VividSimon Simply Perfect

Micitype Pretty Good

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Candida It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

rodrig58 Of course Steven Spielberg is a very talented filmmaker. He knows perfectly well how to create tension and give you creeps on your spinal cord. He is one of the best. In this one he was helped by exceptional actors. Sandy Dennis is a unique phenomenon, can not be compared to any other, was and remains a great great actress. It's a shame that she died so young! Darren McGavin and Ralph Bellamy are also two very good actors, natural and credible in everything they do and say. It's not one of the greatest movies by Spielberg, the script is very simple, to not say poor, but is very well made. Worth to be seen!

MartinHafer Marjorie Worden (Sandy Dennis) sees a farmhouse and instantly falls in love with it and insists her husband, Paul (Darren McGavin) agree to buy it. Wanting to make his wife happy, he agrees...and soon grows to regret it. The home turns out to be a one weird place...with strange goings on and Mrs. Worden begins to lose her mind. She becomes violent, unpredictable and weird...all, supposedly, because of some strange glowing mason jar and a house that's possessed by Satan. If this all sounds weird, well, you're right. The "ABC Movie of the Week" OFTEN had made for TV films with ultra-bizarre plots--with witches, monsters, aliens and all sorts of odd goings on. But what they didn't usually have was direction by Steven Spielberg (before he was famous) as well as a dopey ending...which, sadly, this one has in spades. The film sets an interesting mood but the payoff, sadly, just isn't there.

moonspinner55 With the possible exception of "Duel", fans of director Steven Spielberg have outright rejected his early efforts (such as this TV-movie and the theatrical "The Sugarland Express", a box-office disappointment) most likely on the basis that his budgets during this time weren't big enough to expand on the action inherent in the material (Robert Altman's admirers are much the same way, ignoring everything the filmmaker did prior to "MASH"). "Something Evil" is a forgotten film, a mere footnote in Spielberg's history, but that doesn't mean it's a failure. Spielberg takes a shopworn scenario (the old haunted farmhouse bit) and gooses it with interesting visuals and an active camera. New York couple with two young children move into a rural estate, unaware of the farm's dark history. Sandy Dennis and Darren McGavin are a casual, laid-back, ordinary twosome--just this side of dull, which is probably what Spielberg wanted--whose lives are shaken up by the ghostly goings-on. Two action sequences (a death in the prologue and a tragic car accident following a party) are both encumbered by the picture's low budget and are sadly ineffective, while a subplot involving Ralph Bellamy as a neighbor who studies the occult is left unfulfilled. Still, Spielberg manages a tense, prickly mood (the film never lapses into camp), and Dennis seems fully invested in the proceedings.

Cujo108 A married couple and their two children move into an old country estate in rural Pennsylvania. The father spends most of his time working in New York City, but his wife stays home tending to the kids and coming up with various art designs. It isn't long before she's plagued by bizarre happenings, and while her husband is disbelieving, she comes to the conclusion that a devil is haunting the estate.This TV movie was Steven Spielberg's follow-up to "Duel". While nowhere near that film's level, it is a reasonably effective little haunting yarn. The late Sandy Dennis carries the picture with her frantic, on edge performance. Ralph Bellamy of "Rosemary's Baby" is on the right side of the occult this time as a friendly neighbor who supplies Dennis with info on devils and protection from evil. The haunting is predominately low-key, though it occasionally moves into more pronounced territory when attacking others and even causing a fatal car accident. The creepiest scenes involve the sounds of a baby crying in the still country night and Dennis desperately trying to find out where the cries are emanating from. What she eventually finds makes for a rather disturbing visual.Less unnerving and more cheesy is a scene where Sandy is flipping out on her son. The aftermath doesn't hit as hard as Spielberg would like it too because of this, but Sandy's performance does lessen the damage. Her husband doesn't seem to think much of it and heads back to New York for more work on the annoying commercial he's been preoccupied with. All of this leads up to a fun, if somewhat limp ending. The climactic surprise is telegraphed well in advance.As a whole, there's nothing particularly remarkable here, but it all works just fine. Still, I was hoping that "Something Evil" would be something truly special.