TV Movies

[Mytran]

I have a fondness for the Norliss Tapes.

There was a TV movie years ago about teenagers inspired by Dungeons & Dragons to kill their parents (possibly featuring a young Gwenyth Paltrow) that is unintentionally hilarious. I can still recall the sheriff character perusing Dungeon Master Guides, shaking his head in disgust, before realization dawned on his face that this game was a recipe-book for murder!

It was called "Mazes and Monsters" and starred a very young Tom Hanks, I think. In fact it was watching that film that got me into D&D in the first place. I bought it for a quid a couple of years back and its opinion of RPGs is indeed hilariously absurd!

 

[RandyS]

There is also a little known remake of The Time Machine from 1978, starring John Beck and a pre-Three's Company Priscilla Barnes as Weena. Whit Bissell from the 1960 version is also in it, as a character similar to Filby. I'm lucky enough to have a copy on DVD-R.

I had not heard of this before just now, and now I really want to see this.

It's unavailable as far as I know. The only reason I have it at all was that I taped it off TBS' afternoon movie back in 1989, and then copied my old tape to a DVD-R a few years ago.

My advice to to try iOffer or sell.com. They sometimes have hard to find movies or TV shows.

Not that I'm advocating buying bootlegs you understand. You should never do that.

You also might try Youtube, although I'd be surprised if they had it.

 

[Greg Cox]

There is also a little known remake of The Time Machine from 1978, starring John Beck and a pre-Three's Company Priscilla Barnes as Weena. Whit Bissell from the 1960 version is also in it, as a character similar to Filby. I'm lucky enough to have a copy on DVD-R.

I had not heard of this before just now, and now I really want to see this.

It's unavailable as far as I know. The only reason I have it at all was that I taped it off TBS' afternoon movie back in 1989, and then copied my old tape to a DVD-R a few years ago.

My advice to to try iOffer or sell.com. They sometimes have hard to find movies or TV shows.

Not that I'm advocating buying bootlegs you understand. You should never do that.

You also might try Youtube, although I'd be surprised if they had it.

To be honest, I remember being underwhelmed by the TV-movie version, which completely lost all the Victorian charm of the classic George Pal movie version. The TV-movie updated the story to modern times, replacing all the cool proto-steampunk stuff with "modern" labs and computers.

Meanwhile, anyone else remember these made-for-TV horror movies written by Robert Bloch?

The Cat Creature: ancient Egyptian priestess is reborn as shape-shifting cat woman.

The Dead Don't Die: Zombies, of the old-fashioned voodoo variety. With Ray Milland.

I remember liking them as a kid.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

The 1978 version of The Time Macihine is on Youtube in 10 parts.

 

[Timewalker]

Have you seen any TV MOVIES and if so,what do ya think??

Wut?

Do they not show non-theatrical movies on TV anymore?

The seventies were the golden age of TV-movies, at least on the spooky side of things:THE NIGHT STALKER, DUEL, TRILOGY OF TERROR, etc.

Or so I remember.

TV was full of TV-movies back then. As I recall, each of the networks had an evening when they showed movies - whether Monday, Tuesday, etc. I remember looking forward to Friday, since that was when they had Columbo movies on. I still remember that one little detail that tripped up William Shatner's character when he played the murderer.

Surely the all-time king of TV movies has to be Spielberg's Duel? It got a theatrical release in Europe. This was not an uncommon phenomenon in the 70s/early 80s - as I recall, the pilot episodes for Buck Rogers, The Incredible Hulk and BSG all got such releases.

I remember watching Duel. I was 8 at the time, and it scared me. Then a couple of years later, my dad and his girlfriend and her kids and I were on a holiday in southern B.C. (a semi-arid region of Western Canada) and there was this trucker who seemed to have some problem with us...

There was a TV movie years ago about teenagers inspired by Dungeons & Dragons to kill their parents (possibly featuring a young Gwenyth Paltrow) that is unintentionally hilarious. I can still recall the sheriff character perusing Dungeon Master Guides, shaking his head in disgust, before realization dawned on his face that this game was a recipe-book for murder!

Uh-huh. 'Cause everyone carries a sword, 10' pole, a book of magic spells, and knows where to find the nearest Gelatinous Cube. My grandmother was freaking out over my playing D&D until I gathered the components for a sleep spell, performed the motions and said the words (using the Dragonlance novels as my source) and proved to her that D&D magic is just pretend and doesn't really work.

I wish Special Bulletin and Countdown to Looking Glass were available on DVD. (Although apparently Special Bulletin was for a limited time, but is no longer.)

And 18 posts in and no one's mentioned The Day After yet?

I saw both Special Bulletin and The Day After. Special Bulletin was quite convincing to a fair number of people; in spite of the frequent "this is a dramatization" notice on the screen, some people really did think it was authentic news coverage.

