FILM REVIEW: THE EVIL (aka HOUSE OF EVIL) (1978)

Richard Crenna leads an excellent cast in the horror film THE EVIL (1978).  Crenna is C.J. Arnold who is a professor who recently purchased a civil war era house in need of lots of repairs.  He assembles a group of old colleagues and students to help him restore the house but while exploring the basement of the house he comes across a doorway in the floor.  When he removes a cross keeping the doorway closed he unleashes an evil force that locks them all in the house with no means of escape.  The evil force decides that each person in the house is nothing more than a plaything at its disposal and C.J. and his friends must find a way out of the house before they are all killed.

As ludicrous as the concept for the film is Crenna has always had a knack for grounding these types of films such as DEATH SHIP (1980), DEVIL DOG: THE HOUND OF HELL (1978), NIGHTMARE (1974), LEVIATHAN (1989), and MURDER TIMES SEVEN (1990), to name a few.  He has a great supporting cast in Joanna Pettet, Andrew Prine, Cassie Yates, George O’Hanlon, Jr., and Victor Buono, to name a few.   The only main problem with the film is the fact that the female characters are not very fully developed (a product of ‘70s horror films) and make the film dated.

Written by Galen Thompson and Gus Trikonis, who also directs, the film is a very suspenseful thriller that has a mean streak in terms of how each person is killed making for a very entertaining film.  Only when the film delves into religious philosophy towards the end does the film misstep but this can be forgiven as there were many films of this era that tackled this question.  Otherwise this is a very interesting film.

FILM REVIEW: WHERE HAVE ALL THE PEOPLE GONE? (1974)

After the Earth is struck by solar flares people suddenly disappear in the TV movie WHERE HAVE ALL THE PEOPLE GONE? (1974).  Steven Anders (Peter Graves) and his family are exploring the caverns on an archaeological dig when they are caught in an earthquake after the Earth is hit with powerful solar flares from the Sun.  It’s not long before Steven and his son and daughter (played by George O’Hanlon, Jr. and Kathleen Quinlan, respectfully) discover that everyone caught out in the open during the solar flares has been reduced to this white powder and only those immune are still alive.  Now they are a trip to get back home to discover the fate of their mother who was not with them when everything happened.

This is a road trip movie as Steven and his family discover what has happened to the world and how they plan on surviving in it as they meet other survivors both as companions in this new world and as a new type of menace where everyone is out to survive by any means necessary.

It’s an interesting concept that puts a modern-day science based look on a post-apocalyptic theme.  The film may lack the more gruesome elements of a typical horror film but it makes up for it with the psychological suspenseful elements, especially when the characters learn that the solar flares have made dogs slightly made and they must be careful what they eat and drink as some things have exposed to radiation.  It’s a film that speaks about the contemporary fears of the ‘70s while also producing an engaging film.

For a made for TV movie it’s not bad even if it has aged a bit in over forty years.