Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Rainey Dawn Your basic horror story: A family moves into a house and they do not realize it's haunted but will soon become believers and it's haunted by demons. A quote from Marjorie Worden: "Can you believe that I believe that the devil's in my house?" This TV movie was back when they made fun and interesting movies for television. Not all of them were great but they were at least worth watching. When real life society changed, the TV shows and movies changed - I quit watching - but I hear the TV movies today are nothing like these older films and not nearly as good. This particular film is not grand but it's not a bad watch either - mildly entertaining demonic horror.6/10

jwhickman I know that The Possession Of Joel Delany (1972) is often cited as a possible cinematic influence on Friedkin's The Exorcist (1973), but I had never seen this little gem until recently. The finale has little Johnny Whitaker (yes, from Family Affair) possessed by a "devil" yelling weird demonic gibberish in a surprisingly creepy and effective vocal track and attacking his mother (Sandy Dennis) as objects fly around the room. The devil is driven out by the chanting words of love from mom. It's a brief scene that might elicit giggles from some, but it's strange how similar some scenes in The Exorcist would play out nearly two years later.

MARIO GAUCI Spielberg's rarely-seen second (and last) made-for-TV movie actually predates two horror milestones: within his own filmography, of course, JAWS (1975) but, (more importantly) relating to genre, THE EXORCIST (1973). Mind you, the child possession here only occurs (sans make-up) at the climax and the exorcism requires nothing stronger than a motherly hug! Incidentally, SOMETHING EVIL also anticipates the recently-viewed (and remade) DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (1973) which, apart from being similarly-produced for the small-screen, this shares a good many plot points with it: the wife being fond of a country-house which is soon revealed to be 'inhabited' by some sort of malevolent spirit, while the husband is a workaholic who only really witnesses his spouse's breakdown – since he barely comes into contact with the supernatural forces at work. By the way, one could perhaps detect the germ here for Spielberg's subsequent producer-only credit on POLTERGEIST (1982)! The film was surprisingly written by Robert Clouse (who, despite being deaf, would soon prove a leading action director!), with the cast being equally notable: Sandy Dennis (who keeps hearing disembodied baby cries in the night, as well as coming across large jars filled with undisclosed gooey stuff!) and Darren McGavin (a director of TV commercials who decides to shoot one on his new property – only to have his current 'actress' die in a car wreck after a party he organized) as the central couple, Jeff Corey – featured in another TV-sourced title I checked out during this "Halloween Challenge" i.e. CURSE OF THE BLACK WIDOW (1977) – as the superstitious landowner (he is often seen spilling chicken blood all over the soil in an effort to ward off evil) and Ralph Bellamy (basically playing the other side of the coin, as an occult authority, of his memorably restrained devil-worshipping cult leader in ROSEMARY'S BABY {1968}).While we never get to know the history of the place (other than that the previous owner had mysteriously killed himself, as per the pre-credits sequence), that is to say, who or what is behind the eventual possession and why it specifically targets the protagonists' boy, Spielberg demonstrates a lot of his essence here, namely his – for lack of a better word – classical handling of suspense and action but also the home-spun qualities that would be particularly frowned upon by his detractors! In the long run, the film – whose presentation on the copy I watched was extensively window-boxed! – is as well-made and acted as any picture to emerge from this era (a fair number of which have deservedly gone on to acquire cult status over the years, including his own DUEL {1971}), despite not being especially impressive or even memorable.

bob_meg It's almost unfair to judge this film by today's standards. A) it's a TV movie; B) It's a TV HORROR movie; C) It's a TV horror movie from the '70s. All of these factors combine to literally guarantee that it doesn't have the fright factor of the classic theatrical horror from that era. Sure, there were some creepy TV movies in the '70s, but none had the intensity or the special effects to blow you out of your seat. "Drag Me to Hell," this ain't.Let's face it...if you've gone to the trouble to hunt this one down on You Tube or on bootleg VHS, you've done so to get a glimpse of Spielberg's guerrilla-style movie-making from his early, hungry days. And on that score, "Something Evil" doesn't disappoint. Say what you will about Steve-o's stuff of recent years, back then his films were FUN. ESPECIALLY for film buffs.He didn't just throw in fancy camera-work to draw attention to itself. It always had a purpose, it always had subtext, and it always was original. Take the scene where Whittaker is bouncing the ball against the house. Spielberg clocks the pace with the maddening repetitiveness of a metronome as Dennis does a simultaneous freak-out, smashing the ceramic pentacles she's making to pieces. Her subsequent violent rage against the young actor, even though shot tastefully from a distance, is truly disturbing. Mission accomplished. Ditto for the sly scene where Dennis peers terrified from her kitchen door at a young man, the door chain links neatly overlaying his eyes, like ominous glasses.And even though the mason jar, baby-crying gag is a bit absurd, the way it's shot is so masterful, it draws you in and creeps you out. Again, this is not a wham-bang thriller, but it definitely has its moments of uneasiness. I wasn't bored. If you like Spielberg's early TV work and "Duel," in particular, check it out.