about her, but she has the mysteriously seductive presence that her role calls for, and her performance literally gets better by the minute. This may be a Wes Craven movie, but it is also a TV movie, so it is rather tame in terms of sexuality and violence; there are few real surprises and few real thrills until the last 15 minutes and the (long awaited) catfight between Blair and Purcell. With its "evil stranger is disrupting the life of a normal happy family" plot, you could say that this film was ahead of its time; thrillers of this type didn't become popular until the early 90's, with "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" and others like it. But one look at Linda's hair will convince you that it was NOT ahead of its time in other areas. In short, rent it but don't buy it. (**)

After Wes Craven made the groundbreaking "Last House on the Left" and "Hills Have Eyes", he fell into a bit of a rut before finally finding his footing again with the 1984 classic "A Nightmare on Elm Street". "Summer of Fear", the film I will be looking at today, is Wes Craven's third directorial effort. It's an ambitious effort to say the least but how well does a made for TV horror movie stand up 30 years last?

The story is about a girl, Rachel Bryant (Linda Blair), who lives with her wealthy family in a nice house in the hills of Northern California. After her mother's sister, brother-in-law, and housekeeper die in a horrible car crash, the couple's daughter, Julia (Lee Purcell) comes to live with them. Julia seems a little shy if anything, but as time goes on, she begins to put an alluring spell over everyone she meets, pulling all of Rachel's family and friends away from her. After finding some odd things that belong to Julia (including a human tooth and burnt hair from Rachel's dog Trickle (for the movie the dog was changed to a horse due to Blair's love of horses and the name of the horse was Sundance instead of Trickle), Rachel begins to suspect that her cousin may be a practitioner of witchcraft, and she's hell-bent on turning Rachel's life upside down. Her open disbelieved suspicions caused her to become an outcast in front of her family.

Ahh..."Summer of Fear," what a strange movie. Wes directed this voodoo/jealously movie for ABC in the summer of 1978. Well, like I said it's a very, very weird movie. The plot has something to do with this evil girl from the south that is sent to live with Linda Blair and her family after her parents die in a car accident. Of course, she's the "cousin" that no one in the family has seen in years and that no one really seems to remember. I know, I know...predictable...but try to follow me. After she is sent to live with Linda, all hell breaks loose as this evil girl tries to take over Linda's body or something (this is never really made clear). The special effects are corny, the editing choppy, and the acting is mediocre at best (wait till you see Fran "The Nanny" Dresher as Linda Blair's nasally best friend) and yet I still kinda enjoyed this picture. It's solid, fun, campy horror that never takes itself seriously. Go into it expecting a run-of-the-mill teenage made-for-TV movie and I think you may be pleasantly surprised.

SUMMER OF FEAR opens with a literal bang, as an out of control car crashes and burns! Rachel Bryant (Linda Blair) has just lost her aunt and uncle in that explosion. When her mum and dad return from the funeral, they bring Rachel's country cousin, Julia (Lee Purcell) back with them. At first, it all goes swimmingly.

However, things take a bizarre turn when Julia and Rachel's friend, Carolyn (Fran Drescher) are attacked by Rachel's horse! Perhaps he was set off by Julia's new vest and hot pants ensemble with matching, mod hairdo! In no time, Julia has ingratiated herself with the family, and only Rachel seems to suspect that something might be amiss with their houseguest.

Oh no!

The "big dance" is imminent, and Rachel's face breaks out in what look like pepperonis! This allows Julia to go to the dance with Rachel's 12' tall boyfriend. In addition, Rachel's horse takes a terminal tumble!

Coincidence? Hmmm.

Now, with her towering boyfriend in the arms of Julia, and her horse reduced to dog chow, Julia is convinced that some genuine, Ozark mountain hoodoo might be going on. Luckily, an expert on the occult lives next door.

What are the odds? Hmmm.

Said expert helps Rachel prepare for a final showdown, when everything hits the fan! Can she possibly defeat her wretched relative?

This slab of made-for-TV cheddar is your basic supernatural yarn (cheeeze yarn?). Blair is great -as always- at being the wronged innocent, as is Purcell in her wicked role. Director Wes Craven did his best to make things suspenseful within the constraints of 1970's network television. Vintage fun for fans of tele-terror...