Crowhaven Farm – 1970, US, 73m. Director: Walter Grauman.
The Initiation of Sarah – 1978, US, 97m. Director: Robert Day.
The Spell – 1977, US, 86m. Director: Lee Philips.
The Stranger Within – 1974, US, 74m. Director: Lee Philips.
CROWHAVEN FARM (1970) A piece of dried up farmland is bequeathed to a city slicker who’s subsequently immolated in a car crash. The place is then handed down to next of kin Hope Lange who, once moved into the isolated house with her husband (Paul Burke), becomes psychically linked to its grim past of witchcraft and Devil worship. Desperate to have a child, Lang and Burke adopt an ominous little girl (Cindy Eilbacher) who salaciously crawls into bed with daddy Burke when Lang is out of town. Turns out Eilbacher and the rest of town are the reincarnation of 17th century devil-worshippers and want Lang’s soul as payment for her ancestor’s sins. A silly but very accessible television movie taken from the Rosemary’s Baby page of supernatural Satanic horror. B– (Currently not streaming.)
THE INITIATION OF SARAH (1978) College life is difficult for Sarah (Kay Lenz), an insecure freshman whose bubbly, buxom stepsister, Patty (Morgan Brittany), doesn’t have problems fitting into campus life. In order to offset the societal hierarchy, beautiful Patty is accepted into prestigious Alpha Nu Sigma, while dowdy Sarah moves into the detested Phi Epsilon Delta. Sarah slowly immerses into her new life while honing her telekinetic powers. Much like Carrie White from the Stephen King story, Sarah unconsciously—and sometimes consciously—uses her powers against her oppressors, including bigwig sorority bitch Morgan Fairchild. Those expecting a violent FX-filled showdown in the vein of Carrie‘s prom night climax might be disappointed in the movie’s subtler approach, although there is a fiery ending involving a sacrificial altar. The Initiation of Sarah‘s made-for-television aspects stop the story from becoming too exploitative, and relies on good acting and a suspenseful last third to pull the viewer in, which the film does quite well. B (Currently not streaming.)
THE SPELL (1977) Burdened with school bullies and a doltish family, Rita (Susan Myers) is an overweight fifteen-year-old at her wits end. Desperate for a resolution to her torment, Rita breaks open her psychic mind powers and begins serving the much needed justice only black magic can conjure. The first to feel Rita’s wrath is her asshole father (James Olson), who’s almost mowed down by a speeding car. A friend of the family spontaneously overheats like a hard-boiled egg and dies. Rita’s younger sister (Helen Hunt) almost drowns during a swim meet. Mom Lee Grant seeks help from a parapsychologist and tries to put a stop to Rita’s spell work, but by that point the viewer is more likely to give Rita a blue ribbon for the disposing of such despicable characters. Unlike Carrie, which this movie is ripping off, The Spell isn’t told through the viewpoint of Rita but of her mother, thereby eliminating a lot of the impact of Rita’s revenge tactics. Would Carrie White’s blood-soaked finale be as satisfying if the entire film was seen through her mother’s eyes? C (Currently streaming on Prime.)
THE STRANGER WITHIN (1974) In this Richard Matheson-scripted telefilm, which borrows elements from Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, and Chariots of the Gods, carefree housewife Ann (Barbara Eden) becomes unexpectedly pregnant—a troubling revelation considering her husband, David (George Grizzard), had a vasectomy years earlier. Because he’s a man of his era, David accuses Ann of infidelity. Her sunny disposition changes, as she develops a ravenous appetite for salty foods, and a sudden interest in chemistry. It doesn’t come to the surprise of anybody (audience included) to learn Ann’s baby is not of this world and is actually an alien intelligence, cast out by its society to find a home inside Ann’s womb. Eden is good but doesn’t have much material to work with. Matheson’s screenplay is too silly to be taken seriously, leaving one to wonder if this would have worked better as an episode of I Dream of Jeannie. C (Currently not streaming.)