(1973)
Overall: MEH
After two psycho-biddy full-lengths, director Curtis Harrington switched gears, (slightly), with The Killing Kind, an unsettling thriller that is more miserable than frightening. The focus is on a young and aggressively unlikable man who returns home from serving time for being forced into raping a woman; a man with an unfiltered temper as well as a disturbingly attached and emotionally dependent mother who really has a thing for taking pictures of him and asking him if he wants a glass of chocolate milk. While their disturbing dynamic is interesting to a point, John Savage's antagonist has no redeemable qualities even before he starts murdering people. Savage's performance is effectively slimy, but that is what makes the film a difficult watch since we are stuck experiencing his perspective until things switch back to his mother in the final act. Harrington exhibits an eye for details though, building awkwardly tense moments where people either knowingly or unknowingly push Savage's unhinged character to a breaking point. Ann Sothern and Luana Anders are effective on screen, the latter as a sexually frustrated neighbor and the former as the wacky mother whose doting affection plays some roll in her son's wretched behavior and downfall.
(1973)
Overall: MEH
Though all parties involved give the material a solid go, The Cat Creature cannot overcome its unintentionally hilarious attributes. One of several ABC Movie of the Weeks to be directed by Curtis Harrington, none other than Robert Bloch penned the screenplay though apparently under strenuous circumstances. Roughly twelve minutes of materiel was cut before shooting, only for the final product to run twelve minutes short, which forced Bloch to cobble together some easily filmed padding to bring it back up to snuff. Considering the title and the fact that Cat People and The Curse of the Cat People's Kent Smith makes an appearance, the film has obvious allusions to Val Lewton's RKO work in the genre, but it is typically paced for the contemporary time period, meaning talky as all get-out. The performances are fine, (with a blink and you'll miss it cameo by John Carradine), but Meredith Baxter seems miscast with her unassuming demeanor and young housewife looks. Essentially though, it proves impossible to make a scary story that is about a domestic-sized cat who can hypnotize and claw people to death. The final set piece has an eerie mood, (plus understandable use is gotten out of imposing silhouettes when the lights are off), but this is flimsy and ridiculous stuff.
(1974)
Overall: WOOF
If the 1970s loved anything it was A) television movies, B) movies about killer insects, and C) movies with any of the Charlie's Angels in them. Curtis Harrington's on-the-nose-titled, ABC Movie of the Week Killer Bees checks off all three of these boxes, with Kate Jackson arriving at a country mansion full of slight eccentrics with her fiance, only to discover that the family's matriarch is psychically controlling a swarm of bees to murder people that she does not fancy. You can practically smell the wood paneling and bell-bottoms. Featuring one of the last performances from Gloria Swanson as well as Edward Albert portraying the frustrated and estranged member of Swanson's wine-making family, all of the familiar faces in the world cannot save an insultingly unmoving story that keeps the killer bees of the title away from the proceedings as much as possible. Instead, we have a slack melodrama concerning rich assholes who gaslight Jackson and bore the audience to smithereens in the process. TV nature horror films generally suffered such problems, losing any potential viewer until remembering to put some animal mayhem in during the third act when it was too little, too late. Instead of even that, this one goes for an ambiguous maybe possession angle in its closing moments, which may have been interesting if anyone could pay attention long enough to get there.
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