Now, here’s a peculiar thing: two films with an almost identical premise; but as they must have been in production at almost the same time, and debuted within weeks of one another, it seems unlikely that one could have ripped the other off – even though one of them is an Italian horror movie. Both were produced within the long shadow cast by The Exorcist, but owe almost as much to Rosemary’s Baby. Both feature a happy marriage experiencing an improbable pregnancy; a pregnancy that is unnaturally accelerated, and accompanied by revolting eating habits and violent personality changes in the mother-to-be. Both mothers contemplate an abortion, only to have the baby itself fight back. So far, so similar. Then we hit a T-junction. One film blames it all on the aliens; the other blames it all on the devil.
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#1 by JessicaR on August 29, 2010 - 12:30 pm
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Excellent reviews as usual. I love that most of these TV movies are on YouTube. I watched TSW late last night, strange flick, with a lovely, haunted quality to it. I wish networks would start making TV movies in earnest again. They’re cheap and you could possibly get a second renaissance of them by operating under the principle of “as long as it’s on time and under budget, do as thou wilt.” A showcase for interesting writers and directors.
#2 by Mr. Rational on August 29, 2010 - 11:59 pm
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“Tragically, history now shows that this was the last spontaneous offer to cuddle ever recorded.”
Well, speaking for us menfolk, we finally decided at our annual convention that if women didn’t want to cuddle even under THOSE circumstances… 🙂
#3 by lyzard on August 30, 2010 - 2:10 am
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So if I’m reading you correctly, you’re saying that the only time that men offer to cuddle is when their partners are pregnant with alien spawn?
Well, that certainly explains a lot… 🙂
#4 by Baron Scarpia on August 30, 2010 - 4:13 am
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Yes, Time Lords still have two hearts. The new series is very faithful to the old one in continuity.
#5 by Ed on August 31, 2010 - 2:05 pm
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Liz, not only does Satan shop at Safeway, I’m fairly certain he bought the company as well.
No surprises as to where I work, eh?
Good stuff as always.
#6 by PCachu on September 1, 2010 - 1:20 pm
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I suppose this means we’ll need a companion website to Superdickery — that ongoing document of massive douchbag moments from the Last Son of Krypton — called Satandickery.
#7 by lyzard on September 4, 2010 - 4:20 pm
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I confess, when I figured out what was going on, I had a real Philip J. Fry moment:
“That seemed….unnecessary.”
#8 by supersonic on September 1, 2010 - 8:28 pm
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They’re still remaking this plot, e.g. Brian Yuzna in Progeny.
#9 by The Rev. on September 18, 2010 - 12:25 pm
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“Oh, my God, she’s been raped by a Time Lord.”
I think this is one of my favorite Lyz lines ever.
I definitely am interested to see this movie now. I’ll have to find that DVD sometime.
I wish I’d been born a little sooner, so I could’ve enjoyed most of these TV movies when I was young, and therefore more impressionable. (For example, I’ve yet to see Trilogy of Terror, but I doubt the Zuni doll will disturb me the way it would’ve if I’d seen it as a child.)
Of course, I was spared the horrors of disco for the most part…
#10 by lyzard on September 18, 2010 - 4:32 pm
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I saw most of them in my mid-twenties – all-night TV + VCR – and they still worked on me then; Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark certainly did. On the other hand, I was ten when I saw Trilogy Of Terror.
Scarred for life.
The damn thing still works on me now, too.
#11 by The Rev. on September 19, 2010 - 3:33 pm
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The only one I remember is This House Possessed, which had a few moments that I still recall (assuming I’m not mixing in some other movie I saw at the time). I missed the heyday of the TV-movie. I did see Gargoyles in high school on TBS, and was surprised by how bloody it got. This whole roundtable, though, has pretty much been, “Hey, Rev., look at all these keen movies you missed ’cause you were born too late! Hie thee to a DVD store, forthwith!”
#12 by The Rev. on September 19, 2010 - 3:33 pm
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Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand I didn’t close the tags. *sigh*
#13 by The Rev. on September 19, 2010 - 3:34 pm
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Okay…not sure why that’s bold. Weird.
Especially if this is also bold.
#14 by lyzard on September 19, 2010 - 4:16 pm
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Behold! – the power of the typo! (/ after b instead of before)
#15 by The Rev. on September 20, 2010 - 11:20 am
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As always, I am in your debt, Ms. Kingsley.