Although Robb White wrote the occasional Perry Mason television episode, we all know him as the writer of the late 1950s-early 1960s William Castle classics, Macabre, House on Haunted Hill, The Tingler, 13 Ghosts, and Homicidal. To be clear, he didn’t write today’s 1970s TV movie, Savages (1974), but it was based on his novel,…

Last Bride of Salem (1974) first aired during the day on The ABC Afternoon Playbreak but was so popular that it later got a primetime broadcast. Shot on video, it seems a good substitute for Dark Shadows, which had ended three years earlier. The quality and budget are about the same, but so are the…

Today, as a special treat, I present an excerpt from a feature I wrote for the upcoming We Belong Dead publication, Masters of Terror. In it, I discuss the influence of gothic literature on Dan Curtis and how it was reflected in a number of TV horror films that he produced, as well as the…

After raving about Curtis Harrington’s TV-movie prior to this one, The Cat Creature (1973), I really hoped to enjoy Killer Bees (1974.) Unfortunately, it’s uneven. The opening is scary and funny… the climax is creepy and unsettling… but the middle is lackluster at best. The way it’s constructed by writers John Willian Corrington and Joyce…

A full-length review of Dracula was originally posted on February 8, 2017. You can click here to read it. Today, as a special treat, I present an excerpt from a feature I wrote for the upcoming We Belong Dead publication, Masters of Terror. In it, I discuss the influence of gothic literature on Dan Curtis…

Cry Panic (1974) reminds me of another 1970s TV movie we’ve discussed here: Dying Room Only (1973.) Both, in turn, remind of a common formula, variations which are used in any number of other movies. This is the concept of someone witnessing something that no one believes. In these two movies, it’s actual people that…

Despite its reputation, even though I believe it’s improved over the years to become a cult classic, I really liked Killdozer (1974.) It’s a fast-paced thriller that’s not any more ridiculous than, well… almost anything else. In fact, I prefer it over the other “possessed machines” movie it evokes, Maximum Overdrive (1986.) Call it Minimal…

Scream of the Wolf (1974) is a beloved TV movie directed by Dan Curtis (Dark Shadows); however, probably due to the dark print I watched on YouTube, it was just OK for me. It’s apparently available on any number of public domain DVDs, but nothing about that news tells me it would look any better…

We’ve been working through our 70’s TV movies chronologically. I originally didn’t include this one because it wasn’t technically a “1970s TV movie.” However, it easily belongs with the others and did have a major re-airing in 1974. Plus, it acts as a bridge to go back to the future next week where we left…

We’ve been working through our 70’s TV movies chronologically. However, we’ll occasionally backtrack to see if any we missed the first time have become available. Such is the case with today’s film. This week brings us another unsold television pilot and a 1970s TV movie I really didn’t think I was going to like. Lo…