Fantastic!

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This October 31,2008 will mark the 30th anniversary of "Summer of Fear"/"Stranger in our House"(which ever you prefer).A young girl named Rachel (played by the Exorcist's Linda Blair)is visited by her cousin Julia(Lee Purcell)after Julia's parents are killed in a car accident.Everyone likes Julia and is taken by her at first. That is until strange things start to happen that only Rachel notices and strange objects that Rachel finds that leads her to believe that her cousin may be a witch. No one believes Rachel's accusations and thinks she's just jealous of Julia.It's up to Rachel and her neighbor Professor Jarvis(played by MacDonald Carey,Days of our Lives)to expose Julia for what she is.This movie also stars Jeff East(Huckleberry Finn,The Day After)and(a unknown at the time)Fran Drescher who later gained fame with the hit series"The Nanny".This movie does have some scary moments.

Well, I didn't have much hope for this one - but it actually turned out to be a big (pleasant) surprise! By 1978, director Wes Craven was best known for his brash exploitation thrillers The Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes, making this film something of a change of pace for him as not only doesn't it feature the hardcore violence of the latter two films - it's actually a 'made for TV' picture! However, in spite of that - it's actually really good! Fair enough, it doesn't break any traditions and it doesn't have a whole lot of 'bite', but the story is perfectly paced and this ensures that the director is able to keep things interesting throughout, and this is what makes Summer of Fear a cut above your average TV movie. The plot focuses on Rachel Bryant - a young girl who lives with her family somewhere in America. Her aunt and uncle are killed in a car crash one day and, other than the obvious implications of this event, it turns out to be really bad news for her as her cousin comes to stay with the family. Julia Trent is an instant hit with the household and all their friends - but her antics aren't fooling Rachel, who comes to believe that Julia is a witch.This is the sort of story that would lend itself brilliantly to a book (the film is based on the children's novel of the same title written by Lois Duncan), but doesn't often translate well to the big screen. That makes this film an exception as despite featuring no big scares and relying entirely on the intrigue generated from the central situation, the film keeps itself going well, and the way that the story constantly hints at the witchcraft theme works very well. The film stars Linda Blair in one of her first post-Exorcist horror roles, and she does brilliantly with it. Her hair looks a bit silly throughout, but she gets over this with a nice performance in which she captures a balance between the naivety and ingenuity of her character. The rest of the cast act in support to Linda, but all give decent performances. The events leading up to the inevitable climax aren't all that terrible; but by keeping things down to earth, the film actually becomes more effective as it nicely gets into a rhythm and nothing in the film feels out of place. Even the ending, which shows the film at its most over the top, still feels rather tame in comparison to other, similar, films. Overall, I can't recommend going out of your way to find this - but if you happen across a copy, it does at least make for a fun, relaxing viewing.

In the 70's and 80's this film was shown a multitude of times for late-night TV. I had seen it several times, and am amused that it has now been re-packaged, to dupe a whole new generation. Yet, it is not a bad movie, if you can get past the special effects.Yes, Linda Blair has that weird perm-thing going on; she is the daughter who suspects something is amiss with her cousin, played by Lee Purcell. The happy family as well as Ms. Blair's horse become haunted by something demonic- something unsettling. Carol Lawrence plays Blair's mother, and there is an amusing scene where Purcell flirts with Jeff East, Ms. Blair's father.As this story was written by Lois Duncan, upon whose stories "I Know What You Did Last Summer" as well as "Killing Mr. Griffin" were turned into film, one can at least enjoy the story; and Wes Craven does an interesting job of directing this. I was never a huge fan, (I must admit that "Candyman" is a guilty pleasure) but recently saw "The Hills Have Eyes", and he does have nuance and depth which deserve mention.Even if you are not a true horror fan, this film can be categorized as fear/suspense. If you like Wes Craven, you will definitely find this interesting, and the 70's nostalgia is an added plus!.

It doesn't intrigue. For the first half hour this long role play occurs, in which the characters are introduced. The role play continues and slowly takes a slight turn as protagonist Rachel discovers THAT HER COUSIN IS A WITCH. That is quite the climax already. After an hour and about twenty minutes, the role play still continues and doesn't really change. No horror whatsoever, I only shrieked a bit as my cellular phone rang. As a 'psychological thriller' this movie might deserve something because I was so scared that the boredom of the movie begin would determine the entire process in time, but I just waited for something that would never happen. Craven can do better. And of course... the cousin continued.