Mar 25, 2019

A domestic thriller in the literal sense, BAD RONALD answers the question, "What if Dorothy Zbornak's son were a murderer?" This 1974 ABC TV movie stars Scott Jacoby as a teenaged killer lurking within the walls of an unwitting family's home. It's got some issues, as Sam and guest Calpernia Addams find, but it also...

Mar 18, 2019

Don’t believe the jump rope jingle! Lizzie Borden didn’t actually give her mother forty whacks. Also, it really undersells the amount of lesbian tension in this story. Yes, Sam is talking 1975’s The Legend of Lizzie Borden, which puts two sitcom greats — Elizabeth Montgomery and Katherine Helmond — into...

Mar 11, 2019

Can the pilot for a failed detective series be turned into a successful standalone feature? Why do you think they filmed this on location in Monterey? Could there be a less interesting name for a leading male character than Norliss? Didn't Angie Dickinson have something better to do? Why are there so few people of color...

Mar 4, 2019

On Halloween night, 1978, NBC aired SUMMER OF FEAR (a.k.a. STRANGER IN OUR HOUSE), starring Linda Blair and several perms. The film — directed by Wes Craven and based on a novel by Lois Duncan — is a witchcraft-tinged thriller that plays on the very relatable fear of having an evil cousin take over your posh life in...