14 December 2024
The Norliss Tapes (1973)
73 min.
Directed by Dan Curtis.
With Roy Thinnes, Angie Dickinson, Claude Akins, Don Porter, Michele Carey, Vonetta McGee, Hurd Hatfield, Nick Dimitri.
Working on his latest book debunking the supernatural as mere hocus pocus tripe, writer David Norliss (Thinnes) hits a rather unavoidable wall when he's approached by shaken Ellen Cort (the always lovely Dickinson).

Seems her husband James has been sculpting in the family studio late at night and scaring her senseless...particularly since her husband's been dead & buried for some time!

Turns out the pasty-faced ghoul that was once Ellen's hubby is intent on completing some diabolical mission...but what could it be?

Director Dan Curtis brings his trademark Night Stalker style to this well acted TV horror which benefits from the solid noir-like narrative approach.

And there's some efficient scares, most notably when Ellen's sis suspects someone is watching her from behind a curtained motel window...(someone is.

The open ended conclusion is nicely downbeat.

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