Network: ABC
Original Air Date: December 3rd, 1976
I have to admit, Smash-Up on Interstate 5 was a lot different than I was expecting. The title led me to believe it would be something in the vein of Death Car on the Freeway, which is essentially a serial killer movie where the villain uses a car as his weapon (sounds like Tarantino was inspired by it when he made Death Proof). But Smash-Up was completely different. It's like the Final Destination movies if they were dramas and told its story in reverse. Smash-Up starts with the devastating accident and then Robert Conrad begins a voice over narration about statistics and how they don't relate to human casualties. The movie then winds back 48 hours and we learn about several of the victims and how they came to be on the Interstate at that very life-changing moment.
The stories are captivating and most of them are tinged with sadness. Take the Huttons (Sian Barbara Allen & a very young Tommy Lee Jones). She's delivering their first child at the very same moment he's gun downed during a random car check. And then there's newly divorced Erica (a stunning Vera Miles) who is nearly raped by a biker gang (TV Movies were much tougher back then), only to be saved by Dale (David Groh in an excellent performance), a much younger man who becomes her suitor. There is also Lee (Scott Jacoby) who finds himself on the run with the childlike beauty Penny (Bonnie Ebsen, Buddy's daughter). My favorite story is the one about the Pearsons (Buddy Ebsen and Harriet Nelson). She is dying and he steals her away to a quiet beach house where she tries to kill herself to prevent prolonging her departure. The end of their story is nothing short of pure tragedy.
Maybe it's kind of weird to sit here writing something so serious about a movie titled Smash-Up on Interstate 5, but that was how I felt watching it. Well, not exactly serious, but very taken with the characters and interested in their outcome. I found myself rallying for several of the cast members' fate.
It's an interesting movie because it's layered with stories that all have a beginning, middle and end. Nothing gets dropped and every character provides some importance to that fateful day on the 5. Robert Conrad serves as a thread that connects most of the cast, although some have crossed paths through other means.
I looked this movie up on IMDb and everyone calls Smash-Up a disaster flick. Although I believe this is correct, I personally never felt for once this fell into that popular subgenre, even though things do end up pretty messy. I think for me Smash-Up captured that part of life that is about lost souls searching for each other and the randomness of finding love (and sadness) at the most inopportune times. The accident became almost an afterthought as far as I was concerned.
I know what you’re thinking. “But what about the money shot?” The smash-up in question is quite spectacular and even shocking to a degree. I keep forgetting that movies from this era pulled more punches and this one went right for the gut.
Not from the movie, but scary, no?
There’s nary a shark attack after the initial assault, but there’s a couple of good moments and lots of great real shark footage.
I love shark attack movies. I just do. The good, the bad and the ugly all usually manage to find a place in my heart (minus Sangue negli abissi, which just blew!). I found Shark Kill to be particularly engaging and loved the use of real shark footage. That beats CGI predators any day!
Scary Part II
Maybe I’m easily impressionable (alright, there’s no maybe about it!), but I saw this movie when I was a kid and boy did it haunt me! Horror at 37,000 Feet is about a small group of people on a GIANT jet that is also carrying bits of a haunted abbey. The new owner and his wife (Roy Thinnes & Jane Merrow) are on board, along with the woman (Tammy Grimes) who tried to stop them from taking the artifact in the first place. To make things complete, William Shatner has also joined the flight as a weary ex-preacher (his lady is played by Lynn Loring who was Thinnes wife at the time). The rest of the cast play potential victims when the supernatural forces take over, forcing the plane to just meander in the same space in the sky. One murder, one frozen dog and one terrified stewardess later, the passengers start to give in to their more primitive thoughts leaving Merrow to worry if she’ll be the human sacrifice the spirits are calling for.
Supremely fun, if a bit incomprehensible, Horror at 37,000 Feet is one of those horror films you had to have seen as a kid to really be taken away with it now. It’s dated for sure, with a great matte screen death at the end, but if you can look past the pill box hats and wide lapels, you’re in for a real treat. Personally, I kind of like the simple effects. Some might call them laughable but I call ‘em unfussy.
The Shat likes the drinky-poo right before fighting demons!
