The Norliss Tapes (1973)

Please don't spend money on this.

People are voting emotionally.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

David Norliss is a writer who has been commissioned to pen a book debunking the supernatural. However, as his deadline approaches, he calls his publisher to explain how he hasn't written a word; why he cannot write the book at all; and about the tapes he has left, that will truly reveal how deep into the investigation he really is. Then he disappears.The story is revealed through flashbacks, as his Publisher goes through and listens to the tapes that Norliss has left behind. Seems everything begins with a woman named Ellen Court- and her experience with the return of her zombified husband.Norliss catches wind that Mr. Court was dabbling in the occult prior to his death. And after a girl is found murdered and drained of blood, he heads to the town to investigate further.Turns out that, prior to his death, Court had made a pact with a demon named Sargoth, and in order to purchase his own immortality, he would be given the power to rise from the grave, so that he can fashion a sculpture in the demon's image...out of clay and human blood...so as to bring him to life.Now, he must work together with a local witch, and the man's wife, to stop this process...before it's too late.This was a made-for-TV flick, so it was thrown together on a b-grade budget- and considering this, the special effects are pretty paltry and lame. It's also rather short, at just over 70 minutes. As it was clearly slated for an hour and a half time slot (with commercials). Though, it seemed to have scenes which had been cut to make room for said commercials.Alongside the general concept- which is oriented around the Egyptian Heliopolitan concept of death, and return of the soul to the body- the best thing about this film is it's framing. However, with that being said, not even it could save this film from it's relative mediocrity.4.5 out of 10.

My father got the creeps when he saw this movie when it aired in early 1973. I was glad I missed it, given that it aired 17 days after my grandmother's murder. It would have been too much.Thirty seven years later, it comes off like so many other productions from that era: Underwhelming and, from a horror standpoint, stupid. In all fairness, I have to give the movie points for its Nixonian paranoia stemming from the actions of the sheriff, played by Claude Akins. Remember, this was from the time that the Watergate scandal began unfolding, though it was not the major headline of the time. But as I remember that era well, the movie seemed to reflect some of that era's tensions.I also give points as well to the casting, especially Don Porter and Michele Carey. That said, I could get my thrills more from "All The President's Men" than from this TV movie. It is hardly rotten, just a little underwhelming.

I ordered this hard-to-find show on eBay and got an excellent copy of it. I'd been literally waiting years to finally watch the TV show that had left the greatest impression of terror on me since childhood. I mean, I wasn't let down when I acquired a DVD of Trilogy of Terror with Karen Black; that last episode with the freaky doll still creeped me out... kinda.Well, last night I sat down, put the disc in my trusty old DVD player , and -- uh, found it to be a less-than-horrific experience. Of course I knew it wasn't going to have the same sort of effect on me that it did back then, so I prepared myself for a bit of disappointment.It was okay I guess, and considering I'm much older and can follow the storyline infinitely better than I did when I was 9 helps too. I liked the shots of the Bay Area and the Pacific coastline, and a young and lovely Angie Dickenson is always easy on the eyes, but still -- I wasn't even so much as mildly surprised throughout the entire film. The evil manifestation that happened at the end of the film almost had me laughing -- and I scolded myself for mocking this beloved show.As a made-for-TV film it is somewhat enjoyable and certainly above average, but as with all things nostalgic and memorable, don't get your hopes up too much like I did.Okay, now I'm off to find some "ABC Movie of the Week" episodes that hopefully have aged a little better than this one did...

This movie scared the #$%@* out of me!!!! I watched it when I was a kid and I LOVED it! It's just like The Night Stalker! It has a top notch cast of actors which makes all the difference in the world. The music is eerie, the location is scary and all of the typical Dan Curtis tricky shock effects are in place. The scene where her sister opens the curtains and James Cort is there staring at her is truly priceless! They don't make them like this anymore. I found it on eBay (just type in the movie name in the Ebay search) but the quality was terrible because it has never been released on VHS. I watched the whole thing anyway despite the poor picture quality. :) Would love to find a good copy of it.