THE NORLISS TAPES

title: THE NORLISS TAPES

year: 1973

cast: Roy Thinnes, Angie Dickenson, Claude Akins

rating: **

Even Dan Curtis's good made-for-TV movies, like "The Night Stalker", "The Night Prowler", and "Trilogy of Terror", often lean towards overkill, and that's not a bad thing when there's enough suspenseful build-up to merit a crashing climax. This movie, about a missing writer who's left behind audio tapes for a book debunking witchcraft, plays out 95% backstory, showing the author - his recorded voice providing narration - investigating a woman's account of her husband, buried in the basement, coming back to life. The awakened man-monster, with a blue face, fangs, and nasty temper, appears way too soon instead of lurking in the shadows where he, and any good horror film antagonist, belongs... at least till they earn it.