Category: TV Terror Guide
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The Secret Night Caller (1975)
The Secret Night Caller (1975) takes a different approach for an obscene phone caller movie. Although it opens with a few thrills and chills, it quickly morphs into a sympathetic character study of a man with compulsions he doesn’t understand. Because he takes responsibility for what he’s done and seeks help, he’s magically forgiven for…
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Cave In! (1983)
Disaster Film Checklist Thoughts If When Time Ran Out… was a whimpering last hurrah for theatrical disaster films of the 1970s, then that’s the purpose Cave In! serves for television. It’s a watered-down version of earlier “hits” like Flood, Fire, and Hanging by a Thread, and concludes the third part of a thematic trilogy with…
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The Night the Bridge Fell Down (1980)
Disaster Film Checklist Thoughts One thing I’ve noticed during this series is that the longer the disaster movie subgenre ran, the more unlikable its characters became. I failed to mention it twice now, but it’s unavoidable with The Night the Bridge Fell Down (1980.) Instead of cheering for heroes to survive, we’re cheering for villains…
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Hanging by a Thread (1979)
Disaster Film Checklist Thoughts There’s no reason on God’s green Earth that Hanging by a Thread (1979) should be over three hours long. It would be hard to hang in there with it (pun intended) if not for the flashbacks the characters experience while trapped in a cable-car that’s been struck by lightning and is…
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Fire (1977)
Disaster Film Checklist Thoughts On one hand, Fire (1977) is a retread of Flood (1976) from the year before. They were even produced and directed by the same team of Irwin Allen (the former) and Earl Bellamy (the latter.) The names of the writers, though, may have been changed to protect the innocent… Don Ingalls…
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Flood (1976)
Disaster Film Checklist Thoughts Wait, I didn’t list Roddy McDowall’s character, Mr. Franklin. That’s because he plays a fisherman that Steve delivers to the resort in the very first scene of the movie… and he’s neither seen nor heard of again. Mayor John Cutler is a conflicted villain. He’s truly doing what he thinks is…
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Disaster December!
Welcome to “Disaster December!” Starting later today, and throughout the month, all our movie discussions will pertain to 1970s disaster films, both theatrical releases and TV movies. Follow along on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube for fun facts and history, and be sure to listen to this month’s episode of The Classic Horrors Club Podcast…
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The Tenth Level (1976)
Professor Stephen Turner tells his class that he’s been interested in the phenomenon of obedience to authority. He asks what makes ordinary men and women follow orders to harm, maim, and kill other human beings. In The Tenth Level (1976), he then proceeds to perform experiments to learn more about it. At the end of…
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The Force of Evil (1977)
Chances are unlikely you’d remember an NBC television series called, Tales of the Unexpected. Produced by Quinn Martin, it was a weekly anthology of horror and science fiction stories. However, premiering on February 2, 1997, and airing against ABC’s hit shows, Charlie’s Angels and Baretta, it lasted only eight episodes before being cancelled. The episodes…
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Cover Girls (1977)
Instead of three lovely ladies like Charlie’s Angels (1976-81), Cover Girls (1977) has only two. It seems to have sacrificed one actor in exchange for a higher travel budget. The adventures of models Linda Allen (Cornelia Sharpe) and Monique Lawrence (Jayne Kennedy) happen around the world. It’s been a long time, but if I recall,…
Classic Horrors Club 