We’ve seen the story many times, going back at least as far as 1954 with Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Sure, there are variations and twists, but the basic plot is the same: somebody sees something bad happen in an adjacent building. Usually, nobody believes them and, at some point, they find themselves in personal danger…

Here’s how old school I am. The Questor Tapes (1974) is a Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek) production and the titular character, played by Robert Foxworth, is an android that repeatedly uses the word “logic.” That reminded me an awful lot of Spock, so I thought the character was based on him. Duh! Research has shown…

If you’re going to be trapped on an elevator, this would be a good one. Just look at your co-passengers: Craig Stevens (The Deadly Mantis), Teresa Wright (Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt), Myrna Loy (The Thin Man), and Jean Allison (Devil’s Partner.) And that’s just the old Hollywood royalty. There’s also Roddy McDowell and Carol…

If I were to wake up from a cryogenic deep sleep after 34 years, I can’t imagine that I’d be bored and lie around the house all day. Instead, I’d be out and about experiencing all the marvels of a new world. Then again, I wouldn’t have a psychopathic daughter like Caroline Carmichael (Donna Mills)…

In Hitchhike! (1974), Cloris Leachman, who’s been so good in several TV movies we’ve discussed in this series, plays Claire Stevens, a woman on the run from someone or something, who picks up Keith Miles (Michael Brandon) beside the road on a rainy drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Made in the 1970s, you…

Mousey (1974) doesn’t feel like a made-for-television movie. In fact, it was released theatrically in the UK, Australia, Italy, and Denmark, where it was known as Cat & Mouse. I couldn’t find much about its origins, but there’s got to be a story to explain the melting pot of production contributors. It’s a joint US/UK…

As often as we see movies about disasters in big cities like Los Angeles and New York City, The Day the Earth Moved (1974) reminds us that earthquakes can also strike in small towns like Bates, Nevada. Sure, the stakes aren’t as high… there just aren’t as many people in danger. Plus, there aren’t many…

There’s a reason Locusts (1974) is not included as one of the “Television Fright Films of the 1970” in my bible for this series, the book by David Deal. Don’t let the IMDb category fool you; it’s not a horror film. Instead, it’s strictly a drama where turmoil in the family causes a bigger threat…

The tagline for Panic on the 5:22 reads, “They can’t let anyone off this train alive!” That’s how I felt watching the movie. It’s dumb, noisy, and annoying. And it arrivesd on the small screen about a month after The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 hit the big screen. Similar story… dissimilar results. I will geek-out…

If you grew up in the 1970s, you knew ABC news anchor Howard K. Smith. If you watch Trapped Beneath the Sea (1974) today and hear his familiar voice narrating the movie, a wave of nostalgia will wash over you. It reinforces the fact that it’s based on a true story as well as lends…