Mindless Ones

31 Responses to “Question: are there any good creepy US TV movies other than Salem’s Lot?”

1. Sean T. Collins Says:
   October 11th, 2011 at 2:36 pm

   I always thought they did a nice job with The Stand. That’s a miniseries, though.

2. Zom Says:
   October 11th, 2011 at 2:40 pm

   Cheers, Sean. Miniseries are fine, but I can’t be having with The Stand. Don’t like it at all.

   Other Mindless mileage might vary, of course.

3. Jarrett Duncan Says:
   October 11th, 2011 at 2:57 pm

   The Night Stalker! Maybe not so ‘creepy’, but definitely pretty good for 1972 TV. There are others, but nothing is coming to mind just now. I think Robin Bougie of Cinema Sewer actually did a list in an issue years ago…I will dig that up when I get home.

4. J. Lacy Says:
   October 11th, 2011 at 2:58 pm

   “Session 9″ is a creepy little flick. I don’t know which channel it was produced for, but you can get the DVD or stream it from Netflix.

5. Indorkest Says:
   October 11th, 2011 at 3:02 pm

   Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (1973)? And I haven’t seen it in a while, but Stephen King’s It had its moments.

6. Zom Says:
   October 11th, 2011 at 3:17 pm

   Lots of great suggestions. Jarrett, that would be really cool.

   Lacy, I thought Session 9 was released in cinemas?

7. The Beast Must Die Says:
   October 11th, 2011 at 3:17 pm

   I have huge affection for IT, based upon an obsession with the book during one long adolescent summer, but it is in truth, pretty weak sauce. John Boy Walton’s dodgy ponytail is just the tip of the iceberg. Has some great TV actors in it though – Richard (The Thing) Masur, John Ritter and Beverly Superman’s Mum. Oh and Tim Curry is a blast.

8. Zom Says:
   October 11th, 2011 at 3:26 pm

   The end is so awful (book and telly)

9. bobsy Says:
   October 11th, 2011 at 3:54 pm

   Beep beep guys.

   The bit where the woman in Beverly’s old house is drinking all slurpy from the teacup and you realise her teeth are all brown is one of the standout moments of telly creepiness ever.

   But the rest is only kitsch appeal really.

10. The Beast Must Die Says:
    October 11th, 2011 at 4:06 pm

    John Carpenter’s ‘Someone To Watch Over Me’ was a TV Movie. So was Spielberg’s ‘Duel’.

11. Richard Baez Says:
    October 11th, 2011 at 5:05 pm

    Mentioned up above, but the first half of IT? One of the better iterations of the “creepy clown”, beyond Batman and Lon Chaney.

12. Zom Says:
    October 11th, 2011 at 6:30 pm

    1st half works

13. Andrew Hickey Says:
    October 11th, 2011 at 7:49 pm

    Was going to say The Night Stalker. Just a shame about the series that spun out of it.

14. Prankster Says:
    October 11th, 2011 at 9:15 pm

    I haven’t seen it, but there’s an anthology TV movie called Trilogy of Terror, with one segment, about a killer fetish doll come to life, that’s apparently haunted the dreams of Gen Xers for a few decades now. It was the basis for the Simpsons halloween episode about the killer Krusty doll.

15. Zom Says:
    October 11th, 2011 at 9:35 pm

    Yeah, a few people recommended that one on Twitter.

16. Tom Spurgeon Says:
    October 11th, 2011 at 10:22 pm

    there was one about a dead child making phone calls that freaked me out as a kid

17. Zom Says:
    October 11th, 2011 at 10:32 pm

    Know what it was called, Tom?

18. The Beast Must Die Says:
    October 11th, 2011 at 11:44 pm

    there was one about a dead child making phone calls

    That kind of vague descriptive horridness is kind of perfect in an M R James sort of way…

19. Christian Says:
    October 12th, 2011 at 12:19 am

    I’ve never seen it, but a 1981 movie called Dark Night Of The Scarecrow has the reputation of being pretty boss. Sort of a slasher film, but the ones dying off are bigoted murderers who may or may not be having revenge exacted upon them from beyond the grave; since it was made for TV, it’s supposed to rely really heavily on atmosphere and the implication of violence over explicit effects, and a lot of horror fans really sing its praises.

20. Zom Says:
    October 12th, 2011 at 8:27 am

    Saw it last night after getting lots of recommends on Twitter.

    Is good.

21. Frank Says:
    October 12th, 2011 at 10:45 am

    Dan O’Bannon’s The Resurrected (1992) based on Lovecraft’s The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, is badly acted, well directed, with a fair amount of chills and thrills, lots of weird low budget make-up effects. There’s a bad vhs rip floating around the internet.

22. Frank Says:
    October 12th, 2011 at 10:52 am

    Whoops, on further investigation it was straight to video, it really feels like a tv movie.

23. Zom Says:
    October 12th, 2011 at 10:55 am

    It’s good, though is it? I remember watching the trailer and thinking that it might be worth a punt.

24. The Beast Must Die Says:
    October 12th, 2011 at 2:11 pm

    Ahh, O’Bannon RIP. Too sad.

    Have you seen the O’Bannon scripted Dead & Buried? It’s almost great, and is the second directorial effort of Gary Sherman who was responsible for tyhe sublime Brit horror Deathline (aka Raw Meat).

25. Tom Spurgeon Says:
    October 12th, 2011 at 11:36 pm

    It is probably this one:

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067977/

26. Zom Says:
    October 13th, 2011 at 9:57 am

    Ha, going to check that out

27. Frank Says:
    October 14th, 2011 at 3:53 am

    It’s definitely more of a crew movie than a cast movie. By and large the main performers just sleep walk through the movie, hamming it up as need be, but the behind the scenes people are giving it a red hot go. The whole thing only really comes together in an amazing dogme style scene where the police raid the creepy old house of DR. ASH.

28. Frank Says:
    October 14th, 2011 at 3:54 am

    But yeah, it’s worth a look. If only to see what it might have been like if O’Bannon had directed more.

29. Jarrett Duncan Says:
    October 14th, 2011 at 7:07 am

    Just remembered to check! From Cinema Sewer #11, a list from “Chris of Stray Thoughts Productions”:

    5. Gargoyles (1972)
    4. Salem’s Lot (1979)
    3. Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (1973)
    2. The Norliss Tapes (1973)
    1. The Night Stalker (1972)

    Honorable mentions are Killdozer and Trilogy of Terror.

30. Zom Says:
    October 14th, 2011 at 10:18 am

    Thanks, Jarrett

31. Zom Says:
    October 17th, 2011 at 10:05 am

    Crikey, that Norliss Tapes is a massive and not very good Night Stalker rip-off. Completely bizarre to see it on a list sitting just below NS.

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