Successful fashion artist Liza Crocker (a fine and sympathetic performance by Barbara Eden) wants a divorce from her estranged husband Eddie (an excellent portrayal by Larry Hagman), so she decides to return to her sleepy rural hometown only to find out that the hostile locals don't want her around anymore.
Director Daniel Petrie presents a strong and flavorsome evocation of a repressively close-knit backwoods community where everybody knows everyone else's business, ably crafts a spooky enigmatic atmosphere (the stuff concerning a constantly howling dog in the woods is genuinely eerie and unsettling), builds a good deal of tension, and keeps the engrossing story moving along at a steady pace. Richard De Roy's sharp script provides an interesting array of suspicious characters along with a few neat twists and turns. The sound acting by the capable cast helps a lot, with especially stand-out contributions from Vera Miles as Liza's sweet stepmother Rose Staines, John Rubinstein as charming nice guy pianist Justin Conway, Tyne Daly as the forlorn Sally Bixton, George Murdock as the gruff Mel Warren, Ford Rainey as crusty gas station owner Bud Henshaw, Lisa Gerritsen as helpful little girl Betsy, and Bill Vent as the surly Lennie. Jack A. Marta's polished cinematography boasts some impressively expansive helicopter shots. Dave Grusin's shivery score hits the shuddery spot. Well worth seeking out.
Director Daniel Petrie presents a strong and flavorsome evocation of a repressively close-knit backwoods community where everybody knows everyone else's business, ably crafts a spooky enigmatic atmosphere (the stuff concerning a constantly howling dog in the woods is genuinely eerie and unsettling), builds a good deal of tension, and keeps the engrossing story moving along at a steady pace. Richard De Roy's sharp script provides an interesting array of suspicious characters along with a few neat twists and turns. The sound acting by the capable cast helps a lot, with especially stand-out contributions from Vera Miles as Liza's sweet stepmother Rose Staines, John Rubinstein as charming nice guy pianist Justin Conway, Tyne Daly as the forlorn Sally Bixton, George Murdock as the gruff Mel Warren, Ford Rainey as crusty gas station owner Bud Henshaw, Lisa Gerritsen as helpful little girl Betsy, and Bill Vent as the surly Lennie. Jack A. Marta's polished cinematography boasts some impressively expansive helicopter shots. Dave Grusin's shivery score hits the shuddery spot. Well worth seeking out.