“Made-for-TV movie!” Is there a more exciting phrase in the English language?!
Okay, so made-for-TV movies do not enjoy a sterling reputation. When we showed Dark Night of the Scarecrow on The Last Drive-In last season, many of the viewer comments were about how great it was, especially for a TV movie. The idea that TV movies can’t possibly showcase great horror is so widespread that most people never give them a chance. (Full disclosure: I was one of those people!)
But when I started looking for horror titles that actually triumphed over television’s content restrictions, I was pleasantly surprised. For this article, I came up with five fabulously fearsome fright features from the small screen, but I could have come up with many more. (I am not including Dark Night of the Scarecrow, Sharknado or Trilogy of Terror, the ones we discussed on the air, but all three certainly qualify for any “Best of” list.)
So here’s to the small screen—don’t touch that dial!
Duel (1971)
This is the big one, kiddies. When someone tells you there’s never been a truly exceptional made-for-TV movie, you just push their face against the television set and show ’em this nail-biter written by the great Richard Matheson. It isn’t just a great made-for-TV movie; it’s a great movie, period. Dennis Weaver plays a man menaced by an unseen truck driver—and with a simple game of cat-and-mouse, Duel creates the sort of nerve-killing suspense that would make Alfred Hitchcock green with envy.
The film should really qualify as Steven Spielberg’s first feature, even though that distinction usually goes to The Sugarland Express. Prior to Duel, Spielberg directed a wonderful segment for the Night Gallery pilot film. Between his first two directorial efforts and Jaws, it’s clear that Spielberg had a gift for terror. Even without hindsight, Spielberg’s work in Duel is simply masterful. If Spielberg directed nothing else, he’d still have a true classic to his name.
Cast a Deadly Spell (1991)
The year was 1948. Art Mooney’s recording of “I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover” topped the charts for three weeks, popular comedians Abbott and Costello met the Universal Monsters on the silver screen, and the use of magic dominated everyday life. That’s the premise of Cast a Deadly Spell, a neo-noir in which mystery meets mysticism. If you imagine Who Framed Roger Rabbit? with demons instead of ‘toons, you’ll have something akin to this movie.
Produced for HBO, Cast a Deadly Spell feels like it ought to be a bigger cult favorite than it is. The incredible cast includes Fred Ward as private investigator Harry Lovecraft (I never said this was a subtle movie), Julianne Moore as a femme fatale, David Warner as a man searching for the Necronomicon, and Clancy Brown as a smooth gangster. It creates a retro cool world with Raymond Chandler tough guys interacting with werewolves, gremlins, and other fantastic creatures. In one particularly memorable sequence, a criminal tries to destroy Lovecraft by casting the runes. How can you not love a movie where a Phillip Marlowe type almost gets Night of the Demon-ed?
The effects are amazing in that old-fashioned magic-show way. In fact, some scenes use literal magic tricks to represent real sorcery. If you dig rubber monsters and hand-crafted marvels, this movie is for you. A sequel called Witch Hunt with Dennis Hopper as Lovecraft is also fun, but nothing can match the unique appeal of the original. It’s the stuff that nightmares are made of. (You can read more on Cast A Deadly Spell in FANGORIA issue #106.)
A Cold Night’s Death (1973)
John Carpenter’s The Thing is technically a remake of The Thing from Another World. However, in terms of tone and mood, they’re very different movies. But perhaps the true predecessor to Carpenter’s Thing is a little-seen TV movie called A Cold Night’s Death. Robert Culp and Eli Wallach star as two scientists sent to an isolated mountain lab to investigate the mysterious death of a primatologist and assess the state of his experiments. Eerie things begin to happen, and paranoia soon conquers the two men.
This unjustly obscure movie is a taut thriller that keeps the suspense galloping in its 75 minutes. I don’t want to say too much about what happens because it’s very much a mystery. Is the threat natural or supernatural? Mental or monstrous? You’ll have to see it yourself to find out. As a frozen fright flick that may have inspired Carpenter, it’s a chiller in more ways than one.
Bad Ronald (1974)
Poor Ronald. He’s the sort of fantasy-loving nerd you may have known (or been) when you were a teenager. Living with his eccentric mother in a creepy Victorian house, Ronald has gained a reputation as the neighborhood weirdo. The unfortunate outcast eventually gains the courage to ask out cool girl Laurie, only to be rejected and mocked. As Ronald leaves, he runs into Laurie’s sister, who mercilessly makes fun of him. Tragically, Ronald accidentally kills the girl and buries her body in a state of panic. To hide from the police, Ronald and his mother build a trapdoor that allows the boy to hide within the walls. Mother eventually dies, but Ronald remains within his cozy little spot . . . even when a new family moves in.
Bad Ronald is a great psychological thriller with a tragic element. Bad as he eventually becomes, Ronald is sympathetic in that Carrie/Phantom of the Opera way. And speaking of Phantom, the idea of such a character living in a regular house instead of a grand opera brings new horror to a familiar concept. Scott Jacoby is both terrifying and sad as the titular outcast. Fans of peculiar cinema may recognize Jacoby as the gawky magician from The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane. It seems right that such a guy would spend so much time hiding in a trapdoor.
Gargoyles (1972)
Gargoyles are totally terrifying! Associated with Gothic cathedrals, general grotesquery, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, it’s shocking that there aren’t more scary movies centered around these winged fiends. Well, we got at least one in 1972 entitled—get this— Gargoyles! Starring Cornel Wilde, Jennifer Salt, Grayson Hall, and Bernie Casey, Gargoyles is monster movie heaven.
While the other films on this list blend genres or have some elaborate premise, Gargoyles is just a good old-fashioned creature feature. Heck, it even has a slime-drip title card! What really makes this one stand out is the incredible Gargoyles constructed by the great Stan Winston. The monsters are so good Winston won an Emmy for his work. This one’s for the ‘goyles.
This deep dive into TV terror is truly just the beginning. There are many more hidden horror gems out there waiting to be discovered. If you look past their reputation, you’ll find some big screams on the small screen.
Get your fix of more made-for-TV horror recommendations, and revisit Diana Prince’s past articles.
