Something Evil
| Something Evil | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Written by | Robert Clouse |
| Directed by | Steven Spielberg |
| Starring | Sandy Dennis Darren McGavin Ralph Bellamy |
| Theme music composer | Wladimir Selinsky |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producer | Alan Jay Factor |
| Cinematography | Bill Butler |
| Editor | Allan Jacobs |
| Running time | 73 min. |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | January 21, 1972 |
Something Evil is a 1972 horror television film starring Sandy Dennis, Darren McGavin and Ralph Bellamy. Directed by Steven Spielberg, the screenplay was written by Robert Clouse.
Synopsis
A married couple with two young children move into a Pennsylvania farmhouse that turns out to be inhabited by demons. Darren McGavin portrays the TV producer husband, while Sandy Dennis plays his artist wife. Popular child star Johnny Whitaker co-stars as their oldest child, who becomes possessed and begins to torment his family and their friends. When the mother begins to sense that something may be wrong with her son, her husband and friends think she is going insane.
Cast
- Sandy Dennis as Marjorie Worden
- Darren McGavin as Paul Worden
- Ralph Bellamy as Harry Lincoln
- Jeff Corey as Gehrmann
- Johnny Whitaker as Stevie Worden
- John Rubinstein as Ernest Lincoln
- David Knapp as John
- Laurie Hagen as Beth
- Herb Armstrong as Schiller
- Margaret Avery as Irene
- Norman Bartold as Mr. Hackett
- Sheila Bartold as Mrs. Hackett
- Lois Battle as Mrs. Faraday
- Bella Bruck as Mrs. Gehrmann
- Lynn Cartwright as Secretary
Filming locations
Production
Spielberg created Something Evil immediately after his television movie Duel (1971), and it aired in January 1972. As a horror film, it is unique in Spielberg's filmography, and bears resemblances to the movie Rosemary's Baby (1968), and to the book The Exorcist (1971) and its subsequent 1973 film adaptation.[1]
Reception
While the majority of critics have dismissed Something Evil, Neil Sinyard wrote of the film: "Spielberg's direction is nothing short of magnificent. There are splendid montages as mother [Sandy Dennis] paints and creates models and mobiles that will eventually be significant in resisting the evil spells; dazzling dissolves and sinister camera placement for stealthy, apprehensive entrances into fearful places; and [...] a Hitchcockian sense of the moment to throw away explanatory dialogue (the explanation for the house's past) when it is less interesting than the mystery and menace."[2]
Song
The movie features the "Apple Bar Candy Song" by Charlie Marie Gordon. It appears in the film performed by Laurie Hagen for a commercial Darren McGavin's character is filming. The song has been spoofed several times.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Awalt, Steven. Steven Spielberg and Duel: The Making of a Film Career. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. pp. 190–191.
- ^ Sinyard, Neil. The Films of Steven Spielberg. Bison Books, 1986. p. 17
