pain93 After reading SUMMER OF FEAR by great author Ms. Lois Duncan, I had discovered this little film. It took me forever to find it until one day I was at the video store and found it hiding away with the old used up VHS'S. And so I picked it up and brought it home. The film for the most part stays true to the novel, with the exception of a few minor changes. The acting is what I like to call 'Made for TV' in which it is not really great, but it is not really terrible. The script lacks a tad bit, but over all this film is highly entertaining. Sure it is no where near Craven's SCREAM or A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET but it is a good movie. The special effects are dated, but it is not like this film is an Oscar winning picture. The climax is a fun traditional cat fight and the ending is good. This movie makes me feel like Im watching one of those lifetime network films...but in a good way. I really do like SUMMER OF FEAR. It's enjoyable and entertaining. Worth a watch!

The_Void Well, I didn't have much hope for this one - but it actually turned out to be a big (pleasant) surprise! By 1978, director Wes Craven was best known for his brash exploitation thrillers The Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes, making this film something of a change of pace for him as not only doesn't it feature the hardcore violence of the latter two films - it's actually a 'made for TV' picture! However, in spite of that - it's actually really good! Fair enough, it doesn't break any traditions and it doesn't have a whole lot of 'bite', but the story is perfectly paced and this ensures that the director is able to keep things interesting throughout, and this is what makes Summer of Fear a cut above your average TV movie. The plot focuses on Rachel Bryant - a young girl who lives with her family somewhere in America. Her aunt and uncle are killed in a car crash one day and, other than the obvious implications of this event, it turns out to be really bad news for her as her cousin comes to stay with the family. Julia Trent is an instant hit with the household and all their friends - but her antics aren't fooling Rachel, who comes to believe that Julia is a witch.This is the sort of story that would lend itself brilliantly to a book (the film is based on the children's novel of the same title written by Lois Duncan), but doesn't often translate well to the big screen. That makes this film an exception as despite featuring no big scares and relying entirely on the intrigue generated from the central situation, the film keeps itself going well, and the way that the story constantly hints at the witchcraft theme works very well. The film stars Linda Blair in one of her first post-Exorcist horror roles, and she does brilliantly with it. Her hair looks a bit silly throughout, but she gets over this with a nice performance in which she captures a balance between the naivety and ingenuity of her character. The rest of the cast act in support to Linda, but all give decent performances. The events leading up to the inevitable climax aren't all that terrible; but by keeping things down to earth, the film actually becomes more effective as it nicely gets into a rhythm and nothing in the film feels out of place. Even the ending, which shows the film at its most over the top, still feels rather tame in comparison to other, similar, films. Overall, I can't recommend going out of your way to find this - but if you happen across a copy, it does at least make for a fun, relaxing viewing.

lost-in-limbo Rachael Bryant's cousin, Julia comes to live with her family at the country farm, after her parents where killed in a car accident. Though during her stay, strange things begin to happen, like the horse seems to lose it around Julia and men in the Rachael's life seem to fall under her spell. She tries to convince her family and friends that there's something not quite right about Julia, but she gets dismissed as nothing more but jealously.I was quite impressed for what is was and Craven's low-budget TV feature (after such brutally raw efforts as "The Last House on the Left" and "The Hills Have Eyes") is an earnest curio, despite its timid treatment for a wider audience. This version is the international extended cut of American TV movie "Stranger in The House" and was adapted from the novel of Lois Duncan. The seductively adorable Lee Purcell definitely casts a spell over you in her hypnotic performance as the sweetly venomous cousin Julia. In the words of Cliff Richards, "She's just a devil woman. With evil on her mind. Beware the devil woman. She's gonna get you." An engrossingly likable doll face Linda Blair (who has one puffy hairdo!) is the main attraction (five years after her demonic role in "The Exorcist") and is tailor made for the part. While, it starts off slowly and the material sticks to a fundamental pattern. Craven manages to keep it interesting by drawing you in. He rallies up the ominous tension sufficiently and feed us to some black humour, but it does seem to lose that edge created earlier on by falling into predictability and nonsensical actions (plenty of rash decisions) that creep into the latter half. This is when it also finally picks up the pace and adds the (somewhat cheesy) thrills and chills to the mixture. The laughable special effects also kick in too. The way they approach the camera-work is glaringly workable and the overwhelming music score sticks to the same close-circuit cues. And throw in one of those endings. Yeah, one of those! The performances from the rest of the cast are simply okay and an early appearance by Fran Drescher wasn't too annoying. Good lord! Maybe it was because she didn't get enough screen time to provide her irritating twang.A compellingly solid offering without being too daring or surprising, but its Purcell and Blair's performances that makes this general item passable. Just move right in!

gridoon Linda Blair is this film's main draw today, but Lee Purcell is the real star of the show: at first I wasn't too sure about her, but she has the mysteriously seductive presence that her role calls for, and her performance literally gets better by the minute. This may be a Wes Craven movie, but it is also a TV movie, so it is rather tame in terms of sexuality and violence; there are few real surprises and few real thrills until the last 15 minutes and the (long awaited) catfight between Blair and Purcell. With its "evil stranger is disrupting the life of a normal happy family" plot, you could say that this film was ahead of its time; thrillers of this type didn't become popular until the early 90's, with "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" and others like it. But one look at Linda's hair will convince you that it was NOT ahead of its time in other areas. In short, rent it but don't buy it. (**)