***Top Television Horror Movies of the 1970’s***
“Sally, Sally…join us.”
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (1973)
directed by John Newland
Written by Nigel McKeand
Starring:
Kim Darby
Jim Hutton
Barbara Anderson
William Demarest
This original, made for TV movie, had a very low-key script with not much back story, and little special effects. Somehow this low-key film managed to be creepy as hell. When Sally and her husband inherit an old Victorian home, she opens up a basement fireplace despite the urging of a family worker telling her she should not. She unknowingly releases little goblins that were locked up in there for decades. They torment her while her husband is out, whispering her name and urging her to “Join us.” The most shocking scene is when Sally is having a dinner party for her husband’s firm and the nasty little demon man pulls the cloth napkin from her lap. There is a great sequence in the bathroom where the little goblins mentally torture her, clicking off the lights to attack but becoming still and silent when she calls her husband in. The husband insists that Sally is having some kind of mental breakdown making her further isolated in fear. This is another TV movie that shocked viewers especially because of the ending.
Fun Facts:
The movie was filmed in a little over two weeks due to a looming writers strike.
This had been a favorite movie of Guillermo del Toro when he was growing up. He and his brothers would tease each other around the house whispering, “Sally, Sally.” He produced and co-wrote the 2011 remake. Despite the fact, you can skip the remake, it has very little to offer.
parlor of horror 