MADE-FOR-TV TERRORS
We watch in sync (when you join, wherever we are, you are) and we chat. I aim for films under 80 minutes in the genres of horror and thrillers.
Here are the films we've watched, or are going to watch.
Upcoming...
The Possessed
(NBC, 1977)
In honor of my new novella, BEHOLD, HE SCATTERS HIS LIGHTNING, (out June 3) which includes possessions, I'll be watching this horror on TUESDAY, JUNE 2 @ 7p pst.
I usually summarize these myself, but I love the Wikipedia entry:
Kevin Leahy, an alcoholic Catholic priest who has lost his faith, crashes his car and is pronounced dead at the scene. As penance, he is sent back to Earth to fight evil as an exorcist....
His first case is an invasion of satanic forces at an all-girls’ school. It was a pilot for an exorcism-themed series that never got the green light.
Joan Hackett, Diana Scarwid, James Farentino, Ann Dusenberry, Claudette Nevins, and Harrison Ford.
Ann Dusenberry
Past Watch Parties...
You Lie So Deep, My Love (ABC, 1975)
A disturbed man wants his girlfriend's love and his wife's money, and will stop at nothing to get them, even murder.
Barbara Anderson reunites with Don Galloway (they co-starred on Ironside) for a nasty tale of a gullible rich lady who finds out her is husband is cheating on her with a hot young model, but definitely NOT trying to kill her.
Barbara's turban hat must be too tight.
The watch party happened--and it was awesome--Thursday, May 7, 2026 at 7 pm. pst.
Full Movie on YT My Trailer on IG
Don gave an over-the-top performance and he .made you worry for him. It reminded me of how Nicolas Cage describes his acting, calls it American Kabuki.
Five Desperate Women - 1971, ABC
Five Desperate Women, an ABC Monday night movie, took the structure of the 1960s ladies' ensemble melodrama and added a strangler!
The view party happened--and it was awesome--April 9, 2026.
Here's a frothy thriller about 5 college chums who reunite for an informal 5-year college reunion on an unpopulated island and become potential victims of a psycho who's just escaped from an institution.
Who is the mad strangler? The new boat captain, Bradford Dillman? Or the handsome caretaker, Robert Conrad?
The best thing about this is the cast:
Stefanie Powers (past: Experiment in Terror/future: Hart to Hart), Anjanette Comer (past: The Loved One/future: The Baby), Joan Hackett (in everything until she died young in 1983), Denise Nicholas (Blacula, In the Heat of the Night the series + muchmuchmore), and Julie Sommars (60s-90s character actress)
* Dog death warning. I closed my eyes but I'm fairly certain it wasn't visceral or even realistic. It did lead to a startling revelation from Joan Hackett's character, and reminded me how good an actress she was.
Full movie on YT My trailer on IG
Gargoyles - 1972, CBS
Awesome desert horror creature feature that premiered Tuesday, November 21, 1972 on CBS' The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies. It was the first film to feature the make-up work of special effects artist Stan Winston. The view party happened--and it was awesome--March 19, 2026.
After getting word about the existence of a large non-human with wings and horns, anthropology professor/doctor Boley (Cornel Wilde) and his daughter (Jennifer Salt) travel to New Mexico to Uncle Willie’s Desert Museum to have a look
But, oh no! The museum is destroyed and set on fire by unknown attackers, and the doc and his daughter escape with only the horned skull!
A group bikers are blamed for the fire – but it wasn’t the bikers, it was the you-know-whats, who want the skull back.
There is a gargoyle queen, the aforementioned biker gang, a kidnapping, and plenty of lore and world-building. It’s a lot of fun.
Full movie on YT My Trailer on FB
Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon - 2008, Sci Fi
This 2008 made-for-cable creature feature was part of Sci FI's Maneater movies, which included such classics as Blood Monkey, Shark Swarm, Rise of the Gargoyles, and many more. It was likely pitched as: Alive meets Yeti!
We watched it, and it was awesome, December 17, 2025. The movie has been uploaded in chunks so no link. But you can watch my trailer here.
Crowhaven Farm - 1970, ABC
Crowhaven Farm ranked 6th for the week in the Nielsen ratings (beating Bonanza and landing just behind Gunsmoke). The success of this New England tale of reincarnation, witches and revenge ushered in an era of made-for-TV horror films. Hope Lange plays confused very well. Lloyd Bochner plays a lothario who might be evil, and John Carradine creeps it up in his role as Strange Handyman. We watched it, and it was awesome--November 24, 2025.
Full movie on YT Trailer on FB
Lloyd Bochner
John Carradine
Satan's School for Girls - 1973, ABC
The original! With Pamela Franklin, Kate Jackson, Cheryl Ladd, Roy Thinnes, & Lloyd Bochner. The view party happened--and it was awesome--November 5, 2025. (You could watch this at 1.25 speed during some of the hallway-by-candlestick moments.
Full movie on YT My trailer on IG
Midnight Offerings - 1981, ABC
A 1981 TV movie about feuding high school witches. The view party happened--and it was awesome-- WED 10/15 @7pm PST.
Robin Prentiss, the new girl, has special powers that frighten her. High school queen bee, Vivian Sotherland, also has special powers--HONED & USED FOR EVIL!
Jealousy consumes Vivian when her recent ex, David (doll boy football star and surfer) shows interest in Robin, it’s Good Witch vs Evil Witch.
Melissa Sue Anderson (Little House on the Prairie) is cast against type as Vivian, whose steely aqua eyes dare you to defy her. Mary Beth McDonough (on the Waltons, but I know her from 1982’s Mortuary) is wooden but earnest. Her performance reminds me of a 1940s Nancy Drew movie.
Writer Juanita Bartlett could do a lot better than this screenplay, and she did, regularly, on The Rockford Files. from 1973-1979. But this girl vs girl tale was an enduring hit. Airing first on ABC in February 1981, it scored a 17.0 Nielsen rating, ranking among the top 10 programs that week. It ran steadily through the 1980s and 1990s on various ABC affiliate stations.
Full Movie (old VHS issues here and there)
