Mommie Dearest (1981)

 

The abusive and traumatic adoptive upbringing of Christina Crawford at the hands of her mother, screen queen Joan Crawford, is depicted.

From memory: High-volume bio-pic gives Faye Dunaway the chance to give her the most over-the-top performance of her career depicting Joan Crawford as a real-life monster; film is full of bone-chilling scenes you'd otherwise find in a bona fide horror movie; campy, but must be seen to be believed.

Halliwell (no star): "On the screen it all seemed too silly for words, and nobody cared anyway."

Maltin**1/2: "Vivid, well-crafted filmization of Christina Crawford's book...Knowing that the story is (allegedly) real makes watching this film a creepy experience...though now it's seen as a camp classic!" 

 

Apprentice to Murder (1988)

Fire-and-brimstone preacher sees Satan everywhere, trains gullible young boy to "detect" evil, and the two of them commit several murders in the name of Jesus.

Strange, quite uneven, but interesting horror drama, based on a true story, never quite knows what it wants to tell not unlike its apprentice's inability to perceive reality;  Donald Sutherland is always worth the watch.

Halliwell (no star): "Odd little thriller that relies too heavily on special effects to hold an audience's attention."

Maltin**: "Odd, affected, fact-based account...Sutherland, in a disappointing performance..."

When a Stranger Calls (1979)

 

 

A psychopathic killer terrorizes a babysitter, then returns seven years later to menace her again.

 

Above-average thriller with a good cast strangely falls into three parts; the highly effective opening could be a movie in itself and is not surpassed by the rest of the film.

 

Halliwell (no star): "Middling screamer extended from a short, The Sitter; a passive midsection separates a suspenseful start and finish."

 

Maltin*1/2: "Unpleasant, improbable melodrama falls apart after OK opening segment."

 

Michael Weldon/Psychotronic: "The ultimate in baby-sitter horror...Although fairly predictable, it's still suspenseful and is helped by a strong cast..."