Winter Kill
Encyclopedia
Winter Kill is a 1974 U.S.
made-for-tv movie
directed by Jud Taylor
and written by John Michael Hayes
and David Karp. It stars Andy Griffith
as Sam McNeill, the sheriff
in a small resort town in the mountains of northern California
. The film is mystery-suspense drama about McNeill's attempts to solve a string of local serial killings
linked by messages left at the scenes of the crimes.
The movie (which aired on April 15, 1974 as an ABC Movie of the Week
) was intended as a series pilot. When it failed to sell, the main character was renamed and used as the lead character for the short-lived 1975 series Adams of Eagle Lake
, also starring Andy Griffith.
The film was released on DVD by Warner Bros. in 2009 along with Griffith's 1977 TV movie Deadly Game, making it one of the few of Griffith's TV movies from the 1970s to have an official DVD release.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
made-for-tv 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...
directed by Jud Taylor
Jud Taylor
Judson Taylor was an American actor, television director and television producer. He sometimes used the pseudonym Alan Smithee....
and written by John Michael Hayes
John Michael Hayes
John Michael Hayes was an American screenwriter, who scripted several of Alfred Hitchcock's films in the 1950s, and subject of the book "" by Steven DeRosa.-Early life:...
and David Karp. It stars Andy Griffith
Andy Griffith
Andy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...
as Sam McNeill, the sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
in a small resort town in the mountains of northern California
California
California 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...
. The film is mystery-suspense drama about McNeill's attempts to solve a string of local serial killings
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
linked by messages left at the scenes of the crimes.
The movie (which aired on April 15, 1974 as an ABC Movie of the Week
ABC Movie of the Week
The ABC Movie of the Week is a weekly television anthology series, featuring made-for-TV movies, that aired on the ABC network in various permutations from 1969 to 1975.-History:...
) was intended as a series pilot. When it failed to sell, the main character was renamed and used as the lead character for the short-lived 1975 series Adams of Eagle Lake
Adams of Eagle Lake
Adams of Eagle Lake is an American hour-long police series that aired on ABC in 1975. Andy Griffith starred as Sheriff Sam Adams and the episodes presented his attempts to maintain the law in a small resort town...
, also starring Andy Griffith.
The film was released on DVD by Warner Bros. in 2009 along with Griffith's 1977 TV movie Deadly Game, making it one of the few of Griffith's TV movies from the 1970s to have an official DVD release.