Now, for a fun one (finally). SOMETHING EVIL
isn't on Netflix Watch Instantly and it wasn't on Time Out's list, but we're
taking a break from those sources for a special occasion. The other day the
Hollywood Theater showed a 16mm print of this rare made-for-TV horror flick,
notable because it was directed by a young pre-JAWS Steven Spielberg!
SOMETHING EVIL stars Sandy Dennis and Darren
McGavin as a happy couple who buy a house in the country and move in with their
young kids, a son (Johnny Whitaker) and a younger daughter (Debbie and Sandy
Lempert).
They're not there long before Dennis hears
unsettling moaning and crying in the middle of the night. She tracks it to the
barn but once she gets there it suddenly sounds like it's coming from the
house. More weird stuff like this starts building up until Dennis is convinced
there's – you guessed it – something evil in the house!
A lot of this stuff seems familiar, featured
in similar movies like THE AMITYVILLE HORROR and THE EXORCIST, except for one
important part: both of those came after this movie! So, Spielberg was ahead of
his time, as usual.
Speaking of Spielberg, can you really tell
this is a Spielberg flick? Well, it has its limitations, since he was basically
a hired hand on a low budget made for TV flick. But, the movie does seem to
have some of his trademarks, including a family that feels more real than your
average screen family, a sense of humor, and lots of shots of characters with
flash lights wandering around.
Most of SOMETHING EVIL is a slow build to a
pretty quick climax, but it's very economical and definitely has some good
scares in it. Dennis is great as the mother, the kids are suitably creepy but
the movie doesn't rely on that too much, and the McGavin is good as a
sympathetic but not dopey husband and father.
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