Beyond the Bermuda Triangle (1975)

Touches You

As Good As It Gets

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The Bermuda Triangle(or Devil's Triangle) was a very hot topic in the 1970s, in films, television, and a number of best-selling books. It's a little surprising there weren't more TV films made on the subject, then, frankly.BTBT is a mid-level mystery/horror effort in which Fred MacMurray investigates the disappearances of aircraft, and boats/ships in the area off of Florida's eastern coast. Donna Mills is on hand to offer her stunning beauty, as is the ill-fated Dana Plato whose first credit this was, I believe. She gives a performance with a nice touch of pathos as the young girl who has recently lost her mother to the Triangle.Mills wasn't yet terribly well-known although she was popping up often on television by this point. Her performance is engaging, and it's always nice to see her, of course.The film meanders along somewhat, which modern viewers will probably find somewhat tedious, but there is a nice twist at the conclusion for those patient enough to wait for it. Used to be shown on local indi stations, and cable fairly-often, but seems to have disappeared it self, more or less. Wonder if it's available on disc? For those of us who recall the usually excellent made-for-TV suspense/horror/sci-fi films of the 1970s, I imagine most would like to own it for the sake of completeness.

Another contrived TV-movie of the week.Everybody's getting killed at the most famous hot-spot in the world, so dried-up sea captain Fred MacMurray tries to figure out what the hell is going on. Donna Mills tags along occasionally - not that anyone ever gives a crap what she does, and boat-freak Sam Groom is the village idiot who likes to talk about what a loser he's been all his life to anyone who's bored enough to listen. Sweet Dana Plato is cute as a recently orphaned little girl. Directed by William Graham for Hugh Hefner Productions, this film takes place at Bimini Island 50 miles off the southeastern seaboard.

A classic example of a film which sadly fizzles when it really ought to sizzle. The basic premise is certainly intriguing enough: a handful of folks in planes and boats alike mysteriously vanish in the legendary Bermuda Triangle located just off the coast of Florida. Alas, William A. Graham's blandly by-the-numbers direction crucially fails to provide any much-needed suspense, vitality and spooky atmosphere. Instead the movie gets bogged down in a tedious surplus of dull talk, with precious few scares or action to alleviate the general boredom. The cast do their best with the meandering story: Fred MacMurray gives a typically robust and amiable performance as an affable retired wealthy businessman while both Sam Groom and Donna Mills are solid and engaging as an estranged young couple. Plus future "Different Strokes" TV sitcom star Dana Plato pops up as a spunky little girl whose mother disappears in the Devil's Triangle. Gayne Rescher's pretty, picturesque photography and Harry Sukman's suitably shivery'n'sinister score are likewise up to par. But only at the very end does this largely lethargic snoozer finally come to life and deliver some excitement with a fairly creepy zinger of a surprise ending, but by then it's way too little much too late to redeem this mediocre timewaster.

During the Seventies, the ABC Mystery Movies put out several good movies that bordered between mystery and horror. Many of them weren't that bad, and unfortunately are rarely shown today except for The Night Stalker which has become sort of a cult hit. Beyond the Bermuda Triangle is a sort of low key mystery with lots of drama and some low key fantasy as it explores the legends and myths of the Bermuda Triangle through Fred McMurray. Guilty over the disappearance of his brother or best friend, he talks to everyone who knows a little bit about the Triangle or has been touched by it. Donna Mills tries to save him from himself, and young Dana Plato plays the young girl looking for her mother, even going as far as tracing her voice out into the Everglades. The storyline is a little loose with average characters living in or near a little Miami suburb where almost everyone has their own boat. The acting is overly dramatic at times, but it moves along moderately. It's actually a nice little film with a chilling ending, but it doesn't have much of a plot.