A busted pilot for a proposed TV series, 'The Norliss Tapes' may not strike the modern viewer as particularly scary. Still, it's absorbing all of the way, with a good, straightforward story (written by William F. Nolan, based on a yarn by Fred Mustard Stewart) and capable direction from Dan Curtis, very much THE name in genre television of the 60s and 70s.
The idea is that a writer / investigator, David Norliss (Roy Thinnes), set out to do a book that would debunk the supernatural. He spent a year gathering information, then gives his editor (Don Porter) an urgent call; Norliss is obviously scared. Then Norliss disappears. In an attempt to solve this mystery, Porter starts listening to the many recordings that Norliss made during the year.
The first tape deals with an investigation into the reappearance of the deceased husband (a memorably creepy Nick Dimitri) of Ellen Cort (Angie Dickinson). Now, the husband is existing in a vampiric state, and is occasionally killing people in order to fulfill some horrific purpose.
Curtis creates very entertaining shocks, the cinematography (by Ben Colman) is first-rate, and Robert Cobert (a frequent composer for this sort of TV fare) supplies a genuinely eerie score. The cast is full of solid, reliable actors: Claude Akins, Michele Carey, Vonetta McGee, Hurd Hatfield, Robert Mandan, George DiCenzo, etc. Thinnes does a good job in the lead, although it's Angie as the imperiled widow that really engaged this viewer. Dimitri makes for a compelling antagonist, a feral beast with a blue-grey face and yellow eyes. His relentlessness makes him a monster to reckon with.
It's too bad that this movie ultimately led nowhere. It does whet the viewers' curiosity to see more of the tales that led to Norliss' eventual panicked state.
Seven out of 10.
The idea is that a writer / investigator, David Norliss (Roy Thinnes), set out to do a book that would debunk the supernatural. He spent a year gathering information, then gives his editor (Don Porter) an urgent call; Norliss is obviously scared. Then Norliss disappears. In an attempt to solve this mystery, Porter starts listening to the many recordings that Norliss made during the year.
The first tape deals with an investigation into the reappearance of the deceased husband (a memorably creepy Nick Dimitri) of Ellen Cort (Angie Dickinson). Now, the husband is existing in a vampiric state, and is occasionally killing people in order to fulfill some horrific purpose.
Curtis creates very entertaining shocks, the cinematography (by Ben Colman) is first-rate, and Robert Cobert (a frequent composer for this sort of TV fare) supplies a genuinely eerie score. The cast is full of solid, reliable actors: Claude Akins, Michele Carey, Vonetta McGee, Hurd Hatfield, Robert Mandan, George DiCenzo, etc. Thinnes does a good job in the lead, although it's Angie as the imperiled widow that really engaged this viewer. Dimitri makes for a compelling antagonist, a feral beast with a blue-grey face and yellow eyes. His relentlessness makes him a monster to reckon with.
It's too bad that this movie ultimately led nowhere. It does whet the viewers' curiosity to see more of the tales that led to Norliss' eventual panicked state.
Seven out of 10.