THE STRANGE AND DEADLY OCCURRENCE (1974)
Dir: John Llewellyn Moxey

Mystery thrillers disguised as horror films are often great disappointments with their final act reveal of "natural explanations" for supernatural events cheapening the previous 70 minutes. This ABC Movie of the Week however has enough goofy charm to survive the less-than-terrifying climax and denouement (although it veers closer to Scooby Doo territory than even most similar films - much of the final plot element revolves around buried treasure!) and coolly coasts by on the earnest performances of Robert Stack and Vera Miles. Before its end, The Strange and Deadly Occurrence serves up quaint chills through a haunted ranch house, a moaning midnight specter, a shady prison doctor, a shadow-lurking killer and even a mild poltergeist.

As so often with 70s TV movies, much of the fascination and interest lies in the decade's ambivalence to the nuclear family and traditional gender roles. By 1974 TV audiences were wide open and listening to criticisms of the myth of the perfect 50s home, and this questioning of established institutions often took the filmic form of paranormal threats to the family unit. Robert Stack as the protective patriarch proves ineffectual at safeguarding his family, while his seemingly idyllic marriage to wife Vera Miles - and purchase of a "dream home" in the canyons north of LA - also take a beating when confronted with bumps in the SoCal night. Furthermore Daddy's Little Girl (played with bizarre, almost pantomime affectations by doe-eyed Margaret Willock) seems to be in need of psychiatric treatment when she goes borderline catatonic after being attacked by a moving coat stand.

Of course it all ends with a laugh and family group hug.