Le visiteur de la nuit

It's sort of funny and charming to browse through the user-comments on these early 70's made-for-TV chillers; also known as the notorious ABC movies of the Week. The only few and brief comments are customarily written by people who watched the original airings on TV, got terrified of what they saw and then for years unsuccessfully tried tracking down a copy of that one movie that left such a gigantic impression on them. Well, I hope all these devoted fans managed to found a copy in the meantime, but normally that shouldn't be a problem nowadays because thanks to new media canals and exchanging methods, such a thing like an obscure movie hardly exists anymore. Heck, I even came across a proper version of "The Strange and Deadly Occurrence" and I never fanatically searched for it. I do immediately understand, however, why this is such a loved and intensely remembered film among 70's TV-thriller fans. The basic plot of "The Strange and Deadly Occurrence" is rudimentary and straightforward, but the atmosphere is unceasingly tense and there are two or three exceptionally unsettling sequences that are guaranteed to make your entire body tremble. All the other reviews collectively babble on and on about the scene with a headless dummy and petrifying pounding sounds. Those particular sequences are indeed quite scary, although I do think they must have been at least a dozen times scarier back in the early 70's, when horror was merely suggestive and everything else was left to the imagination. The happy and harmonious Rhodes family has been living in their secluded but luxurious countryside mansion for a couple of months now, but lately the number of little problems increases dramatically. There are problems with the electricity and plumbing, the estate is infested with gophers, the 16-year-old daughter suffers from spooky vivid nightmares and the brand new family dog mysteriously dies in the horses' stable. Is the area haunted or does someone just really wants to chase the Rhodes family out of there, like the suspicious Dr. Gillgreen who offers to buy the house at all prices. As said, a very simplistic formula but one that is compelling enough to keep you interested and guessing along with the protagonists regarding the secret of the house. John Llewellyn Moxey, arguably the best TV-thriller director of the era with other highlights in his repertoire such as "Nightmare in Badham County", "Where have all the people gone" and "The Night Stalker", keeps the pace reasonably fast and perfectly knows how to uphold the atmosphere of mystery until the very end. Robert Stack and Vera Miles give adequate performances as the married couple and Margaret Willock is very cherubic as the teenage daughter. This definitely isn't the greatest TV-thriller you'll ever watch, but nevertheless a very decent one.

Yes, I remember this movie because of the headless dummy scene. It scared the c**p out of me too and I would have to rank that up there with the hand coming out of the grave scene from "Carrie" as one of the scariest moments in filmdom (even if this was a Television Movie).

Hey guys this movie is ran all the time..... it came on TBS several times in the late 80s early 90s and recently was shown on the Turner South Network!!!!! Ive seen it probably 7 or 8 times !! im sure it will be on soon.... if i see it coming on ill tape it and maybe i can get you guys copies or something !!!!!!!!!

I've long held a great fondness for genre cinema that lays the bite on a family. I suppose because family is about the most primal, fundamental structure in society so if you really get pulling on those teeny tiny strings you can make the whole edifice feel like it's in trouble. Of course such films come in every shape and size, from the everything will be fine and nobody was ever in much danger types right through to the family itself as trunk of rot and ooze types. The Strange and Deadly Occurrence sticks mostly on the light side of the genre, but through swift pace, smart direction and determination to put everyone through the ringer with very little downtime, it manages to be a definite winner. The story is as simple as they come, a happy family in a beautiful new house are plagued by rapidly escalating unusual and menacing events. Something doesn't want them there, but why? ...Well to be honest the why isn't all that interesting. No great twists and turns, nothing too unusual or imaginative. Pretty commonplace actually. Also it renders some of what has gone before even more unlikely than it already was. Doesn't matter much though, as this is pretty small scale stuff with little in the way of ambition, just standard tightly composed TV movie thrill-chiller territory. The ending wraps everything up in suitably suspenseful fashion there are some good scares and the acting is on the mark. Robert Stack (Airplane) plays the head of the house well, determinedly hanging on in the face of the unknown but still considerate towards his wife and daughter, never brash nor intemperate but not weak either. The sort of guy you can relate to really. Vera Miles (Psycho) is equally good as his wife, somewhat more cowed by affairs but never hysterical or even especially nervous, holding herself together for the good of all. Margaret Willock comes off well as the daughter of the piece as well, the sort of role that usually drags but she manages to be perfectly likable. They work well together, and their convincing mounting fear gives the jolts that little extra push. As far as the jolts go, they are all fairly tame but a couple make their mark well, and the whole affair is boosted by quality direction from veteran John Llewellyn Moxey (City of the Dead), including various adeptly gripping sequences of fluid, roaming point of view camera-work rather similar to that of a slasher. So, as it all comes together, a decent diverting affair with some fine moments. Like most of its ilk it isn't likely to make too much of an impression on latter day audiences, being the sort of thing that mostly just freaked out kids watching it when it first aired, but its very much a solid affair and well worth a watch for fans of the eras TV chiller programming.

In THE STRANGE AND DEADLY OCCURRENCE, Michael and Christine Rhodes (Robert Stack and Vera Miles), along with their daughter, Melissa (Margaret Willock), are settling in to their new, rural home. Odd things begin happening almost immediately, like unexplained power outages, weird furnace trouble, and an eerie, heavy-breathing presence!

Christine soon learns of the house's dark past. Could some paranormal phenomena be afoot? And, who's the bizarre guy that insists on buying the house? As the inexplicable events grow more frequent and dangerous, the Rhodes' start to question the wisdom of their investment.

Michael believes that some flesh and blood perpetrator is up to no good. The Sheriff (L.Q. Jones) is unconvinced that anything serious is taking place. Then, a life is lost, and a secret is uncovered. This all leads to the big, shock finale.

This made-for-TV movie is an effective mystery / thriller with a nice, ironic ending. Both Stack and Miles are convincing in their parts.

Watch for the inimitable Bill McKinney as Pratt...