70's American Horror Part Seventy-Eight

A REFLECTION OF FEAR

(1972)
Dir - William A. Fraker
Overall: MEH

 

This adaptation of Stanton Forbes novel Go to Thy Deathbed is notable for featuring a twenty-seven year old Sondra Locke playing a fifteen year old girl with mental instability, a distant yet concerned father, and a suspicious mother and grandmother, all of whom look as if they are only fifteen years or less older than she is.  One of only three theatrically-released films from William A. Fraker who would settle into a television career after this, A Reflection of Fear suffers from a meandering plot, but it serves its purpose as a melodramatic psychological study of emotional dependence brought on by a stilted upbringing.  As a sheltered and naive teenager coming into womanhood as her family is getting picked-off by a mysterious assailant, Locke turns in a showy performance, talking to her dolls, making her sexually confused attraction to her own father blatant, and manipulating those around her with eccentric mannerisms.  All of the ideas in Edward Hume and Lewis John Carlino's screenplay do not properly connect and the more horrory aspects seem shoehorned in there, but the film has an unsettling aura throughout that is enhanced by László Kovács' soft focus cinematography and Fred Myrow's off-kilter score.

THE DEMON LOVER
(1976)
Dir - Donald G. Jackson/Jerry Younkins
Overall: WOOF

Twelve years before making the ridiculous and lovable Hell Comes to Frogtown, indie filmmaker Donald G. Jackson delivered his amateur-hour debut The Demon Lover, (The Devil Master), on the masses, (and by "masses" we mean probably a few hapless saps who were unfortunate to come across a movie that is rightfully forgotten).  Shot in Jackson's own, well, Jackson, Michigan with a cast of homely locals, (including a cult leader that looks like Warren Haynes' gas station attendant cousin and whose idea of a good time is probably slam dunking beer cans in front of underage girls in order to impress them), it is a pathetically realized bit of occult sleaze.  The Midwestern accents are parody level and on that note, forgiving viewers could consider this a spoof of post Charles Manson exploitation junk where groovy young people dabble in mystical forces only for those forces to get unleashed beyond their control.  Still, anything here that is intended to be amusing is just awkward and clumsy, with the typical issue that faces nearly every first time regional filmmaker in that the movie is as boring as it is inept.  Playful whipped cream battles, a bar fight, and a karate class montage fill up space in between a guy in a blanket and a cheap monster mask who shows up to make weird noises and kill people.  In other words, the movie poster is hilariously misleading.

ARE YOU IN THE HOUSE ALONE?

(1978)

Dir - Walter Grauman

Overall: MEH

A made-for-television movie that utilizes the premise of a creep terrorizing a young girl via pervy and threatening phone calls, Are You in the House Alone? debuted on CBS in September of 1978, predating When a Stranger Calls by a full year.  Ultimately less concerned with horror spectacle than it is with examining a troubling few days in the life of an unassuming suburban girl, it backtracks for its first hour by explaining the events that led up to Kathleen Beller's rape at the hands of an unnamed assailant.  Once the perpetrator is revealed, we still have another half-hour to go and it continues on its dour trek with no relief.  Thankfully, the subject matter is handheld sensitively and Beller's relatable relationship with her parents and new boyfriend is convincingly portrayed beyond just retooling stale stereotypes.  Unfortunately, it is frustrating that Beller refuses to tell people about her stalker and when she does, that so many people fail to take the situation seriously.  Not that this is entirely uncommon in the real world and as the plot thickens, even more nuanced details emerge that shine a light on privileged scumbags being able to get away with deplorable acts.  Still, it makes for a miserable watch and as a message movie with nasty genre trappings haphazardly thrown in, it can only be seen as partially successful.