1974 The Strange and Deadly Occurrence

The Strange and Deadly Occurrence TV Movie 1974
The Strange and Deadly Occurrence (1974)
A family moves into a new home in an isolated area, and soon realizes that someone--or something--doesn't want them there.
Director: John Llewellyn Moxey
Writers: Sandor Stern, Lane Slate
Stars: Robert Stack, Vera Miles, L.Q. Jones
The verbose title of this mildly spooky telefilm suggests a supernatural angle, but The Strange and Deadly Occurrence is really a crime thriller with horror-flick flourishes. Approached with the right mindset, the picture provides pleasantly undemanding distraction. Robert Stack, rendering the same sort of blandly American masculinity he brought to countless movie/TV endeavors before diversifying his brand with self-parody in Airplane! (1980), stars as Michael Rhodes, the head of a small family that moves in to a new home. Soon after Michael, his wife Christine (Vera Miles), and their daughter Melissa (Margaret Willock) take occupancy, peculiar things start to happen—power outages, weird noises, etc. The family also receives persistent visits from Dr. Wren (E.A. Sirianni), an odd fellow inexplicably determined to buy their house. Soon Michael grows to believe that Dr. Wren has something nefarious in mind, unaware that a bigger threat exists.