William Shatner gets most of the notice from this film, and don’t get me wrong, he’s wonderful but the cast is just chock full of fun performances like the ones from Paul Winfield, Roy Thinnes, Buddy Ebson, Chuck Connors, Russell Johnson and Tammy Grimes (piece of trivia: She is Amanda Plummer’s mom) – whatever happened to Tammy anyway? I just never forgot her from this movie and when she delivers her sharply whispered “Sacrilege, sacrilege” line, I have to imitate her for about 20 minutes afterwards!
It’s hard for me to say any bad things about Horror at 37,000 Feet, although I know it’s quite flawed and thoroughly silly. It just brings back too many good memories of sitting on the floor of our family den with my jaw agape at the terror presented before me. I’m sure it played a big part in why I love horror movies so much now. For me, this film is perfection. Oh yeah, and Roy Thinnes was machismo on a stick!
Network: ABC
Original Air Date: November 6th, 1971
Like so many made for television movies, Revenge never got a video release, much less one on DVD. It’s a crying shame too because this movie is an elegant supernatural thriller featuring a knock out performance from Shelly Winters as the grieving mother from hell.
It’s never made quite clear if Frank (Bradford Dillman) is the correct man or not, but Amanda (Shelly Winters) is positive that this is the chap who deflowered her daughter and then dumped her, which resulted in her suicide. Amanda kidnaps Frank and keeps him prisoner in a cage in her basement. Frank’s wife, Dianne (Carol Eve Rossen) turns to famed psychic Mark Hembric (Stuart Whitman), only to have him confess that he’s a charlatan! Strangely, Dianne begins developing her own psychic powers and along with some help from Mark, she searches for her husband.
A clever and lush film, Revenge is pretty amazing. There are some shocking moments (like when Shelly attempts to axe
The cast is great. Of course Winters rules the known universe and brings a lot of compassion to a part that might be played out as purely psychotic by a lesser actress. Dillman is good as the befuddled husband and Whitman is always a welcome face in these movies. Carol Eve Rossen is new to me and she’s really good. I’d love to check out some of her other stuff. Fans of
I hope one day this television movie, along with so many others, will get a legitimate release so it can find the audience it deserves.
Lesson learned by watching Cruise into Terror: Vengeful men who worship the dark are just asking for trouble!
Seriously, I don't think I knew that!
This Aaron Spelling production featuring several attractive TV stars such as Stella Stevens and Dirk Benedict as the passengers on a trip into hell, also features Mr. Spelling’s panache for semi-hip dialog, sexual innuendo and as much T&A as one can get away with on television (i.e. not much). However, despite its superficial trappings, Cruise has some decent special effects and an overall creepy vibe. I mean, on a three day trip there’s a woman overboard, an attempted shark attack, an underwater archeological dig, demonic possession and the awakening of Satan’s son. Not to mention Lynda Day George in some spicy lingerie! Lucky Christopher (her hubby co-stars as her hubby)! All of that couldn’t have been included in the price of the ticket!
The more I think about it, the more I think this movie has a lot in common with the other cool satanic television movie Horror at 37,000 Feet - except no William Shatner falling out of a plane. Too bad, but you can’t win ‘em all, eh?
In his place, we have John Forsythe who puts in a days work and then some as Reverend Mather. He’s great, if perhaps slightly off kilter with an over the top performance. Still, he could never reach Shatner’s depth of scenery chewing… And the world breathes a collective sigh of relief!
I love the cast of this movie. The friendly face of Roger E. Mosely, the hunkadelic Hugh O’Brian and the stalwart Ray Milland all lend a hand in making this movie a bit better than it probably had any right being. Of course, I reserve a special place for Christopher George who was simply machismo on a stick. He’s pretty great here, even if I wish he had more screen time. He was (obviously) always at ease with his wife Lynda and together they made some of the wildest horror movies of the 70s into early 80s until his untimely death. I just get such a kick out of watching him in these movies because he was always the attraction. He was the one who always played it straight and made movies that might be considered subpar rise above their means. He didn’t have too work to hard here because all in all Cruise is an enjoyable ride all on its own.
