11 December 2024
Scream Pretty Peggy (1973)
75 min.
Directed by Gordon Hessler.
With Ted Bessell, Bette Davis, Sian Barbara Allen, Charles Drake, Allan Arbus.
Feisty little PSYCHO variation makes for fun TV terror.

College student Peggy (Allen) takes a part time housecleaning job at the eccentric Elliot house, home to sculptor Jeffrey (Bessell) and his elderly mother (Davis).

Before long, Peggy spots a mysterious woman lurking about the estate at night and decides to investigate. But will Peggy live to discover the Elliots' dark secret hidden above the locked family garage?

Co-scripted by Hammer Films regular writer/director Jimmy Sangster, Pretty Peggy is a simplistic, enjoyable telehorror with coy slasher overtones.

Both Allen and Bessell (from TV's That Girl) deliver solid performances while screen legend Davis is in fine form as the boozy Mrs. Elliot.

With a memorable shock ending, this rare effort is worth seeking out.

In addition to helming several other notable television terrors, director Hessler here made a number of big screen horrors including The Oblong Box (1969) and Cry of the Banshee (1970).

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