As for The Day After, I remember there being an advisory to not watch it alone if one found that sort of thing disturbing.

 

[tharpdevenport]

I've seen a few dozen. Most good, some excellent, some crap.

The good:

"The Face on the Milk Carton" (1995 TV movie)

Janie has a good life. A nice school, friends, well-off parents who love her, nothing to really complain about.
Then one day while in school she sees a little girl's face on a milk carton and the nagging feelings and distant memories lead her to believe she may be that little girl.

When her mother seems to refuse to produce her birth certificate, so she can get her driver's license, things finally lead to her having to find out if it's true.

I think this was based on a true story.

Rosenman's score has not been released.

It's not been released on VHS or DVD, so Youtube's your only bet to see it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzqtwIQYnzM



"Scattered Dreams" (1993)

Based on a true story.

A simple family is trying to get by when a financial trouble lands the wife in jail, tearing the family apart and sending their kids to a foster care facility.

What happened to this family is terrible. What's worse is that if we take what happened in the film as any indication, the people who abused them, all got away with it.

The wonderful score by Mark Snow, remains unreleased.

This has not been released on VHS or DVD, so this is the only way you can see it currently:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSH9UB0mJFY



"The Alpha Caper" (1973 TV movie)

Remember the dramas you could get back in the 1970's? Well, this is one of them.

A parole officer [Henry Fonda] is forced into retirement early. While in his last days of duty there is a shootout at an arms dump. The guy, on parole, is dying from being shot during the standoff. He tells Fonda's character about the caper he and his men were going to do. Fonda's character, Mark finds the men at the guy's funeral and starts talking to them, and finds himself involved in a ballsy caper even by today's standards.

Five armored trucks. Gold bars, police cars around it everywhere, police motorcycles running around. Helicopters flying overhead, officers with rifles walking around. Surely it can't be done, can it?

The movie is well done and the acting always good, sometimes very strong. Of the three men MArk aligns himself with, one is played by Leonard Nimoy, simply named "Mitch", and Mitch never hints at being Spock; Nemoy had range.

The score is by Oliver Nelson. It's got what you'd want in a 1970's score, so if you enjoy the hell out of scores from that era, here you go. It's got some standard moments though, so if it got released on CD, it would need to be paired with something (especially since it's not a long score).


It's an ABC movie of the week, so it's probably not been released (I didn't check), so here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H8RQGFexf0



"Never Forget" (1991)


TV movie based on the real life family, the Mermelstein's and their father Mel, a Jewish Holocaust survivor. One day he gets a letter in the mail from a Holocaust denier group, shoving in his face a large reward for anybody who can prove the Holocaust actually happened.

Everybody tells him, from lawyers to the Anti Defamation League, that it's nothing more than for the evil group to make fun of him, ridicule him in their kangaroo mock court. But he wants to respond as he gives talks on the Holocaust, in which his family died, and cannot let it go. Then, he finds a lawyer witha plan.
This really happened.

Mel is played by Leonard Nemoy. He is quite convincing and displays some ncie range.

The film is moving, but unfortunately it doesn't go into enough detail. The ending court case just shows the beginning, then the judge speaking after it, igoring all the witness testimony and other dramatic moments that could have given some serious weight to the end.


The orchestral score by Henry Mancini is unremarkable and very short. The film needed a better score than it got.

 

[Forbin]

Holy crap, I just found Crowhaven Farm at Amazon! W00t!!

 

[Captaindemotion]

@tharpdavenport IIRC Nimoy mentions Never Forget in his autobiography and was quite proud of it.

 

[RandyS]

I had not heard of this before just now, and now I really want to see this.

It's unavailable as far as I know. The only reason I have it at all was that I taped it off TBS' afternoon movie back in 1989, and then copied my old tape to a DVD-R a few years ago.

My advice to to try iOffer or sell.com. They sometimes have hard to find movies or TV shows.

Not that I'm advocating buying bootlegs you understand. You should never do that.

You also might try Youtube, although I'd be surprised if they had it.

To be honest, I remember being underwhelmed by the TV-movie version, which completely lost all the Victorian charm of the classic George Pal movie version. The TV-movie updated the story to modern times, replacing all the cool proto-steampunk stuff with "modern" labs and computers.

Yeah, it's certainly not as good as the 1960 version, but I think it's still worth a look.

Anybody here remember Plymouth from 1990? About a moon colony I believe. I also have that on DVD-R, but it's been years since I looked at it. I only remember some of it.

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

I have a fondness for the Norliss Tapes.

There was a TV movie years ago about teenagers inspired by Dungeons & Dragons to kill their parents (possibly featuring a young Gwenyth Paltrow) that is unintentionally hilarious. I can still recall the sheriff character perusing Dungeon Master Guides, shaking his head in disgust, before realization dawned on his face that this game was a recipe-book for murder!

