Coincidentally, Mary drastically changes immediately after she accepts Jennifer's proposal of destroying the family unit. Is it Jennifer back from the dead to exact a cruel revenge using Mary as her instrument of death, or is the tortured and increasingly unstable Mary calculatingly killing off her family one by one? The scenes with Mary and Jennifer plotting the deaths of their family are shown laced with this echoing, dream-like effect that would hint to us that the vengeful ghost of Jennifer is all in Mary's mind. The main question that arises is who exactly is doing the killing. Lang's entry into the ghost/killer kid sweepstakes is an occasionally stirring supernatural horror film that also builds an even more stable home within psychological thriller territory halfway through. The cult favorite, THE INITIATION OF SARAH (1978) being one example aping the plotline from De Palma's CARRIE (1976). The 'Big Three', ABC, NBC and CBS resorted to shooting less expensive clones, or films that capitalized on a theme or idea from a big ticket extravaganza. Luckily for the major television stations, there were alternatives. Back then, to license theatrical blockbusters for television viewings was a costly endeavor. That Aaron Spelling was behind it in a producers capacity adds some additional value to the overall prestige of this picture. TV movies used to be a big deal back in the day and this is one of the best of a pretty proud pack of goosebumpers that includes such fondly remembered examples as DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (1973), TRILOGY OF TERROR (1975) and DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW (1981). Original TV Guide ad for the films premiere December 10th, 1982 Incidentally, Oliver Robins (who plays Kevin here) played Robbie Freeling in the first two POLTERGEIST movies. Actually, DON'T GO TO SLEEP seems more like what Hooper's version would have been like had Spielberg not been on board for the big budget studio production. Tobe Hooper touched on this in POLTERGEIST (regardless of the controversy over who actually directed it) which hit theaters several months earlier. As a kid some of you may even recall lying in bed surrounded in darkness and imagining your toys or dolls looking back at you as if they were alive. DON'T GO TO SLEEP focuses on the latter as well as touching on the fear generated by being in a darkened room with the door closed. No doubt many of us share that old mainstay of the monster in the closet and the resident creeper hiding under our bed. I'm sure that all of us-at one time or another-have been deathly afraid of climbing in, or out of bed for fear of some monster reaching out and grabbing a leg, or two. Bizarre accidents begin claiming the lives of the family members, but is it Mary, or has Jennifer come back for revenge? Something sinister has followed them into the new house and begins haunting the youngest, somewhat disturbed daughter, Mary. This tense little spooker is well worth losing sleep to watch.Ī family moves into a new home after a terrible accident cost them the life of their oldest daughter, Jennifer. Released to tape, no DVD has yet to surface. A cult favorite to many who saw it back in the early 1980s, the scene with the pizza cutter is what everybody remembers and is a stand out moment that acts as an inadvertent tip of the hat to the slasher movie. Psychological overtones also give the impression that the horror may hit closer to home. The Short Version: Underrated TV horror movie has a great cast, performances, script, music, photography and nifty story about a vengeful girl returning from the grave to exact vengeance on her family. CULT FILM FAVES NOT ON DVD presents: TV Movie Terror!ĭennis Weaver (Philip), Valerie Harper (Laura), Robin Ignico (Mary), Kristin Cumming (Jennifer), Oliver Robins (Kevin), Ruth Gordon (Bernice)
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