The Inititaion of Sarah (1978)

Carrie lite.  Two sisters go to college.  One ends up in the snooty sorority led by Morgan Fairchild, who's in a wet t-shirt for those who are into that.  The other sister ends up in the unpopular sorority which had den mother Shelley Winters, who plays against type as a drunken faded beauty queen.  Unpopular sister has psychic powers, which Winters wants to use for evil purposes.

Reflections of Murder (1974)

Made for TV remake of Diabolique, notable for Sam Waterston playing a complete and utter bastard.  His wife and his mistress plot his murder, with the wife becoming unhinged after the body goes missing.  Some lesbian overtones with Tuesday Weld, which are evidently more explicit in the book.

Night of Terror (1972)

Mobsters, led by Chuck Connors, terrorize two daycare workers who witness a murder.  One is put in a wheelchair, and Martin Balsam is hired as a bodyguard/physical therapist.  Managed to watch this one twice in one week before realizing I'd already seen it.

Assault on the Wayne (1971)

Assault on the Wayne (1971)

Made for TV thriller with Leonard Nimoy as a troubled, mean-spirited Commander and Kennan Wynn as a drunk, with a plot about stealing anti-ballistic technology that ends almost as soon as it starts.  I love Nimoy, but I grew up on Nimoy the narrator.  It may be years of typecasting as Spock stuck in my head, but he doesn't quite pull off intense human emotion.

The Cat Creature (1973)

The Cat Creature (1973)

Tepid thriller about a stolen Egyptian amulet and a series of murders around a mystic cat or something.  A partial tribute to movies like the Cat People, notable only for its casting.  We've got Kent Smith, Peter Lorre Jr., John Carradine, and Keye Luke all in cameos.  Meredith Baxter does well, aside from being the love interest for twice as old Felix Leiter.  Written by Robert Bloch.

Planet Earth (1974)

Gene Roddenberry tried three times to launch a concept of John Saxon, usually named Dylan Hunt, awakening after a period of suspended animation to a post apocalyptic world, where he tries to restore civilization with an organization called PAX.  Some characters and concepts finally made it to series decades later in Andromeda, with Kevin Sorbo in the role.

After a lightning fast introduction, we start right in.  Looking for a missing doctor, Saxon allows himself to be captured by an amazonian tribe, where women rule and men, called "dinks" live in chattel slavery.

I know Star Trek is supposed to be all big idea hard scifi, but this is part William Moulton Marston femdom kink and part Saxon trying to stud his way through things while women catfight for the honor of breeding with him.  We get profound lines like "Women's lib? Or women's lib gone mad?" without a trace of irony.

I like Saxon, but there's nothing here worth the constant recycling.  I remember watching this as a young child and being strangely affected by it, mostly the slave pen scenes.  Fun to see Ted "Lurch" Cassidy play an often shirtless mystic savage.

Outrage (1973)

Suburban husband gets hassled by rich, suburban kids. Kind of a low stakes vigilante film with petty vandalism replacing murder. I can watch Robert Culp get increasingly frustrated all day long.

Pray For The Wildcats (1974)

Pray For The Wildcats (1974)

Some all star casting with this one.  Andy Griffith as a psychopathic businessman, William Shatner as a suicidal adman, Robert Reed as the sellout, former child preacher Marjoe Gortner as the creative, and Angie Dickinson as the hat-wearing cheating wife.

Griffith forces the others to go on a motorbike trek across Baha, Mexico before he'll give them his advertising account.  Shatner's in the process of being fired and upped his life insurance, Gortner's girlfriend is pregnant and he needs a steady job, Angie is married to Mike Brady but sleeping with Captain Kirk.

Andy goes rapey on a hippie chick, fights her dude, and leaves them stranded in the desert.  I was expecting more of a thriller, with Andy hunting the others through the desert, but it's more moral quandary than chase scenes.

The film ends on a downer, with the men meeting their wives, their wives dropping soul destroying news, and everyone driving away in silence.

I'm getting hooked on the ABC Movies of the Week.  Mid or post-career stars chewing scenery with a $50 budget, and they're almost all on Youtube.

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