It was called "Mazes and Monsters" and starred a very young Tom Hanks, I think. In fact it was watching that film that got me into D&D in the first place. I bought it for a quid a couple of years back and its opinion of RPGs is indeed hilariously absurd!

No, this was a different anti-D&D propaganda film.

In the one I'm referring to, the kids actually murder one of their fathers and accusations are made that D&D and heavy metal music coerced them to do it. A big part of this movie is their trial.

But you're absolutely correct: Mazes & Monsters is hilarious!

 

[scotpens]

For my money, one of the best TV-movies ever made is The Brotherhood of the Bell (1970), with Glenn Ford as a college professor who finds he can't escape the clutches of a powerful secret society he joined in his younger days.

Another excellent one is Larry (1974), based on the true story of a man of normal intellect who was mistakenly confined to an institution for the mentally disabled for the first 25 years of his life. I don't believe it's ever been released on home video.

 

[Galileo7]

As an extremely young boy, I still can remember watching Duel on abc November 1971 with my family. It was and still is a brilliant film directed by Spielberg.

 

[Forbin]

Duel had me totally enraptured. I was completely wrapped up and transported to that world, my attention fully on the story, tension building within me for Dennis Weaver's plight.

Then my mother came in and sat down. "What's going on? Why is the truck chasing him? What did he do? Did he cut the truck off or something? Is the truck the devil?" yaddayaddayadda... Thanks Mom. :/

 

[Mytran]

I have a fondness for the Norliss Tapes.

There was a TV movie years ago about teenagers inspired by Dungeons & Dragons to kill their parents (possibly featuring a young Gwenyth Paltrow) that is unintentionally hilarious. I can still recall the sheriff character perusing Dungeon Master Guides, shaking his head in disgust, before realization dawned on his face that this game was a recipe-book for murder!

It was called "Mazes and Monsters" and starred a very young Tom Hanks, I think. In fact it was watching that film that got me into D&D in the first place. I bought it for a quid a couple of years back and its opinion of RPGs is indeed hilariously absurd!

No, this was a different anti-D&D propaganda film.

In the one I'm referring to, the kids actually murder one of their fathers and accusations are made that D&D and heavy metal music coerced them to do it. A big part of this movie is their trial.

But you're absolutely correct: Mazes & Monsters is hilarious!

Wow, there's another one of these films and I never heard of it? I love this BBS

A quick google and it seems your film was probably Cruel Doubt from 1992. Why on earth they were still blaming D&D for occult murders in 1992 is beyond me, I thought the media had moved on from that sort hysteria by then. But in any case, I now have a new mission to find it.

I'll also throw in one of my fond favourites in the land of TV Movies, Buried Alive (1990). A fun revenge flick utilising an artisan's impressive carpentry skills!

 

[Greg Cox]

For my money, one of the best TV-movies ever made is The Brotherhood of the Bell (1970), with Glenn Ford as a college professor who finds he can't escape the clutches of a powerful secret society he joined in his younger days.

Ooh, I remember that one. That was a pretty good thriller.

And let it be noted that "The Day After" was directed by Nicholas Meyer of WRATH OF KHAN fame . . ..

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

Just from the brief descriptions, I would love to see most of the movies being described in this thread.

 

[ToddPence]

There is also a little known remake of The Time Machine from 1978, starring John Beck and a pre-Three's Company Priscilla Barnes as Weena. Whit Bissell from the 1960 version is also in it, as a character similar to Filby. I'm lucky enough to have a copy on DVD-R.

I think I remember seeing this as a child! If it's the one I'm thinking of, the time traveler escapes being burned as a witch by beaming himself into another time zone despite having his hands bound.

Yep. It's the only version of the story where Neil Perry (The Time Traveler in this verson) goes to the past.

In the 2002 version of the movie starring Guy Pearce, the Time Traveler technically goes back to the past, but only a few years, in afailed attempt to save his fiancee's life.

 

[J.T.B.]

BTW, I know it was a mini-series, but has anyone seen the 1980 Martian Chronicles in more recent times? I found it very intriguing at the time but I have forgotten a lot, I wonder how it holds up.

 

[Greg Cox]

BTW, I know it was a mini-series, but has anyone seen the 1980 Martian Chronicles in more recent times? I found it very intriguing at the time but I have forgotten a lot, I wonder how it holds up.

Haven't seen since it first aired.

But, yes, once again, written by Richard Matheson.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

BTW, I know it was a mini-series, but has anyone seen the 1980 Martian Chronicles in more recent times? I found it very intriguing at the time but I have forgotten a lot, I wonder how it holds up.

I liked the miniseries, especially the earlier part with Spender. The special effects were not so special though. They must have had an effects budget of $1.98.