The Spell 1977

The Spell ~ Like The Initiation of Sarah, this 1977 NBC movie of the week was meant to take advantage of the success of Stephen King's Carrie. This time in the bullied school girl with secret telekinetic powers role is Susan Myers as Rita. She was best known, and perhaps known only, as Marlene, the mousy platonic friend of Lance Kerwin on the much-missed and sadly brief "James at 15." She kinda vanished after that.

There's also Lee Grant as the mom doing some of her best underacting, and very young Helen Hunt as Rita's more loved kid sister. Rita is put upon by her parents for being both insubordinate and overweight. She's also, unlike Carrie and Sarah, quite unsympathetic. So instead of rooting for the underdog, we're kinda left waiting for Rita to get her comeuppance. That's not how these kind of movies are supposed to work.

The story doesn't make much sense if you think about it too much, with the supernatural aspects thrown in like a random kitchen sink. The 1970s score slips into weird electronics occasionally, and the movie is filmed in a house that makes one think more of interior design than anything else going on in the flick.

Unlike a lot of the 1970s telemovie horrors I remember as a kid, The Spell does not hold up at all. It's best remembered half asleep late night on my bedroom black and white TV. Not recommended.

Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart

Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart ~ Before CourtTV, before O.J. Simpson, this was the trial that in the age of tabloid television started it all. There's To Die For, Anatomy of a Murder, and my favorite with Helen Hunt and Chad Allen, Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Smart Story. At least three films before this, numerous books, and dozens of TV shows - Pamela Smart is the godmother of television murder trials, and one could say it was almost by design.

Pamela Smart was a media teacher at her local high school, who conned her fifteen year old student boyfriend to murder her husband of less than a year. When the media storm started, before she was a suspect, Smart was the fashionable victim, always looking good for the camera, sometimes even directing the interviews. She was a natural, until she was caught, and then for the camera at least, she went from predator to prey. The media devoured her.

This is the aspect that filmmaker Jeremiah Zagar takes on in his HBO documentary Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart, how the media covered this super tabloid circus, and how it reflects on us today. He also contends that the sensationalism of the coverage decided the trial's outcome in the public eye no matter what occurred in the courtroom. This is done with the help of interviews with many involved, including Pamela Smart.

This is not a bad documentary, very watchable for folks who both know the story and those who weren't around when it was happening. My only complaint is that Zagar drives home his thesis like jackhammer in the early morning. It gets old and annoying very quickly. I don't think there's any doubt that Pamela Smart had her husband murdered, or that she was given a fair trial, but there you go.

The Glass House

THE LATEST ABC MOVIE OF THE WEEK

A Video Review of The Glass House

Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker

Remember all those ABC movies of the week from the early to mid-1970s? You know, stuff like Trilogy of Terror and Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark? Or how about all those cautionary tales with teens babysitting for psychos, nannies who steal families and young girls who hitchhike with serial rapists? Wow, the 1970s were great, weren’t they? Sarcasm mode off.

The Glass House is a throwback to those movies of the week, but that’s not a bad thing. It is the story of two children orphaned in a sudden car accident and taken in by old family friends. *Spoiler Warning* As it turns out the whole thing was a scam to get money. The new foster parents are as evil as any that might be found in an ABC movie of the week.

LeeLee Sobrieski is amazing here as she is in most flicks. The only problem I have with her is one that can’t really be helped. She is such a dead ringer for Helen Hunt that it’s distracting. I wonder if they’re related? The brother is played by Trevor Morgan who did such a great job in The Rookie and The Sixth Sense.



The suspense is real and despite plot comparisons much more real than your average Lifetime Network flick or Afterschool Special. See it. An underrated thriller for all.