Something Evil
Encyclopedia
Something Evil is a 1972
horror
television movie
starring Sandy Dennis
, Darren McGavin
, and Ralph Bellamy
.
Directed
by Steven Spielberg
, the screenplay
was written by Robert Clouse
.
farmhouse that turns out to be inhabited by demon
s. Darren McGavin
portrays the TV producer husband, while Sandy Dennis
plays his actress 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. In the end, only the mother's devotion can drive the demon from her son.
, which had yet to be released as a movie. Despite its common storyline, Bill Butler
's unusual camera angles and Allan Jacobs' quick cuts give Something Evil its distinctive and disturbing results. By never fully showing the "monster," a technique editor Verna Fields
would employ to good effect in Spielberg's Jaws
(and previously used by Frank Morriss in 1971's Duel and Ernest Walter in 1963's The Haunting
), Jacobs' editing transformed what would otherwise have been an average made-for-TV movie script into a successfully chilling film.
1972 in television
The year 1972 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1972.For the American TV schedule, see: 1972-73 American network television schedule.-Events:...
horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
starring Sandy Dennis
Sandy Dennis
Sandra Dale “Sandy” Dennis was an American theater and film actress. In 1966, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.-Early life:...
, Darren McGavin
Darren McGavin
Darren McGavin was an American actor best known for playing the title role in the television horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker and his portrayal in the film A Christmas Story of the grumpy father given to bursts of profanity that he never realizes his son overhears...
, and Ralph Bellamy
Ralph Bellamy
Ralph Bellamy was an American actor whose career spanned sixty-two years.-Early life:He was born Ralph Rexford Bellamy in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Lilla Louise , a native of Canada, and Charles Rexford Bellamy. He ran away from home when he was fifteen and managed to get into a road show...
.
Directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
, the screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
was written by Robert Clouse
Robert Clouse
Robert Clouse was an American film director and producer, known primarily for his work in the action/adventure and martial arts genres. He died on February 4, 1997 in Oregon of kidney failure....
.
Synopsis
A married couple with two young children move into a PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
farmhouse that turns out to be inhabited by demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
s. Darren McGavin
Darren McGavin
Darren McGavin was an American actor best known for playing the title role in the television horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker and his portrayal in the film A Christmas Story of the grumpy father given to bursts of profanity that he never realizes his son overhears...
portrays the TV producer husband, while Sandy Dennis
Sandy Dennis
Sandra Dale “Sandy” Dennis was an American theater and film actress. In 1966, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.-Early life:...
plays his actress wife. Popular child star Johnny Whitaker
Johnny Whitaker
Johnny Whitaker is an American actor and singer notable for several performances for film and television during his childhood...
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. In the end, only the mother's devotion can drive the demon from her son.
Summary
The movie was made to capitalize on the success of the novel The ExorcistThe Exorcist
The Exorcist is a novel of supernatural suspense by William Peter Blatty, published by Harper & Row in 1971. It was inspired by a 1949 case of demonic possession and exorcism that Blatty heard about while he was a student in the class of 1950 at Georgetown University, a Jesuit school...
, which had yet to be released as a movie. Despite its common storyline, Bill Butler
Bill Butler (cinematographer)
Wilmer C. “Bill” Butler, A.S.C. is an American cinematographer, part of the New Hollywood generation. He shot The Conversation, and completed One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest after Haskell Wexler was fired from the production. He also shot three Rocky films, among many other movie projects...
's unusual camera angles and Allan Jacobs' quick cuts give Something Evil its distinctive and disturbing results. By never fully showing the "monster," a technique editor Verna Fields
Verna Fields
Verna Fields was an American film editor, film and television sound editor, educator, and entertainment industry executive. In the first phase of her career, from 1954 through to about 1970, Fields mostly worked on smaller projects that gained little recognition. She was the sound editor for...
would employ to good effect in Spielberg's Jaws
Jaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
(and previously used by Frank Morriss in 1971's Duel and Ernest Walter in 1963's The Haunting
The Haunting (1963 film)
The Haunting is a 1963 British psychological horror film by American director Robert Wise and adapted by Nelson Gidding from the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. It stars Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, and Russ Tamblyn. The film centers around the conflict between...
), Jacobs' editing transformed what would otherwise have been an average made-for-TV movie script into a successfully chilling film.
Filming locations
- Golden Oak RanchGolden Oak RanchThe Walt Disney Company’s Golden Oak Ranch is a movie ranch that serves as an interior and exterior filming location. The ranch is off of Placerita Canyon Road in Canyon Country, California, less than an hour north of Los Angeles; its entrance is about from Placerita Canyon Road's intersection...
- 19802 Placerita Canyon Road, Newhall, CaliforniaNewhall, CaliforniaNewhall is the southernmost and oldest district of Santa Clarita, California. Prior to the 1987 consolidation of Valencia, Canyon Country, Saugus, Newhall, and other geographically proximate settlements into the conglomerate city of Santa Clarita, it was an independent but unincorporated town...
, USA - Studio City, Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, USA
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.Video release
Something Evil has never been released on video, and remains one of the few Spielberg films still unreleased.Cast
- Sandy DennisSandy DennisSandra Dale “Sandy” Dennis was an American theater and film actress. In 1966, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.-Early life:...
as Marjorie Worden - Darren McGavinDarren McGavinDarren McGavin was an American actor best known for playing the title role in the television horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker and his portrayal in the film A Christmas Story of the grumpy father given to bursts of profanity that he never realizes his son overhears...
as Paul Worden - Ralph BellamyRalph BellamyRalph Bellamy was an American actor whose career spanned sixty-two years.-Early life:He was born Ralph Rexford Bellamy in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Lilla Louise , a native of Canada, and Charles Rexford Bellamy. He ran away from home when he was fifteen and managed to get into a road show...
as Harry Lincoln - Jeff CoreyJeff CoreyJeff Corey was an American stage and screen actor and director who became a well-respected acting teacher after being blacklisted in the 1950s.-Biography:...
as Gehrmann - Johnny WhitakerJohnny WhitakerJohnny Whitaker is an American actor and singer notable for several performances for film and television during his childhood...
as Stevie Worden - John RubinsteinJohn RubinsteinJohn Arthur Rubinstein is an American film, Broadway, and television actor, a composer of film and theatre music, and a director in theatre and television.-Early life:...
as Ernest Lincoln - David Knapp as John
- Laurie Hagen as Beth
- Herb Armstrong as Schiller
- Margaret AveryMargaret AveryMargaret Avery is an American actress and singer. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Shug in The Color Purple .-Early life:...
as Irene - Norman Bartold as Mr. Hackett
- Sheila Bartold as Mrs. Hackett
- Lois Battle as Mrs. Faraday
- Bella Bruck as Mrs. Gehrmann
- Lynn CartwrightLynn CartwrightLynn Cartwright was an American character actress probably best known for her performance as the older version of Geena Davis' character, Dottie Hinson, in the 1992 film A League of Their Own....
as Secretary