This is an intriguing movie of the week where the parents sent the kids to bed, turned down the light in their own bedroom, and had nightmares after the 90 minute running time was over. It's a period piece about the investigation into who committed a murder that sent an innocent man (Jerry Douglas of "The Young & the Restless") to the electric chair. His brother (George Hamilton) is given a mysterious letter to read upon his death, and this leads him to a bunch of creepy characters, including veteran actors Ray Milland, Ralph Meeker and Joan Blondell and Linda Cristal who really is a flaming beauty. It is soon evident that Hamilton is up against something truly evil which is right under his nose, and this leads to some really creepy situations that are accompanied by eerie organ music.
The movies of the week of the 1970's were obsessed with things involving Satan worship, yet in retrospect, they are innocent in the sense that there is no blood, just chills from the knowledge of what is happening without the visuals of seeing it occur. This film seems to have been made very cheaply which gives it an even more eerie appearance, like the old horror movies from poverty row studios like Monogram and the Producer's Releasing Corporation. A walking dead man played by Reggie Nalder gets the creepiest moments, especially talking without moving his mouth while he is in a coffin, and later sitting up and following Hamilton with truly dead man's eyes. This is one where you leave credibility behind and just go for the chills.
The movies of the week of the 1970's were obsessed with things involving Satan worship, yet in retrospect, they are innocent in the sense that there is no blood, just chills from the knowledge of what is happening without the visuals of seeing it occur. This film seems to have been made very cheaply which gives it an even more eerie appearance, like the old horror movies from poverty row studios like Monogram and the Producer's Releasing Corporation. A walking dead man played by Reggie Nalder gets the creepiest moments, especially talking without moving his mouth while he is in a coffin, and later sitting up and following Hamilton with truly dead man's eyes. This is one where you leave credibility behind and just go for the chills.